Ohhh watch that border collie weave through those poles at full
speed without missing an entry. Just like an olympic slalom skier
weaving around the sticks. Ohhh watch that border collie fly
thru the jumps without knocking over bars, or how about perfect
contacts on A-frame, dogwalk, and teeter. Aren't they the most
incredible animals on earth, huh? You must have seen them on
Animal Planets channel, or Great Outdoors games in ESPN. Its
amazing how easy it looks for the border collies to breeze
through all the dog agility equipment and obstacles on course.
Hey now, its time to wake up, look at your dog. You think
"Hmmmm, if that border collie can do it, I think my dog can do
it too". Whoa, hold your horses! Get this, every dog is
different. Dogs have different reasons for enjoying agility.
Some like the reward either for the food or toy, or some dogs
just want to run and jump. Remember this, border collies, most
of them anyway, are made for agility, the speed, circular
courses and quick turns fire them up. A labrador retriever is
made for hunting and retreiving ducks and birds, working in
linear patterns, and coming back to you. These are good skills
to have in agility. Know your breed strengths and utilize these
in training agility. Any dog can do agility, but some dogs, for
instance, a basset hound will never do what a border collie can
do. Get this? Lets move on to the next paragraph on size of the
dog.
There's a saying that a small size border collie will perform
better on the agility course than a medium or big size border
collie. Size determines which height catagory your dog is
placed in, but does not indicate level of performance. Lets not
forget it goes back to the trainer or handler. The question you
need to ask is how much training will it take for my dog to go
through the weave poles, make contacts, or run the way I want
it to.
Some will say that training weaves is the hardest obstacle to
teach, others will say giving commands, yet others the
contacts. No matter where you and your dog start first, you as
the trainer and handler will need to set a goal. Keep training
fun, short, and simple. One simple method of training your dog
is to reward with food or toy. Every dog has a desire to please
you to some degree, but not every dog understands what you
expect. If your dog is driven by food, reward it with a small
treat after a short exercise, continue after every task. If
your dog is driven by toy such as ball or frisbee, use it as a
reward also.
You might think getting start in the agility sport is
expensive. As the cost of raw materials goes up, so does the
equipment. One way to cut down on cost, is to join an agility
club. However, it costs to join also. Others might prefer to
purchase a few pieces of dog agility equipment at a time for
their own backyard training. Still others might want to
purchase equipment for day care, just set up as doggie
playground. Regardless, it costs money. You will need to ask
yourself, do I want to invest in money and time? Or do I want
to do it just to have fun, as a hobby? Will my doglike to run
and jump?
Every trainer has a different philosophy and approach to
agility training equipment, which is hardest and which is
easiest, which takes the longest and which takes the shortest
to learn. Every dog is different, has a different desire and
perspective to agility. It does not matter how small or big
your dog is, its how much you and your dog enjoy the training
and playing. And to top it off, start with an exciting and
positive attidude and have lots of fun.
About The Author: Brad Carlson is a dog trainer at Agility by
Carlson. For more training details, visit our website at
http://www.carlson-agility.com/
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