Agility

Paw Prints Pet Training now offers agility training classes! Held Sunday mornings at Lawler Park in Floreat. See our Training Venues page for more information.

The 8 week courses are $220 (including GST) and teams must have been involved in some basic training before joining these super fun classes.

Some background information on agility training:

Dog agility training can be great fun for you and your dog. Consisting of many high energy, quick thinking and team building exercises, the sport of agility training can change your dog from being idle and sedentary to becoming up and active.

More than that, with some simple agility training for your dog, you will also help build up your canine's confidence, allows for mental stimulation and physical development of your dog.

What is Dog Agility Training?

The physically challenging sport of dog agility training consists of running through an obstacle course together. Through body language and verbal cues, you guide the dog from obstacle to obstacle. The trainer needs to know the order of the course and the dog needs to listen and focus their attention on the trainer, who cues them as to which obstacle to conquer next.

A typical obstacle course consists of a variety of challenges for the dog such as:

• Ducking through tunnels
• Running up and down an A-frame
• Leaping through a tire
• Weaving between a series of upright poles
• Walking across a see-saw
• Jumping across barriers

Objectives of Dog Agility Training

The main objectives of agility training is to have fun together, while at the same time, provide some much needed exercise – both for you and your dog!

If you are intent on competing, your other objectives are to successfully tackle all obstacles, with your dog touching his or her paws in specific locations, in the fastest amount of time.

Benefits of Agility Training For Dogs

Beside the fun of learning agility course obstacles, there are many benefits as well to dog agility training.

For example, agility training helps in the bonding of both human and animal. It also keeps your dog physically and mentally stimulated by learning new things. Tailor-made obstacle courses out there can also help develop and hone your canine’s talents such as balance, speed and directional reflexes by providing a range of obstacles for your pet to overcome.

Training

Some dogs are naturals on the agility course, confident and comfortable approaching objects that they have never seen before. Even if your dog isn’t a natural, he or she can learn to enjoy running the course with you. Agility is open to dogs of every ability, size and breed (as long as they are healthy enough to participate in intense exercise.)

The above excerpt is from DogTrainingClassroom.com

Contact us for the agility guidelines to see if you and your dog are ready for some agility.

This article appeared in the Cambridge Post, February 26th 2011