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Dog Agility by Jarvis Hedger
Not all dog owners will find that the particular breed they're raising is suitable for dog agility training. Sometimes it's the breed, but other times it's the puppy itself who must be assessed for agility potential. Each puppy will have a different temperament within the litter.
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Overcoming The Obstacles Of Dog Agility Training
It doesn't matter what age your dog is for you to begin agility training, but you have to respect the obstacles a dog may have in performing. For instance, very old or very young dog can have limitations set forth by its age.
A puppy can have physical and mental obstacles for agility training because he hasn't yet matured enough to grasp the training principles. An older dog may be limited in agility training because he is unable to perform due to stress on its body after aging.
With puppy agility training, you need to start off small and increase the training as time goes on. Start by allowing your puppy to cross bars and boards that are on the ground. Since it may not be ready for pipe tunnels, you can try using boxes on the floor instead.
If the puppy is hesitant during the agility training, you can start out making it a fun time playful experience to get him used to the new experience. As his attention span grows and he's physically able, you can take the agility training one step further.
If you are raising an older dog and are unsure what obstacles it will face during agility training, know that a dog is considered a "senior citizen" at around eight years old. Breed factors into the aging process. If you have a small dog, then it will age later than a large breed will.
With any dog of any age, you'll want to evaluate it specifically for obstacles it may face that prevent excessive agility training. If the dog is overweight, it can impede its physical performance, just as a health condition can attribute to a poor performance ability.
Sometimes all it requires is some conditioning to get the dog up to par for agility training. Or, if it has previous experience but hasn't trained in awhile, it might just need a refresher course to get back on track.
With agility training, the dog is doing more than just lying around on the couch or flitting around in the backyard. It's doing major physical work, so your dog may have to build up its endurance just as a human does during sports training.
Because it's a very active dog sport, you need to be aware of the stress it places on your dog during agility training. Your dog may not be able to handle a triple jump, dive into a tunnel, or 180-degree turn. Make sure you monitor your dog for dog agility injuries.
A puppy can have physical and mental obstacles for agility training because he hasn't yet matured enough to grasp the training principles. An older dog may be limited in agility training because he is unable to perform due to stress on its body after aging.
With puppy agility training, you need to start off small and increase the training as time goes on. Start by allowing your puppy to cross bars and boards that are on the ground. Since it may not be ready for pipe tunnels, you can try using boxes on the floor instead.
If the puppy is hesitant during the agility training, you can start out making it a fun time playful experience to get him used to the new experience. As his attention span grows and he's physically able, you can take the agility training one step further.
If you are raising an older dog and are unsure what obstacles it will face during agility training, know that a dog is considered a "senior citizen" at around eight years old. Breed factors into the aging process. If you have a small dog, then it will age later than a large breed will.
With any dog of any age, you'll want to evaluate it specifically for obstacles it may face that prevent excessive agility training. If the dog is overweight, it can impede its physical performance, just as a health condition can attribute to a poor performance ability.
Sometimes all it requires is some conditioning to get the dog up to par for agility training. Or, if it has previous experience but hasn't trained in awhile, it might just need a refresher course to get back on track.
With agility training, the dog is doing more than just lying around on the couch or flitting around in the backyard. It's doing major physical work, so your dog may have to build up its endurance just as a human does during sports training.
Because it's a very active dog sport, you need to be aware of the stress it places on your dog during agility training. Your dog may not be able to handle a triple jump, dive into a tunnel, or 180-degree turn. Make sure you monitor your dog for dog agility injuries.
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Dog Agility
Assessing Your Puppy For Dog Agility Training Potential
If you're considering purchasing a puppy based on its ability to train for agility, then you'll want to do more than focus on one puppy test.
It often takes multiple tests to determine if a puppy has it in him to succeed with agility training. Not only can a one-time test mislead you into believing a puppy does not have what it takes to train successfully, but sometimes a puppy will display a characteristic one day that makes you feel he would adapt well to training, and yet it never surfaces again.
Testing for a puppy's agility training potential has to be carried out by a trained professional who is experienced in this field. A professional will understand how to truly assess an entire litter equally.
That means giving each one the same chance to perform based on alertness, exact testing areas, hunger, and more. You can't take one puppy who has just woken up from a nap and been fed test against a sleepy puppy who's hungry because the attention of each dogs will be vastly different.
It's best if the person giving you an assessment of your puppy's potential for agility training is the same one raising the dogs on a daily basis. This gives the breeder an edge in seeing how the puppies' personalities develop.
If you are the one raising a litter and want to pick out a puppy for agility training, watch their routines for signs of their potential. If there always one puppy who's first in line for everything - the food or water bowl, the door to go outside, or the chance to get some attention from its handler.
You'll want to choose a puppy that submits to your commands easily and doesn't fight back or make it difficult during grooming sessions. These are the best puppy tests to determine if your little dog has it in him to continue agility training.
Other factors you'll want to consider are how well the puppy jumps, since jumping is a key factor in agility training. You can look to the puppy's parents for signs of whether this dog will handle jumping easily. Overall observation during a period of time longer than one session is required to determine is a puppy is suitable for agility training.
It often takes multiple tests to determine if a puppy has it in him to succeed with agility training. Not only can a one-time test mislead you into believing a puppy does not have what it takes to train successfully, but sometimes a puppy will display a characteristic one day that makes you feel he would adapt well to training, and yet it never surfaces again.
Testing for a puppy's agility training potential has to be carried out by a trained professional who is experienced in this field. A professional will understand how to truly assess an entire litter equally.
That means giving each one the same chance to perform based on alertness, exact testing areas, hunger, and more. You can't take one puppy who has just woken up from a nap and been fed test against a sleepy puppy who's hungry because the attention of each dogs will be vastly different.
It's best if the person giving you an assessment of your puppy's potential for agility training is the same one raising the dogs on a daily basis. This gives the breeder an edge in seeing how the puppies' personalities develop.
If you are the one raising a litter and want to pick out a puppy for agility training, watch their routines for signs of their potential. If there always one puppy who's first in line for everything - the food or water bowl, the door to go outside, or the chance to get some attention from its handler.
You'll want to choose a puppy that submits to your commands easily and doesn't fight back or make it difficult during grooming sessions. These are the best puppy tests to determine if your little dog has it in him to continue agility training.
Other factors you'll want to consider are how well the puppy jumps, since jumping is a key factor in agility training. You can look to the puppy's parents for signs of whether this dog will handle jumping easily. Overall observation during a period of time longer than one session is required to determine is a puppy is suitable for agility training.
Links About Dogs
Here is a short list of my best resources for dog owners.
- Pet Medical Recorder
- If you own a dog, a cat or any other type of animal here's a quick and easy way to keep track of all your pets important medical and treatment records.
- Dog Bite Prevention
- Get the facts from 7 top dog trainers/behaviorists and learn how to prevent dog bites or even teach your dog to stop biting.
- Chow Chows Revealed
- If you own a Chow Chow or if you're thinking about getting one, then this may be the most important book you'll ever read...
- How I Trained My Dog In One Evening
- You can be using these secrets just a few minutes from now...
- Big Book Of Pit Bull Breeders
- See firsthand why Pit Bulls are NOT vicious!
by JarvisHedger
Salutations from San Diego, California!
I am a 29 years old
fellow dog lover and my father is the owner of one dog training center
on my city. I am t...
