Hobbyists

Supadog Agility Training Tips

Make dog agility training a fun activity, both you and your dog should enjoy agility training, so don’t make training a chore, make it playtime.

Be patient!　As with all dog training, you must be patient, don’t push your dog too hard or too fast and take lots of breaks. Don’t expect you or your dog to master agility overnight, there are lots of different skills involved. The best place to learn and progress is an Agility Club with trained instructors, a list of clubs can be found at www.agilitynet.com

Because of the long term negative impact of jumping and flexing on immature, growing bones, owners are advised not to undertake any agility training that involves jumping, scaling or weaving until the dog is 12 months old. You can, however practice obedience exercises, such as waits, recall and send away exercises using jump wings, but no poles. Obedience skills are needed in agility training, so puppies and dogs should first learn the sit, down, stay and recall commands. If your dog makes a mistake do NOT tell him off, he may see this as a reason not to go near the jump or equipment or exercise and associate it with a negative reaction from you. If your dog makes more than 2 mistakes, he has not fully understood what to do, so go back to a stage when he was successful.

Rewards

Your dog should have a reward that makes him want to join in with your game; a favorite toy, ball or special treats. So when you are asked to reward your dog this will refer to any of the above. Should you need to throw or send a dog to his treats then put them in a small pot, so the dog will see this as a ‘target’ and work away from you.

Treats are also a good way to reward a dog. Why not try Supadog Venison Bites - cut them into tiny pieces to use as a tasty reward.

Wait

The wait command can be taught with your dog sitting, lying down or standing. To begin with work on the position which they are most comfortable with, this is often sitting.

1. Stand on one side of your dog ask to (sit, down or stand) and put your hand just in front of their nose, palm towards them, and say "wait".

2. Take one step forward, and then turn to face your dog.

3. Wait a few seconds and then step back to your dog, and reward. If your dog moves, say nothing, just return to them, have them sit and start the exercise again.

4. Say your release word (e.g. OK, Go etc.), allow your dog to get up, and then praise again.

If your dog can already wait on command, you must now use a release command to let your dog know when it is okay to move. It is important to use release as otherwise your dog will have to guess what, word, gesture or hand movement his handler is going to use! So be consistent, which will help your dog learn the correct behaviour.

5. Repeat the exercise several times, limiting sessions to no more than 10 minutes. When your dog is waiting reliably, gradually increase the distance between you. Finally add distractions.

If you find your dog keeps moving, then go back a step in training.

Training your dog to wait should be fun for both you and your dog. Long sessions with few rewards quickly become boring and your dog will stop listening and learning. Keep sessions short and frequent and you will succeed.

Teaching left and right commands 

1. Start by getting your dog interested in his toy or a treat, and with this in your hand get him to follow it for a couple of seconds then give him the treat or reward with the toy.

2. Once your dog has the idea of following (not grabbing), start to lure the dog in a turn to his left or right.

3. Once the dog has a basic understanding of this, increase this to a full circle.

4. When your dog has reached a level of understanding, you can start to put commands to the behaviour.

The aim is to progress so that you no longer need the toy/treat in your hand, and your hand does not have to be in front of the dog. Gradually move your hand further away from the dog as you ask for the left or right turn behaviour.

Teaching your dog the basics of Jump skills

To start with keep the jump height low about 12" for a large/medium size dog and about 4-6" for a small breed, lower for toy dogs. Use only jump wings, without poles for dogs under 12months.

You are not teaching the dog to jump high at this stage, you are teaching the dog to go through the jump wings on command. 

1. with your dog on a long loose lead put him close to the jump,leave him in a wait, step over the jump, turn and face your dog, use a release command such as ‘OK or Go’, then call the dog to you, reward with a toy or treat & praise.

This should be repeated until your dog can do this off lead, this may take repetitions or even several training sessions, not all dogs are the same and learn at different rates.

2. Once your dog is keen to jump, move him further back from the jump about 2-3 feet and place a toy or a small container with treats (targets) in about the same distance the other side of the jump and send your dog over the jump to his target.Reward & praise.

This should be repeated until you feel your dog is confident.

So your dog can now send over a low jump to a target. You now need to teach him to carry on doing this while you run alongside him. Make sure you practice on both sides. Now add a second jump.

Place the dogs target as before and now take your dog further back to a second jump (the distance between the 2 jumps should be about 2 body lengths of your dog).

Practice running alongside him, sending the dog and recalling over the 2 jumps.

Gradually increase the distance between the jumps to about 4 body lengths of your dog.

Now add a third jump keeping the distance between the additional jump short to start with and then increase the distance as before.

Tunnel

If you have access to a play tunnel, and a helper, then you can also teach your dog the basics of going through a tunnel.

1. Make sure the Tunnel is pegged or supported and cannot roll around, as you do not want to frighten your dog.
2. Get someone to hold your dog at the entrance to the tunnel, with his head just inside the entrance. You should now go to the other side of the tunnel and let your dog see you and his reward.
3. Encourage the dog to come to you, while your helper ensures he does not run around the tunnel, by holding his collar.
4. Most dogs will initially resist, so your dog should also trust and know your helper and get them to encourage him too.
5. Once the dog takes several steps towards you through the tunnel, lure him to the end with his reward and praise as soon as he is through.
6. Dogs can be initially wary of the tunnel, until they have done it quite a few times. When your dog becomes more confident and does not require a helper, put his reward at one end of the tunnel and holding his collar take him to the entrance and pop his head into the entrance and send him to the reward.
7. As he progresses, you can start to see if he will go through without your help, then move onto throwing his reward to encourage speed and your distance from him.
8. Once your dog is competent at the tunnel and jumps, you can add a jump before and after the tunnel.

Weaves

There are several different methods to teach the weaves, so you may want to wait until you join a club to see which one would suit you best. However you can lure your dog through the weaves poles using his reward.

1. In competition dogs must enter the weave poles with the dog passing the first pole so that it is on the left-hand side of his body. It is advisable to only train the dog to enter them correctly.
2. Place 4 weave poles in a straight line about 21" apart.
3. Using your dogs reward, lure him through the poles. Most people find it easier to walk backwards when luring.
4. As with all the exercises, reward & praise, once the dog has completed the exercise.
5. Once your dog has understood 4 poles, add another, then another etc. The maximum amount of weave poles in competition is 12.
6. This is the most simple way to teach the weave poles, but it also can take a while for the dog to learn independence, so patience with this method is required.