Everyone loves a puppy and for good reason. They are sweet and soft and it's such fun to watch them explore their new world. The downside is that they can get into a bit of mischief from time to time and they are always on the go. To keep them focused, improve obedience and provide an outlet for their natural puppy energy, consider trying out agility training.
Even if you don't think competition is for you, your puppy is sure to enjoy learning agility skills, and it provides a great, challenging source of exercise for almost all healthy dogs. Most owners typically stick with walks and toys as source of exercise, and while this is highly beneficial, dogs also love a good, fun challenge and agility training provides highly stimulating exercise.
Because your puppy will need to learn to stay and sit and be still on command anyway, it is good to start out by learning how to do the pause table. On a course, dogs must take a break from jumping and running about to sit on this table for a pre-determined length of time. Your puppy can combine obedience training with agility training on this apparatus for double the benefit. As you might know, when you are on a real agility course in competition, treats and other incentives are not allowed. However, when you are working with a puppy, a little treat is a great way to help them learn a new skill. Eventually just a bit of praise will be enough, but in those early days, keep some tiny treats handy.
Puppies also need to learn how to play with toys, and this can be a good way to start teaching the obedience skills necessary for learning how to use agility equipment. Teach your puppy to tug on a toy and also teach your dog to let go of the toy on command. You also should teach your puppy to fetch a toy and bring it to you and drop it on command. All of this builds up a solid foundation where your dog trusts and obeys you. Learning how to walk beside you is another fundamental skill that will transfer to the agility course.
Playing with toys and learning the pause table are important, and your next step might be to start teaching them about jumps. A mini jump can be purchased or you can just lower the regular sized jump to its lowest point and introduce the obstacle to your puppy. At first, they simply need to learn to go over the jump pole and then to move directly to the pause table. Once they can go from jump to table easily, add another jump in the sequence. Keep the jumps approximately three feet apart from each other. Again, the focus is one following directions and not clearing jumps and perfecting their style.
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.
Even if you don't think competition is for you, your puppy is sure to enjoy learning agility skills, and it provides a great, challenging source of exercise for almost all healthy dogs. Most owners typically stick with walks and toys as source of exercise, and while this is highly beneficial, dogs also love a good, fun challenge and agility training provides highly stimulating exercise.
Because your puppy will need to learn to stay and sit and be still on command anyway, it is good to start out by learning how to do the pause table. On a course, dogs must take a break from jumping and running about to sit on this table for a pre-determined length of time. Your puppy can combine obedience training with agility training on this apparatus for double the benefit. As you might know, when you are on a real agility course in competition, treats and other incentives are not allowed. However, when you are working with a puppy, a little treat is a great way to help them learn a new skill. Eventually just a bit of praise will be enough, but in those early days, keep some tiny treats handy.
Puppies also need to learn how to play with toys, and this can be a good way to start teaching the obedience skills necessary for learning how to use agility equipment. Teach your puppy to tug on a toy and also teach your dog to let go of the toy on command. You also should teach your puppy to fetch a toy and bring it to you and drop it on command. All of this builds up a solid foundation where your dog trusts and obeys you. Learning how to walk beside you is another fundamental skill that will transfer to the agility course.
Playing with toys and learning the pause table are important, and your next step might be to start teaching them about jumps. A mini jump can be purchased or you can just lower the regular sized jump to its lowest point and introduce the obstacle to your puppy. At first, they simply need to learn to go over the jump pole and then to move directly to the pause table. Once they can go from jump to table easily, add another jump in the sequence. Keep the jumps approximately three feet apart from each other. Again, the focus is one following directions and not clearing jumps and perfecting their style.
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 know further about other equipment like dog agility tunnels, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com website now.
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