If you have ever attended a workout class, you probably took note that the instructor divided the class up into three categories. You began with a short warm-up session, followed by a workout and then a cooling down session. When it comes to dog agility, it is important to include these components in your daily workout, as well. Here are a few tips for organizing your daily dog agility workout.
1. Warming Up Is A Safe Way To Start
The reason why we need to “warm up” prior to a workout is to get our muscles moving and the blood in our body flowing. When you go from rest immediately to strenuous activity, this can cause injuries. If you have ever seen pro basketball players sitting on a bench, you might notice that they are wearing full workout gear. This helps to keep their muscles warm so that they can get out there and play at a moment’s notice without risking a muscle strain or other type of injury.
Obviously, we don’t recommend that your dog wear a bunch of clothing prior to using dog training equipment (although it might make a cute picture), we do recommend that you include a warming up session before you begin your dog agility training.
There are actually two great reasons to consider including a warm-up period before using dog training equipment. First, it will get those muscles nice and warmed up and, secondly, it will burn off a little bit of your dog’s energy. Often, taking the edge of their energy level will make a dog less distracted during training, and your dog will have an easier time focusing on the lessons you teach.
Warming up can just be a quick walk around the neighborhood, it doesn’t have to be complicated, you just need to get the blood flowing. This is actually a good warm up for you as well and will help improve your focus as a trainer.
2. Keep Workouts Focused & Organized
When you are working on dog agility training, it really helps to have a plan in writing. Create a list of commands and a strategy for teaching before you ever march outside and begin using dog training equipment. After all, a classroom teacher makes lessons plans and so should you. It will keep you focused and on task and simply makes it easier to train.
Workouts or training sessions typically should be fairly short. There is no magic amount of time to consider, but generally, you will want to keep sessions under 30 minutes. For some dogs, a 20-minute session or 15-minute session is ideal. Let your dog be the guide and when you notice that he or she is tiring out or losing focus, it can be time to call it a day.
3. Don’t Forget To Cool Down
Just as you don’t want to begin strenuous exercise without warming up those muscles, you also need to include some cooling down exercises after you finish working with your dog training equipment. This allows muscles to slowly cool down and also prevents injuries and strains. Cooling down also prevents stiffness and allows the heart rate to gradually slow down to a normal rate.
To cool down, you can simply take your dog on a very gentle five-minute walk. You also can move their limbs gently to stretch out muscles that were used during dog agility training. There are quite a few video tutorials online to show you how to do this properly as well as some articles from agility experts.
Giving your dog a quick massage also can be a great way to help their muscles cool down and can prevent stiffness. Massage also can reduce anxiety and improve your dog’s overall health. Plus, dogs love massage and if your dog knows this treat is coming after a brisk dog agility workout, it just makes agility that much more fun and you will have more success with training.
Brad Carlson enjoys dog agility training. To find agility equipment or to find more about training equipment for dog agility equipment, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com website today.
