Agility Training for Dogs Guide » Dog Training

Keep Your Dog Cool During Training

ecoughlin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:36:44 +0000

Agility dog training can get very hot in the summer and that’s why we recommend the use of water obstacles as one tip to keeping your dog cool in practice or competition. Dogs are susceptible to overheating because they don’t sweat like humans do. The best way to keep your dog cool is to keep his or her coat wet because the water helps dissipate the heat. They can run and jump all they want as long as you keep their coat wet. Our doggie drencher can really help and it’s fun for your dog, too.

You can also keep your dog cool by getting one of those small, inexpensive, plastic baby pools, set it up on the side of your course in the back yard and fill it with water. Encourage your dog to jump in whenever you see that he might be getting overheated. Some dogs even like to cool down by spraying them with a water hose. But be careful as some dogs are scared of water hoses.

Other ways to keep your dog cool is to schedule them training times early in the morning or at sunset when the sun is not as hot or high in the sky. Keep your practice sessions short, 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening, instead of a long 30 minute training session in a hotter time of day.

Keep lots of bowls of fresh drinking water around the practice area and even inside your house. Make sure the water is clean and replenish with fresh water frequently because dogs don’t really like to drink water out of a slimy bowl.

You can also set up a fan inside your house if you see that your dog is having trouble cooling down and is at risk for having heat stroke or heat exhaustion. If you think that might be happening, take your dog to the vet or emergency vet immediately to avoid lasting damage.

Rewards and Reprimands When Dog Training

ecoughlin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:28:17 +0000

Agility dogs need to be trained in the basics of dog obedience before you can take them to a trial or competition. The following article gives some good advice on whether rewards and reprimands will develop your agility dog into an obedient contender for agility dog greatness.

Rewards While Training

The single most important aspect of dog training is rewarding your dog for good behavior. The more times the dog is rewarded, the quicker he will learn. Therefore, it’s essential that you set up situations repeatedly in order for your dog to get plenty of practice at doing the right thing. It’s equally as important that you always praise your dog for good behavior instead of taking it for granted. It’s easy to forget to praise good behavior because it goes unnoticed. But the very nature of misbehavior gets our attention. We don’t notice when our dog is lying quietly, but excessive barking gets our attention. How many of us take notice and praise our dogs when they chew their own toys? But we all go berserk when we notice our favorite pair of shoes chewed up! Praise and reward are the most important part of maintaining good behavior and preventing problems from arising.

Reprimands While Training

Some dogs feel they are constantly bombarded with, ’NO, Stop that, get off, Bad dog!’ They tend to get used to it and so the reprimands become meaningless and are ignored. If most of our interaction with the dog is praise for good behavior, then reprimands will take on much more meaning. Whenever you find the need to reprimand your dog, immediately show him what you want him to do, then reward him for getting it right. If you catch him chewing the furniture, tell him, ’Off!’ Then immediately direct him to his own toys, enthusiastically entice him to chew on them and praise him for doing so. If done correctly, your voice alone is sufficient for reprimand. A correct reprimand is short, sharp and immediate. Don’t continue to nag the dog and never reprimand him unless you catch him in the act. Never hit, kick, slap or spank your dog. This type of inappropriate punishment always creates more problems and usually makes existing problems worse. Not only will you have a barking, chewing dog, but one that is leery, hand-shy, fearful or aggressive

By Andy Radford Website: How2StopDogBarking.com

Benefits of Dog Training

ecoughlin — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:28:14 +0000

Training is an essential aspect of keeping and raising a dog especially if you’re planning on moving into dog agility training. But it’s not about transforming your dog into an obedient “robot dog”. It is not even about turning your dog into a source of entertainment. Instead, it is about strengthening the connection between the master and the dog and teaching your dog the necessary rules for how to behave in any environment.

Training is essential for any type of dog that you own, with no regard for its size or breed because he needs to understand how to act in different kinds of circumstances. Good training helps your dog be comfortable and happy with all sorts of people and in all kinds of social situations.

Having a well-trained dog means more relaxation and contentment for you, too. You won’t have to worry about how he will behave when you invite guests over to your house. Instead, it will alert you about someone’s arrival and behave obediently.

Another benefit of coaching your dog is that you can help it avoid several potential dangers. If a dog wanders off and won’t return to you when called, it might find itself in all kinds of danger, from being hit by a car in the middle of the street or getting lost and not being able to find it’s way home.

