Agility Home School

[goldcreek]

The purpose of this thread is to help those who want to get into dog agility but don’t have access to classes, or for those who want a head start before taking classes.

I am mostly using other people’s videos to save time, but can certainly whip up videos if any clarification or further help is needed on anything.

Feel free to contribute information, ask questions, beg to differ, constructively argue, ask for info on a specific skill, etc… And if you try any of the exercises and games, please report back with your progress!

I’ll keep updating this as I have time or new info to share.

I hope this information is useful for someone!

[goldcreek]

Tricks Tricks Tricks!! Teach as many tricks as you can. It teaches your dog how to learn and teaches you how to be a better teacher.

[goldcreek]

Agility Foundations

Puppy Foundation 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUmHNOpGrjE

Puppy Foundation 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk4DW0u3vKc

Represents the basic skills your dog should have BEFORE beginning obstacle training.
Teach core agility skills and build a working relationship with the dog.

1. Toy Play
Play with anything you offer
Out on command
Bring it back to you

If your dog doesn’t naturally like toys you can play drive building games, shape toy play with a clicker and food, or use toys filled with food to throw.

2. Box Games
Teaches collection

3. Hand Touches
Handler focus
Easy command for stress relief
Help you move the dog around

4. Line up in handler’s direction
Both sides
This is too help you set the dog up at the startline
Also is the beginning of teaching the dog to be comfortable working on both sides of your body.

5. All four paws up on stable and unstable objects

6. Ability to relax and balance through movement/ Wobble boards
Pre teeter work

7. Name
Respond quickly to name

8. Recall
Agility is very hard to do on leash. And if your dog is off, you can’t have him running out to other dogs or people. Very important for the dog to have a fast recall under distraction.

9. Back Up
Teaches hind end awareness

10. Perch Work
Hind end awareness
Helps teach the line-up

11. Stay

12. Release

13. Balance Pillows
More balance and confidence building

14. Balance Planks
Pre dog walk
Confidence building

15. Recall to side
Collection skill

Have FUN with your dog!!

[goldcreek]

Beginning handling!

Circle Work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dG_5eRGqgE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdwk3st643s


Run in circles with the dog, keeping her on the outside arm. Reward changes of direction (front crosses) with food or tugging games. Dog is not allowed to cross behind you. Teach her to stop when you stop, this teaches beginning speed cues: acceleration and deceleration.

[goldcreek]

Cone Games

Begin with a cone or bucket. This will eventually represent a jump upright.

One cone games:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmVKx_c_VXA

As in your circle work, begin with your dog on one side or ‘hand’ and send it around the cone, rewarding from the same hand. This is a shoulder pull. Practice from both sides and gradually, as the dog understands the game, work from farther and farther away (lateral distance and sends).

Begin with the dog on the right hand, send her around, then turn and reward from the left hand (front cross). Practice from both sides.


When the dog is very very enthusiastic about this game, progress to two cones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHuw9VRPfo8

Send dog around one cone, then send on to the next. Vary between the number of cones the dog must do to earn rewards, sometimes two, then one, then three, etc… Mix up shoulder pulls and front crosses. Always keep it FUN!

[Brandon M]

Thank you! This is going to be a very useful thread. I'll definitely participate as we are going to be going the "home school" route until April or May. Maybe longer if I don't like the only agility group in my area. They sound very small, not too serious, and a bit like the one you went to a while back.

[MySkip]

Thanks for this thread!

Skip went to his second agility last night and he did much better than the first time... (he really did remember a few things...)

But, because it's in a group... the instructor insists that all dogs stay on lead... And... then corrects the handlers when they point with the farther hand... (the hand without the lead in it, of course...)

I do wish I could teach Skip off lead, I think he would do much better, faster...

[suplese]

This is a great thread! I've always wanted to start agility but had no idea where to start or what to have as a foundation. Thanks Alanna!

[Žiga1]

This thread is realy great idea!! Thank you!!

[UtahCindy]

Oh Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. (Chewy may not thank you yet though) We got her a starter agility set for Christmas, everything but the tire. She went thru the tunnel on first try with no problem, except trying to get thru with our Aussie/lab mix. (Daisy, her bud) Been working on her sit, down, leash work, playing tug, come, enough, leave it, stay, wait, and bed time.

Been trying to find something that will tell me the relationship to herding commands vs the agility and basic obedience. We have sheep, and goats, plus a few other animals. I want to focus on agility, but the sheep are there to work (burn energy) also, so she doesn't really need to know ALL the herding commands, just enough to keep the sheep from ending up in the next county. I don't want to confuse her later when she meets up with the sheep.

Any suggestions?

Cindy

[UtahCindy]

(01-26-2011 10:40 AM)Herding Addict Wrote:  

(01-26-2011 10:37 AM)UtahCindy Wrote:  Been trying to find something that will tell me the relationship to herding commands vs the agility and basic obedience. We have sheep, and goats, plus a few other animals. I want to focus on agility, but the sheep are there to work (burn energy) also, so she doesn't really need to know ALL the herding commands, just enough to keep the sheep from ending up in the next county. I don't want to confuse her later when she meets up with the sheep.

Any suggestions?

Cindy

Cindy, is your dog already working sheep? Or are you considering getting started soon?

Hi, No she is not working yet, only 14 weeks old, so has a bit to go. I just didn't want to ingrain one command only to have to change it up later and really confuse her. Her age now is why we are only working on the basics, Im not even really working on heal, as I understand you don't really want a heal in agility, and they have to be able to "heal" on either side. I hope that makes sense and explains better what I am looking for.

