….goes up the big dogwalk! I hope you enjoy this video of Mixy the Chihuahua! I think he’s probably one third the size of my cat! (I have a fat cat). Never underestimate a small dog! What they lose in length of stride, they often make up for in precision. TDAA is a great organization for anyone with a smaller dog, since USDAA course times especially can be a bit hard to navigate with a smaller, ’slower’ dog (slow is subjective and relative). There, the courses are designed for small dogs, by small dog owners! Since teacups don’t need as much space between obstacles, the courses are about half-sized! What do you think of TDAA? Have we got any happy TDAA-ers here?
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08Feb
Tags: agility organizations, dog breeds, videos
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06Feb
Tags: simply funny
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05Feb
Having one jump is great. Having multiple jumps is just over-the-top awesome! The standard bar jump is not only the ‘core’ of agility courses (you’ll see more of these than any other obstacles in a trial) but as you progress in your agility training, you’ll want to try these fun and challenging multi-jump exercises. We’ll show you how using more than one jump can take your agility training to new heights.
Speeding down a row. One of the arrangements you’ll find on courses and can practice at home is an equally spaced row of jumps. Send your dog down the line of at least four jumps. At the end of the jumps reward and praise your dog to encourage his drive. This series is fun for your dog, and good exercise! After practicing until you’re both comfortable, you can ask him to return down the line again, ahead of you, using a command like ‘go jump!’. This teaches your dog to run boldly ahead of you on command (distance work). Once he’s trained to run the row with drive, you can also add the challenge of interrupting his row jumping. While you run alongside him, call him out to you between jumps. This is challenging because once your dog is lov’n the row of jumps, he may not want to quickly stop and come. This is where having a good recall is important.
Squares, pivots, and figure eights, oh my! Another beneficial exercise is square pivoting. Set four jumps up in a square and stand in the center. Send your dog ahead of a jump (you stay in the center) and direct him to come to you in the center, over the jump again. Then send him over another jump. There are many additional exercises you can do with 4 jumps in a square. Try standing outside and sending him into the center, then calling him back out, or doing figure eights by standing in the corner between two jumps.
How many jumps are ideal? While training clubs need more, a home course will do fine with 4 jumps (sold here in a great portable set!), though 6 are even better. Both squares and rows need at least 4. Make certain you leave enough take-off and landing room for your dog between jumps!
What kind of jumps should I have on my home course? For the exercises listed above, a simple “bar jump ” is all you need. They’re easy to travel with, and can be easily moved around your course. To add more of a challenge to these jumps you can add wings to help your dog learn to work farther away from your side.
Tags: agility beginners, agility training, videos
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04Feb
We all have our ‘druthers’ in Agility- and our dogs definitely do! But there are some things we love about it. Is there anything we hate about it? Comment with your love and hate for agility below! Any aspect of agility- training, trials, obstacles, or tricks! Name one thing you love, and one thing you hate. There are no wrong answers, and lots of fun to be had! The prize is a three sets of red E-Z sacks (Value approx. $45) to show the love you have for your agility course by not letting it blow around!The winner will be selected by a random number generator, and notified via email (providing you are a registered user here). Deadline is Feb. 15th. Good luck and have fun!
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How to enter this contest:
- If you have never done so before, you must first register your email address on this blog. We will then notify you if you are a winner of this contest. You only need to do this once, and you will be good for all future monthly contests (and get priority notification of when they occur)!
- Scroll to the bottom of this page and enter your comment/answer. Or, if there is no box, click on the “comments” in the upper right corner.
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03Feb
Q. I started agility with my Staffordshire Terrier Tevo a few months ago. Did you know a Staffie could limbo dance? Tevo will run under the jumps no matter how low they are set. Sometimes this is really difficult and he has to duck to get underneath and crawl on his belly, but under he goes! My classmates think it’s really funny. What should I do?A. Your dog is so clever and so creative! Tevo is still new to agility and he is experimenting with the jumps. He thinks, “Hey! There’s more than one way to get to the other side of a hurdle!” and Tevo gets a round of laughter for his antics if he goes under rather than over the pole. Which way would you choose?
Continue reading »Tags: agility training, dog training
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