Your dog’s standard of living also improves after it’s trained properly because then it can come along with you on a lot more outings. Your dog will be more like a companion who shares your life and adventures instead of being treated as a nuisance and getting ignored. When a dog is trained to behave properly, it’s able to add to its own happiness.

Agility Dog Contact Obstacles Video

ecoughlin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:10:44 +0000

Contact points on an agility dog obstacle course is where a dog needs to touch the obstacle when running through the course during trials or competition. We can see them because they’re painted yellow on the obstacle but a dog doesn’t see them. You need to train your dog to see it by position on the obstacle rather than color. Here’s a video that clearly demonstrates how to teach your dog about contacts.

Introduce Contact Obstacles in Dog Agility Training -- powered by eHow.com

Healthy Food for Your Agility Dog

ecoughlin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:08:38 +0000

An agility dog’s nutritional requirements are going to be a little bit different than a regular dog. They need higher amounts of protein and fat in their diets. They need more protein because they’re feeding their muscles and repairing injuries. They need higher amounts of fat because it’s a more efficient source of energy than carbohydrates.

You want the quality of the fat they’re eating to be good so look for dog foods that have Omega 3 fatty acids which is a healthier source of fat. Don’t add supplements because too much fat can be harmful. A dog food that has a balanced amount should be fine.

Once you start feeding your dog a new food, give it at least 6 weeks to see how well he or she responds to it. You don’t want to be constantly switching back and forth between different kinds of dog food because it can cause stomach upset and it’s also hard to see the benefits of one type of dog food if you’re switching al the time.

Establish a regular meal time and avoid “free feeding”. That’s where you just put a bowl of food out for your dog to eat whenever he feels like it. It’s a lot easier for your dog to overeat this way because you lose track of how much you’ve fed him and when. Your dog also needs to see you as their food provider so letting him see you put the bowl down helps to accomplish this. And you can also track if your dog is not feeling well because you see if he’s eating or not.

Avoid feeding your dog table scraps because they’re usually high in bad fat, salt and simple carbohydrates. Also, when they train, they would be less interested because your treats wouldn’t be as good as the stuff they get from the table.

Teaching the Tire Jump to Your Agility Dog

ecoughlin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:49:43 +0000

Teaching your agility dog the tire jump obstacle can be challenging because the dog doesn’t see it as a jump and doesn’t understand what you want him or her to do when they get to it. First, use treats as a motivator to get them through the tire. Starting your dog at low heights and then increasing them as they learn to jump through the tire can help you avoid the problem of a dog walking under the obstacle to get the treat.

With larger dogs, you have to start them at regular height because of their size so this training video will give you a tip on how to make sure your dog goes through the tire rather than around it.

Dog Training Obstacles: The Tire -- powered by eHow.com

Help Your Dog Conquer Agility Obstacles

ecoughlin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:48:51 +0000

Once you’ve got your dog trained to respond to basic agility commands and hand signals, you need to teach them how to conquer the obstacles. All of them are challenging in different ways for different breeds of dogs. Champion agility dogs make it look so easy on TV as they go up, over and through the different obstacles but if you look at it from a dogs point of view, there are specific “fears” that have to be overcome before they can perform well.

Many agility dogs are hesitant to go through tunnels and chutes training because of the enclosed space and I found this article to have some very helpful tips on how to do it.

Dog Agility Training For Tunnels and Chutes
By Adam Fulford

In the world of dog agility training, there are a lot of different obstacles that you must train your dogs on. These range from climbing objects to jumps, as well as obedience objects. There are a wide variety of obstacles used in major competitions, and you must familiarize your dog with all of them if you want to win the event. One of the more difficult obstacles for large dogs to train with are the tunnels and chutes.

Some dogs, especially the naturally burrowing breeds like the terrier, are particularly good with these obstacles, but other dogs, particularly large dogs, do not like the enclosed space. Depending on the size of the chute, some dogs may not even be able to stand fully upright in the tube.

In order to get your dog used to the close quarters of this obstacle, many trainers will work first with a familiar object like a blanket. This also mimics the darkness present in longer tunnels. Have your dog stand or lie underneath a table, and drape the blanket over the sides. By repeating the process, they will eventually learn to be more calm when in close quarters, especially when it is dark.

The second thing you must do is to find a way to train your dog to go forward through the tunnel. Some dogs, especially those who have been trained to heel their owners, have difficulty with this change in procedure. By encouraging your dog to enter the chute and stay, then running down to the other end and encouraging them to come, they will eventually learn how to navigate this obstacle successfully without breaking their good habits of trailing their owner.

