If, like many of us, you’re usually training your dog on your own, it can be hard to get them used to the chute. They can’t see the end ! it’s scary! it’s dark!
To help your dog get used to chutes and tunnels, try putting another tunnel or barrel into the exit end of the chute to hold it open. Your dog can see through! it’s a miracle! Slowly faze it out after your dog gets the idea of running all the way through.
This tip is especially good for very small dogs, and young dogs, or anybody doing agility on their own.
Contact zoners are a wonderful contact reinforcer. Too many times dogs are disqualified at trials because they’ve missed a contact from going too fast off the end. Enter the Contact Zoner! It works by providing a visual ‘uhoh, can’t jump, I’d hit that’ cue. Simply place the zoner at the bottom of the obstacle, and run the obstacle as usual. It forces your dog to go to the end of the contact- A-frame,Dogwalk, or Seesaw- to go through it. Train slowly and treat often, and you will be well on your way to contact mastery. If he ever misses a contact again, simply bring it back as a gentle reminder. Remember to use treats and lots and lots of praise for a good contact.
Using zoners is a form of conditioning that teaches a dog by limiting his choices- a two on two off which according to Clean Run magazines’ research may place too much stress on the hindquarters of the dog isn’t necessary with a zoner. Your dog learns that it can’t jump off, so it simply runs through. Think of it as a childproof lock that you can eventually remove from your cupboard, yet your child no longer even bothers trying to get in (until they do, which is why it is important to have the zoner in use sometimes.)
Note: Do not use these for the upside of an A-frame. Big dogs need to leap up the A-frame to get enough running power, and it is not necessary that they touch the contact zone on the upside anyway. But you can use them for Teeters & Dogwalks, as it can help with dogs that approach from the side.
We get a lot of questions at Affordable Agility about what equipment is best for an individual dog. One such question was what type of equipment a Burmese Mountain dog (pictured at right- isn’t he lovely?) should use. This is a hard question to answer. Generally, when it comes to the larger breeds (especially the bulkier/big boned breeds), they do very well with competition equipment. This is especially the case if you want to encourage speed, or if you are at all serious in the sport, no matter your dog size! Many dogs can get by on lighter equipment, but Burmese Mountain dogs are more ‘lumbering’ dogs… give them sturdy equipment!
You may especially want to consider keeping your larger breed on 24″ weave spacing. Most vets agree that the bigger the dog, the harder the closer spacing is on their backs!
Surprisingly, the Dogwalk and the A-frame aren’t the most hazardous obstacles on the course. The innocuous looking tire jump is! Dogs can be injured in countless ways on them. Your dog can be flung back, slide between the frame and the tire on either side, ‘clothesline’ themselves on the tire or the bungees, knock the entire frame over, become ‘caught’ in the tire (in one awful instance I recall seeing, a dog was caught and completely flipped onto their back), go under the tire, or get caught on a side support. What can you do to avoid this? How can you make agility safe for your dog? Watch the video below: NOTE. The dog in the video, by all reports, was not permanently injured. The movie is disturbing, however.
What can you do to avoid accidents like this? We have some very helpful tips to give you…. (click below to keep reading)
One of the newest inventions at Affordable Agility is our “EZ-sacks”. These are just plain cool. Little sandbags that hold sand, and water goes through them. They just cinch up and snap, forming a little handle to carry them! They’re not so heavy you can’t move them, either, but they’re perfect for weighting down obstacles and practice tunnels too. Have you heard the EZ-sack song? Here is our short little video to watch. Beware..the tune will stick with you
If, like many of us, you’re usually training your dog on your own, it can be hard to get them used to the chute. They can’t see the end ! it’s scary! it’s dark! 
Contact zoners are a wonderful contact reinforcer. Too many times dogs are disqualified at trials because they’ve missed a contact from going too fast off the end. Enter the 
We get a lot of questions at 
One of the newest inventions at Affordable Agility is our “EZ-sacks”. These are just plain cool. Little sandbags that hold sand, and water goes through them. They just cinch up and snap, forming a little handle to carry them! They’re not so heavy you can’t move them, either, but they’re perfect for weighting down obstacles and practice tunnels too. Have you heard the EZ-sack song? Here is our short 
Recent Comments