How to Teach a Dog to Run Through an Entire Agility Course

Agility training for a dog is a fun sport for both the animal and his owner. Your dog should be an adult dog in good shape before you begin agility training. He should also respond to the commands sit, stay, come and release. While agility courses are available in most cities, you can train your dog at home.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Set up equipment for training your dog. You need hurdles, contact obstacles, tunnels and weave poles. With the exception of the tunnels, you can make all the pieces with some PVC pipe, lumber and various other odds and ends that are readily available. You don't need to invest in agility equipment unless you want to.

2. Teach your dog to jump hurdles. Smash six pop cans in the middle. Lay one on top of another one like building logs. Put two of three pop-can towers under either end of a dowel rod to form a hurdle for a small dog. Put a piece of PVC pipe between two matching flowerpots for a larger dog to use as a hurdle.

3. Build contact planks from pieces of lumber. Create the fulcrum of a teeter-totter with PVC pipe. Paint the ends of contact equipment and put treads on the approaches and exits. Teach the dog to touch both painted ends as he enters and exits the equipment.

4. Create a homemade tunnel from old boxes. Encourage the dog to go in on his own and come out the other end. Some agility course tunnels require the dog to open the far end on his own.

5. Place PVC pipe in the ground to create weave poles. You may have to place the poles in a zigzag line to train your dog to weave and then gradually put the poles in a straight line. The dog must enter the poles with the first pole on his left.

6. Have fun with your dog as you learn agility training together. Short training sessions are better than long ones. Since no two courses are the same, mix up your training courses as well.

Tips & Warnings

• Patience is the key to teaching a dog how to do agility training. No two dogs learn the stunts in the same manner. It's up to the owner to figure out what combination of commands, hand gestures and rewards works best for his dog.

[MacDonald]

on 1/24/2009 You've never actually done agility, have you?