Thanks

[UtahCindy]

(01-26-2011 02:13 PM)Herding Addict Wrote:  

(01-26-2011 11:49 AM)UtahCindy Wrote:  Hi, No she is not working yet, only 14 weeks old, so has a bit to go. I just didn't want to ingrain one command only to have to change it up later and really confuse her. Her age now is why we are only working on the basics, Im not even really working on heal, as I understand you don't really want a heal in agility, and they have to be able to "heal" on either side. I hope that makes sense and explains better what I am looking for.

Okay, you are safe in regards to herding, as the commands there generally don't get used in any other area. The commands are:

• Lie Down - Same as "down" and my dogs have no trouble with just a down command off sheep, compared to the lie down when working sheep.
• Away to Me - Indicates you want the dog to move clockwise around the sheep.
• Come Bye or Go Bye - Indicates you want the dog to move counter-clockwise around the sheep
• Walk Up - Indicates to the dog to walk up on the sheep
• Steady or Easy or Time (short for Take Your Time) - You might use this if a dog is coming in to hard or fast on your fetch or drive to indicate you want the dog to slow down and/or steady up the speed.
• There - Usually used to indicate to the dog that you want it to turn "there" and walk up on the sheep. Most frequently used in driving, but sometimes in a general outrun if your dog is over flanking the flock at the top.
• That'll Do - Regardless of what is going on, stop what you are doing right now and come to me, we are done working (either for the moment or for the day). I actually use this in every day life around the house as well.
  

In my opinion, when you are using good handling technique in agility, there is very little vocal commands you are going to ever give your dog. Your dog theoretically be trained to watch your body movement and cues to travel around the course. I personally like the Greg Derrett handling system and is what I am working towards learning now with my dogs. Derrett says there are only 4 words you should ever have to say to your dog on course, they are:

• Left - Telling the dog to turn left
• Right - Telling the dog to turn right
• Go On - Tells the dog to keep going forward ahead of you and take all obstacles in the path on the way
• The Dog's Name - Lots of people say "here" to call their dog to them (I am still guilty of it, but getting better), but the reality is that saying your dog's name will get them to look at you much better than saying "here" all the time. I can say this is true from personal experience too.
  

As far as you avoiding to teach a proper heel, are you wanting to go on to do any obedience or rally obedience some day? If not, then it's not a big deal not to teach a "proper" heel position. But what I can tell you is that my Shadow did a lot of obedience prior to ever doing agility, heeling and all, but even tho she had all that training, she has no trouble working on both sides of me today in agility. I think the important thing is to get your dog used to working away and moving away from you on it's own. This is what you need in agility. If you are doing proper heeling work and working on teaching the dog to still work away from you, you should be fine having both things trained. Our dogs are smart and they can figure it out. I just highly suggest that you work on both to prevent a velcro dog.

On a DVD note, there are a couple DVDs that you can get right now that will have foundation work you can do with a puppy in preparation for future agility training. Puppies learn so fast, little sponges and the more you can teach now, the better. Crate Games, by Susan Garrett, is an awesome foundation DVD. See the Agility DVD thread for more details on it, but this you can work on with a young puppy. One big thing is it will help you teach your pup how to learn, how to offer behaviors and impulse control. I just got to watch Greg Derrett's Agility Foundation Training DVD today too and this also can be started with young pups. Another DVD that I've not personally seen, but have heard tons of good stuff about is Foundation Fundamentals, by Mary Ellen Barry. This is specifically geared towards raising puppies going on to become agility dogs. It's on my list to rent from Bow Wow Flix now that it is available, but my friend saw it and says it's excellent and she plans to use it on a pup she just got.

You can't really do any jumping with a dog under a year old (you shouldn't at all), that's not safe for the pups physically, but there is a lot of foundation training that you can do now that will help you get a lot down now while jumping and proper agility training isn't an option.

If you can only buy one DVD, I'd start with Crate Games, which is only $30 on Clean Run I think. But renting from Bow Wow Flix is a great way to check stuff out before you buy too.

Another thing about training in various areas with Border Collies that I'd like to mention... is that they are smart dogs. My dogs know when we are doing agility, or when it's obedience, or when it's herding. They know the difference and they never think they are doing something we are not (i.e. think they are doing agility when we are doing obedience work).

Thank you for your answers, they are greatly appreciated. Will check out the DVD's. Right now the book I am reading is by Laurie Leach, The Beginner's Guide to Dog Agility. Goes from sit, stay, down to running the poles, and all in between.

Cindy

[goldcreek]

(01-26-2011 03:37 PM)UtahCindy Wrote:  Thank you for your answers, they are greatly appreciated. Will check out the DVD's. Right now the book I am reading is by Laurie Leach, The Beginner's Guide to Dog Agility. Goes from sit, stay, down to running the poles, and all in between.

Cindy

I have that book, it is a great place to start learning about agility! I would encourage you to also get Laurie's Intermediate book as soon as you can, and start working on some of the handling exercises. For example, use the first book to teach the puppy level obstacles such as tunnel, table, and jumps (just the uprights, not the bar, for a puppy), then use the second book to start working on handling sequences with those obstacles she knows. You can keep teaching the harder obstacles separately, and add them to your sequences once she has them perfected. Keep the reinforcement rate high, but do start working on short sequences so she learns about handling and learns to be looking for the next obstacle, rather than just repeating the same obstacle over and over.

I also second the recommend for Crate Games DVD.
Happy training!

[Mandy89]

Goldcreek, thanks for all of the awesome video's ! I can't wait for spring !

[marylouise]

so i just watched the videos and i can safely say i am panicking about our first class on Saturday