How to do Agility Training at Home

Dog agility is one of the most spectacular dog sports around and handlers, dogs and spectators all love the game of agility and dog jumping. If you have a agile dog or if you just love to be out and do something with your dog, you should consider joining a dog training school where they also offer agility training classes. Most dog training schools do not just do dog obedience training, but also offer puppy classes, agility and dog jumping classes, tracking classes and much more.

If you just want to do the training at home or even if you have joined a dog training school, you might want to make or buy dog agility training equipment. Most of the obstacles are easy to make yourself from PVC pipe, like the jumps and the weave poles. Other equipment like the tunnel and the see-saw are easier to buy, unless of cause if you are very handy! The most important thing is, that the agility equipment that you use, should be safe for the dog to perform. Your dog's safety should always be your first concern. One piece of equipment that is easy to construct is an agility training ladder. You can always just use the normal ladder you have in your garage. This is used to teach the dog that it has hind feet. He must just be trained to step in the gaps and not on the ladder. It also helps with teaching him balance.

6 Home agility training tips for dogs:

1. Work a lot on his basic obedience commands, like stays, recall and fast sits and downs.
2. Do a lot of ground work, like following your hand, directions and speed.
3. Practice only short sequences at home (at most 4-5 obstacles)
4. Keep training sessions short and fun.
5. NO punishment, only praise!
6. Do to agility training for small dogs, you can make use of a target stick, especially when training the weave poles.

The most important tip, whether you train at home or at dog training school:
The dog is NEVER wrong - if he missed a jump, ask yourself "What did I do wrong?"

Happy Training!