If you’d like your dog to participate in agility competitions, you might think that speed is the most important factor. However, accuracy also is crucial, and agility champions typically are the fastest dogs with a clean run. Agility scores are based on how well a dog handles obstacles and not just on how quickly the maneuver through a course. Here are some tips to help you ensure a clean run.
1. Start With A Quick Sniff
Whether your dog is just getting started with agility or you’ve been working with dog agility equipment for some time, it’s always a good idea to let your dog sniff around the equipment before getting started with a training session.
This is especially important when you introduce a new piece of agility equipment to your dog, as they need a few minutes to explore and sniff and learn to feel comfortable with this strange new object in their yard.
2. Train Consistently
Keep up with a regular training schedule and this will ensure that they stay familiar with all of the dog agility equipment and also help to boost your dog’s confidence. We recommend keeping training sessions fairly short, however, to accommodate a dog’s naturally short attention span.
3. Stay In Shape
This is good advice for both you and your dog. When it comes to agility training, it’s not just about teaching and practicing agility skills, you also need to work on endurance and core strength. Be sure to start each session with a quick warm-up, as well, to get those muscles warmed up as this can prevent injury to your dog.
4. Mind Your Cues
When you are running around a dog agility course with your dog, you can give them verbal and/or hand signals. The trick with these signals is to keep them consistent and ensure that anyone who assists with training also uses the same signals to avoid any confusion.
5. Focus On Accuracy First
While speed is important, if you truly want a clean run, agility dogs need to be handling each piece of dog agility equipment correctly. This means they need to have their paws touch obstacles such as the dog walk or a-frame or teeter correctly as they enter and exit these obstacles.
They also have to complete the weave poles correctly and clear jumps without knocking over a pole, etc. Read up on all of the regulations from your specific dog agility organization so that you fully understand all of the rules. Once your dog can handle a clean run at a slow speed, then you can work on moving faster.
6. Mix Up The Course
It’s important to practice running a variety of course configurations because you just never know what you will find on a competition course. While you will have a good idea of the number and types of dog agility obstacles on the course, you will have no way to know how those obstacles will be arranged. You can come up with your own course configurations or download a bunch of different options from the internet.
7. Have Fun!
Agility is meant to be fun! If you aren’t having a blast with your sweet pooch, then take a break and come back ready to focus on the joy and bonding that accompanies agility. Dogs pick up on our distress, so if you feel stressed or irritated, take some deep breaths and give your pup a few scritches or pets and a little love and praise.
While winning a competition is great, don’t put a ton of pressure on yourself or your dog. Instead, focus on enjoying the process of learning together and improving the bond between you and your furry friend.
What Equipment Do You Need?
Every dog agility organization is unique, but they do tend to use the same obstacles. In general, most of the obstacles on a course will be jumps and there are often single jumps, double jumps, triple jumps and tire jumps. So, if you are considering purchasing agility equipment, starting out with a few jumps can be a good option to consider.
Agility courses also will include several pieces of contact equipment. This includes the agility a-frame, the agility dog walk, the pause table, and the teeter-totter. While there will be many jumps on a course, there will be just one of each of these pieces of contact equipment.
Courses also include a set of weave poles and usually a tunnel. Chutes used to be a common site, but these have been phased out due to safety concerns. In some types of specialty competitions, you might find a course comprised only of jumps with a tunnel or perhaps jumps and a set of weaves. These are known as jumpers competitions and if you have a dog that excels at jumps, this can be a fun option to consider in the future.
Eventually, if you plan on competing, it’s a good idea to purchase all of the agility equipment that you will find on a course to ensure that your dog has plenty of opportunities to practice a clean run. If you are new to the sport, you could just purchase a dog agility kit with several pieces and simply add more pieces once your dog has mastered the items in your dog agility set.
Get Started Now At Carlson Agility!
At Carlson Agility, we have every piece of dog training equipment you might need. This includes everything from contact equipment to dog jumps (including tire jumps) to weaves and even helpful training tools, such as a perch or wobble board. We even have a full selection of mini agility equipment, which is perfect for smaller dogs.
Our equipment is all hand-made from the highest-quality components, and our equipment is identical to the equipment you would find on a competition course. We even have special items such as UKC equipment including a sway bridge, window jump, and swing plank. If you want a clean run, our quality agility equipment (along with some patience, consistent training) can get you there!
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