Your puppy is undoubtedly one of the cutest and sweetest of creatures, but this new furry friend probably is lacking a bit in the obedience department and also has a huge amount of extra energy. Because puppies need to learn how to behave properly and need a bunch of exercise, agility training can be a great way to provide both of these needs.
Just about every dog, providing they are in good health, will enjoy learning how to tackle agility obstacles. All different breeds and mixed breeds generally are welcome to participate in dog agility courses, and your dog's temperament and enjoyment are more likely to indicate whether or not he or she will love these activities, which can be a bit more exciting than fetching a stick or going for a walk.
A great beginning skill would be to learn how to use the pause table. A full-size table might be tricky for a young pup to handle, so you can remove the flat table portion and just use the top or use a mini pause table. On this table, your puppy must sit and stay and go down for a matter of seconds, and every dog needs to acquire these skills for their own safety. Not only will you teach these skills, you will also teach them to obey these commands while you are at a distance from them. This is excellent training for a puppy, but they aren't always motivated to learn these skills. Of course, treats aren't allowed on a true agility course, but in these early days, a puppy will be far more motivated if you provide a little nibble of something after they successfully complete a task.
Playing with toys is another way to help get your puppy ready for the agility course. But you must think of this as structured play. For instance, when using a tug toy, you want your puppy to tug on the toy, but you also want them to let go when you give a command. When you toss a ball or toy, you want your dog to fetch the object, but you also want them not only to bring it right back to you, they need to release it. This builds up obedience and trust between the two of you. Learning to walk loosely on a leash next to you and then off-leash next to you also will help with agility course training.
Puppies love to hop around and jump, and while these are certainly important agility skills, a puppy shouldn't start out with full-size jumps. You can begin by lowering a jump or using a mini-sized jump. Have them learn to just go over the jump at their own pace and then head to the pause table, teaching them to transition from one obstacle to the next. The actual level of jumping skill is not particularly important at this stage; it's all about teaching them to follow a series of directions. When you have a puppy that will move easily from a jump to the table, you can add another jump about three feet or so away from the first jump and work on that series.
After this has been taught, you can add some other fun obstacles, such as a teeter totter or perhaps a tunnel or an a-frame. For a puppy, go online to Carlson Agility and check out their full line of miniature agility equipment. They offer almost all types of equipment in scaled down sizes which are perfect for your puppy as well as small dogs, or perhaps you just don't have a huge backyard and can fit in more items using mini agility equipment. You can purchase a mini teeter, a mini dog walk, a mini a-frame, mini tire jumps and much more.
Just about every dog, providing they are in good health, will enjoy learning how to tackle agility obstacles. All different breeds and mixed breeds generally are welcome to participate in dog agility courses, and your dog's temperament and enjoyment are more likely to indicate whether or not he or she will love these activities, which can be a bit more exciting than fetching a stick or going for a walk.
A great beginning skill would be to learn how to use the pause table. A full-size table might be tricky for a young pup to handle, so you can remove the flat table portion and just use the top or use a mini pause table. On this table, your puppy must sit and stay and go down for a matter of seconds, and every dog needs to acquire these skills for their own safety. Not only will you teach these skills, you will also teach them to obey these commands while you are at a distance from them. This is excellent training for a puppy, but they aren't always motivated to learn these skills. Of course, treats aren't allowed on a true agility course, but in these early days, a puppy will be far more motivated if you provide a little nibble of something after they successfully complete a task.
Playing with toys is another way to help get your puppy ready for the agility course. But you must think of this as structured play. For instance, when using a tug toy, you want your puppy to tug on the toy, but you also want them to let go when you give a command. When you toss a ball or toy, you want your dog to fetch the object, but you also want them not only to bring it right back to you, they need to release it. This builds up obedience and trust between the two of you. Learning to walk loosely on a leash next to you and then off-leash next to you also will help with agility course training.
Puppies love to hop around and jump, and while these are certainly important agility skills, a puppy shouldn't start out with full-size jumps. You can begin by lowering a jump or using a mini-sized jump. Have them learn to just go over the jump at their own pace and then head to the pause table, teaching them to transition from one obstacle to the next. The actual level of jumping skill is not particularly important at this stage; it's all about teaching them to follow a series of directions. When you have a puppy that will move easily from a jump to the table, you can add another jump about three feet or so away from the first jump and work on that series.
After this has been taught, you can add some other fun obstacles, such as a teeter totter or perhaps a tunnel or an a-frame. For a puppy, go online to Carlson Agility and check out their full line of miniature agility equipment. They offer almost all types of equipment in scaled down sizes which are perfect for your puppy as well as small dogs, or perhaps you just don't have a huge backyard and can fit in more items using mini agility equipment. You can purchase a mini teeter, a mini dog walk, a mini a-frame, mini tire jumps and much more.
About the Author:
Cheng Bernhardt enjoys dog agility training. To find an agility equipment for dogs, or to learn more about other equipment like dog agility tunnels, please visit the Carlson-Agility.com site today.
This article collected, selected and written by: Author Van Hoc
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