Dog Agility Training Basics

<h1>Dog Agility Training Basics</h1>Author: <a title="Margareta Setijoso" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/margareta-setijoso/69309.htm">Margareta Setijoso</a>  
Before you begin your dog agility training, basic obedience training must come first.Your dog needs to be able to come to you quickly when you call him/her, sit, lay down, hold a stay and keep their cool around other dogs. If you could train your dog in some off leash heel work you will have a big advantage but it is not a must.
Another side note, if you and your dog have played fetch, you will have an easier time with dog agility training. You can start by introducing your dog(s) to smaller versions of the obstacles. Then, you gradually work your way up to larger and larger equipment until they reach their full competition forms. Your dog will need 'spotting' at this stage kind of like you would when working out in a gym. You should always have your dog pre-screened before entering any intensive training. He/she can become badly injured if you don't have their hips, elbows and eyes checked first to make sure everything is OK.
I also suggest that you do not use any restrictive collars or technique that may compromise the dogs use of the equipment properly. Once they have learned the basic obstacle work, they can enter the next level of training. That's when the handler gradually conditions the dog to jump higher and perfects an effective command vocabulary of body signals as well as vocal ones. The agility obstacles that are the hardest and take most work are the jumps. Your dog must undergo about 6+ months of skeletal conditioning at low jumping heights so that he/she can thicken their bones and develop needed strengths for landing jumps in the future.
These are just some of the very <a href="http://www.dog-training-review.net/" target="_blank">basics of dog agility training</a> that I thought I'd share with you in this article. I hope you learned a thing or two!
 About the Author: I certainly hope that you find this article useful as i expected it to be. Visit Margareta's blog about <a href="http://review-of-dog-training.blogspot.com/2008/06/dog-training-systems-reviewed_21.html" target="_blank">how to Successfully Train Your Dog To Behave</a> for more information.Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/dog-agility-training-basics-484434.html" title="Dog Agility Training Basics">Dog Agility Training Basics</a>

Before you begin your dog agility training, basic obedience training must come first.Your dog needs to be able to come to you quickly when you call him/her, sit, lay down, hold a stay and keep their cool around other dogs. If you could train your dog in some off leash heel work you will have a big advantage but it is not a must.

Another side note, if you and your dog have played fetch, you will have an easier time with dog agility training. You can start by introducing your dog(s) to smaller versions of the obstacles. Then, you gradually work your way up to larger and larger equipment until they reach their full competition forms. Your dog will need 'spotting' at this stage kind of like you would when working out in a gym. You should always have your dog pre-screened before entering any intensive training. He/she can become badly injured if you don't have their hips, elbows and eyes checked first to make sure everything is OK.

I also suggest that you do not use any restrictive collars or technique that may compromise the dogs use of the equipment properly. Once they have learned the basic obstacle work, they can enter the next level of training. That's when the handler gradually conditions the dog to jump higher and perfects an effective command vocabulary of body signals as well as vocal ones. The agility obstacles that are the hardest and take most work are the jumps. Your dog must undergo about 6+ months of skeletal conditioning at low jumping heights so that he/she can thicken their bones and develop needed strengths for landing jumps in the future.

These are just some of the very basics of dog agility training that I thought I'd share with you in this article. I hope you learned a thing or two!

I certainly hope that you find this article useful as i expected it to be. Visit Margareta's blog about how to Successfully Train Your Dog To Behave for more information.

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Article Tags: Dog Agility Training, Dog Agility Training Equipment, Agility Dog Training, Dog Training Agility

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