Agility Basics with Little EquipmentDisclaimer: I am not an agility expert. I have not yet titled a dog, and it will be some time in late 2006/early 2007 before I even trial one of my own dogs. On the flip side, I've been able to develop my handling skills by running my instructors MACH dogs in practice and in competition. I spend a lot of time at trials without dog, simply to observe, ask questions, and listen to more experienced competitors dissect courses. Everything below have been things I have done under the direction of my trainer or adapted from creative ideas shared by other agility enthusiasts. "How do I get started in agility?" and "how old does my dog need to be before I can begin agility training?" are frequently asked questions. Additionally, most people do not have the space or money for a full agility course in their backyard. The foundation skills and exercises here are ones I've done with my German Shepherd puppy between the time we brought him home at 10 weeks old and one year old, as well as with my adult dogs. They require minimal equipment but lay useful groundwork that translates over to running full courses.
Intermediate: Stand so that the obstacle is at your side instead of in front of you. Send the dog away from you to the side instead of the front. Once you can do this while you stand in one place, begin to send the dog while you're moving. To increase difficulty, move farther to the side to send your dog father and farther out to the side to run around the obstacle while your path remains straight. Advanced: Add multiple obstacles. Send your dog around two obstacles in a Figure 8, then switch to send him around both obstacles in an oval. If your dog can easily tell which pattern you want, you have a big advantage when you start to run courses, because your dog is tuned into how to read you. Add a third obstacle: direct your dog to go out around the first, come in for the second, and back out for the third. Have your dog come in for the first, out for the second, in for the third. Try going out for the first and second, then in for the third. Again, careful pay attention attention to your body language and make sure that you are very consistent in the way you ask for 'outs' and 'ins'.
Teaching "contacts" mean teaching the dog how to stop at the end of an obstacle like the dog walk or A-frame with at least one paw still in the yellow zone; jumping over the yellow zone is a fault that can take your dog out of the running. In brief, using one end of your board or a bottom step, of a staircase in your house, teach your dog to stop with his two rear feet up on the ledge and his front two feet on the ground or floor.
This is also not one of the most critical pieces of equipment to practice with at home because most dogs seem to pick up the tunnel pretty easily. My own dogs think the tunnel is plenty fun without having one to practice with at home. *** Sand-painting: All of my equipment has been "sand-painted" for safety. I paint with two coats of indoor-outdoor acrylic paint, and I liberally sprinkle plain sand across each layer while the paint is wet. This gives the equipment a textured surface so that it is never slippery even if wet. These are just some of things that we practice without a large yard or "real" equipment. You may not have a yard full of fancy equipment, but there are plenty of things you can be training right now -- get cracking!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Basic: Can be done inside or outside with any verticle object that's roughly your dog's height or higher. Suggestions include: clothes hamper, trash can, lawn chair, barrel, tree, horse or agility jump standard. Send your dog around the obstacle, starting very close and moving to a distance. You may lure your dog around the obstacle the first few times until they get the idea. Back up one step at a time to where you can send the dog around the obstacle from 10 or 15 feet. Once your dog understands the exercise, make sure to work it from both directions (send the dog from both left and right). Pay attention to your body language so that you're consistently using the same hand movements to signal which direction to go.