Another idea to try is to work with distances and viewpoints. One of the reasons that dogs are uncomfortable in the chute is that they cannot see their owner. If you tell your dog to sit and stay, and then move behind a tree or an object in a public park, then their behavior may tell you a lot about why they are unwilling to work on this particular object.

If your dog still shows a preference for going around, rather than through the tunnel, then consider putting a treat in the center of the tunnel to entice them to enter. Food will certainly get their attention! You may also want to work more with the blanket and table trick, and try some variations.

There are also tunnels with collapsed ends, and these are particularly difficult to get fearful dogs involved in. In general, it is best to work with open ended tunnels first to get them used to the idea, and then work with blankets and other short closings.

If they have difficulty with the closed chutes, then look at how they approach them.

Train your dog to approach the obstacle with their nose out, and their feet back, as they may be getting caught up because they are stepping on the materials.

Adam Fulford enjoys writing articles and screenplays, and has a production company to produce original documentaries (including information products) dramas for film, video, and Internet, covering a myriad of topics from dog agility events to wheelchair dancing.

Article Source: Dog Agility Training For Tunnels and Chutes.

Teaching Hand Signals to Agility Dogs

ecoughlin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:49:38 +0000

Your agility dog must learn how to follow your hands if they are going to be successful at going over jumps and through tunnels. You also have to teach your dog right and left so they know where to go after completing an obstacle or jump.

Teaching them to follow your hands is as simple as placing a treat in your hand and making the dog follow your hand. When the dog touches your hand, you click and give them a treat. Pretty soon, they’ll be eating out of your hands and learning to follow them, too.

To teach them right from left, they should already know how to jump. Set up 2 hurdles side by side at the lowest height or on the ground. Direct your dog with your hand to go over the jump and say “touch, over” as your doing it. When he does it, click and treat so he knows that’s what you want him to do. Once he’s mastered that, substitute the word “right” for “touch” but make sure he’s going over the right side when you do that.

Once he is doing the right side fairly well, teach him the same way to go over the left side. Start with “touch, over” and then substitute “left” for the word “over”. Every once in a while, you can say “right, over” to make sure he doesn’t forget about the right side command.

Once your dog is confident in the jumps, do both sides and mix them up, back and forth, until he learns to respond to the word “right” or “left”.

If your dog is having difficulty with learning these commands, you could break up each step in smaller increments by using a target stick. Use the same command and when your dog comes near the target stick, click and treat. Then, direct him over the hurdle using the target stick, click and treat. Once he puts these 2 together, combine them so you are only clicking once for him to perform the action and get the treat.

Teaching Your Agility Dog How to Focus

ecoughlin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:35:47 +0000

One of the most important things you need to teach your agility dog after the basics are learned is how to focus on the obstacles and on you, the handler while they’re running through the course. Using the clicker method helps a lot and in this video, you’ll see how a good agility dog should be able to run through the obstacles and still keep tabs on the handler’s directions.

Get Your Dog's Attention During Dog Agility Training -- powered by eHow.com

Go Out and Go Over Agility Commands

ecoughlin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:57:52 +0000

Teaching your dog agility commands like how to “go out” from you is a lot more difficult than other obedience commands because you’re teaching your dog to go away from you instead of towards you. But you have to teach your dog this command because that’s what they need to know how to do when they go through a tunnel or into another obstacle in agility training.

When you teach the “go out” command, you’re going to reward your dog by tossing their favorite treat or toy away from you when they leave your side. I know this is hard to envision but imagine when you are playing “catch” with him to know what this training will look like.

Throw the treat away from you and click when the dog moves toward it. Let him get the treat, then call him with the “here” command, click and treat. Repeat this exercise but click before he gets to the treat. Once he gets the idea that you want him to go away from you, add the words “go out” when you toss the treat and click as he goes away from you. You want him to associate the command with going out (or away) from you. Next, you say “go out” and wait for a moment before tossing the treat and clicking. You want to see him move away from you before clicking and the treat.

To teach the “go over” command, you are finally getting in to some agility training. Use the simplest hurdle and set it at the lowest possible height. Put your dog on a leach and lead him over to the hurdle. If he steps over it, click and treat. Repeat until he learns that he will get a treat when he goes over it and then add the command, “go over”. Continue to click and treat. Once you feel that your dog has mastered this, you can raise the height of the jump by one notch.

The next post will focus on using hand signals in agility training and teaching your dog the difference between left and right.