Dog Agility Training - The Basics
Below is some general information to help you start in the sport of dog agility. Please also read our section on Agility Equipment to see what obstacles you and your dog will have to learn.
Pre-Agility Training
Before anyone starts agility with their dog they should at least have basic obedience. When we say this we mean that the dog will wait or stay in a sit, down or stand and will come back to its handler when called. In our experience if you don't have this basis to work from your training will be both extremely difficult and frustrating.
It is also essential to make sure that any work or walking with your dog is done on both your left and right side making it comfortable for both handler and dog to work on either side.
We will only train dogs that are 10 months or over for physical reasons, possibly later for much larger breeds and all dogs must not be overweight.
Starting Training
The first steps in training any dog is to teach them to jump over the hurdles (though they will start with poles on the ground). Many people, when they first start agility, are under the impression that because their dog can jump a 5-bar gate and run fast that they will be fantastic at agility, this is not necessarily the case.
The truth is that it doesn't matter how high they can jump or how fast they can run it is all about being able to control your dog and teach it to negotiate the obstacles correctly. It can be a long process to train your dog so please don't think that your dog will be doing everything within a couple of weeks, it takes months to train a dog to do agility, though some dogs take to it more naturally than others.
To begin with you must consider what commands you are going to use for directions and the obstacles - what you use is entirely up to you. The essentials are commands for left, right, come and go on.
Always bring along some sort of treat to your training sessions. This can be either a toy or tit bits, but it must be whatever your dog gets most excited about. If you can use a toy it does assist with training certain areas, but obviously not all dogs like playing with toys.
You must bring your dog on a lead, preferably a flat collar and lead, though it could be a slip lead. Please DO NOT bring along a check chain or extending lead as these are no good for training your dog should it need to be on-lead at any time.
You may also consider buying a few pieces of equipment for continuing your training at home. Just a couple of jumps and maybe a tunnel and small set of weaves can really help, though it obviously depends on the amount of space you have.
Competing
Should you be aiming to compete at any time then you will benefit from reading our further information on Competing and Entering Shows and details about Kennel Club Shows and Independent Shows. Please also let us know so that we can advise you when we think your dog will be ready and provide you with further advice on how things work at agility shows.