# Agility Dog Training



## Apdfranklin (Jun 23, 2008)

Anyone into this? One of my JRT's I think would LOVE doing this. I was thinking about building him a little course in our back yard.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

One of my dog training clients went into agility after she graduated from my class. I attended some of her classes with her as an observer. I was really impressed. There are a lot of subtle things used in agility. Body language of handler is very important. Much information is given to the dog by body language. Border collies seem to dominate the competitions. There are 1,000s of "tricks of the trade".

If you want to go into competition you must attend classes to pick up on all the tricks. You can build your own equipment and have a lot of fun if you just want to do it for fun.

If you are doing it for fun and need help teaching your dog what to do, I can help you with that. if you want to compete, you need someone that knows a lot more than I do. :smile:


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I took my last chow to agility classes just for fun and as a great training tool for an insecure dog. Chows don't make great competition agility dogs since they aren't the fastest things out there but they still enjoy the experience. My new pup is learning it now and there is a lot you can make in your back yard. We have made a jump out of bricks and a shower curtain rod, a tunnel out of a tarp and an A frame, and a table out of a tree stump. The dog really doesn't care what the equipment looks like! When we get to class he easily converts to the real equipment and has a real edge over the other pups. He just loves all the activity and "toys" and last night when we were done with his round, he went back and did it again all by himself. The teacher was laughing her head off.


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## Rexandbaby (Aug 4, 2008)

chowder that must have been soooo cute!:biggrin:


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

It was funny! This puppy is Sooooo spoiled. I call our backyard the puppy playground betweeen his wading pool and his buckets and all his agility stuff and toys. We lost 2 chows in the spring and then both our 'real' boys left home for the first time so this furry kid is getting all the attention. He's rotten but so good natured you gotta love him. It doesn't hurt that he 'smiles' when he looks at you.


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## Rexandbaby (Aug 4, 2008)

Beautiful! Our dogs have all my attention too, since my kids have moved away!


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## lonetcrystal (Oct 15, 2008)

*Dog training*

The most important aspect of any dog training is to learn to read one's dogs and to apply training methods appropriately to each. Learn to be a good trainer and well trained dogs follow no matter the technique, or the sport. There are a multitude of ways to go about any type of training, but nothing beats the trainer's knowledge of the specific dog. Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs generally run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives. 
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Lonetcrystal

Guaranteed ROI


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

lonetcrystal said:


> The most important aspect of any dog training is to learn to read one's dogs and to apply training methods appropriately to each. Learn to be a good trainer and well trained dogs follow no matter the technique, or the sport.


I agree with you as long as you limit it to possitive methods of training. Any fool can beat a dog into submission, or shock a dog into submission, or jerk a dog into submission with a pinch collar. It doesn't take training tallent to do that. No training knowledge is necessary.



> Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs generally run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives.


Every agility dog I know was taught using food and/or toys for incentives to learn. They are not used during the actual competition until his run is finished.


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## pgnation (Sep 21, 2008)

I'm in competitive agility along with my mom.
It's something if you want to be good at - takes a lot of work.

Yes, I would agree with most comments here so far. Body language is a very important role. A great example would be I could tell me dog to do a "tunnel" or whatever for anything, but if my body language suggests otherwise, we'll go with the body language. I could also run a course being silent if I wanted, it just proves the point that the dogs visualize what you want more than hearing.

If you want to do something like this for fun, I think it's something slightly harder. I would recommend obedience first, it's typically a must for most trainers that you at least pass a beginning obedience class.

If you have any questions, problems, ... whatever that's agility related. Please don't hesitate to ask me. If I don't know I've got a network of people that do.


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