Agility training for dogs provides a fantastic way for a dog and owner to interact and have fun. At the same time, a pretty rigorous obedience session is going on, but often without the pressure of it seeming like a chore. The dog is tearing about, the handler is tearing about yet they are both learning to give and receive the subtle cues that make for good handling without worrying too much about it.

Agility training for dogs is pretty fast and furious, yet at the same time, as both dog and owner progress, the success of tackling the dog agility obstacles all hinge on the precise movements that become almost robotic.

Dog Agility Trials are to dogs what showjumping is to horses.  A dog agility judge designs a course of obstacles, not all of them jumps mind you, and the dog and the handler have to get round the course of numbered obstacles, in the correct order.

The handler is not allowed to touch the dog apart from accidentally and time faults and/or faults for obstacles knocked down, or completed incorrectly can be incurred. 

The handler will guide the dog around the course of obstacles by using a series of vocal commands, hand signals and body movements. The handler is not allowed to touch the dog to direct him. Of course, a dog can usually run much faster than a person, so it is common, and acceptable for the handler to take a different route round the obstacles to the dog. This is necessary for the handler to be able to position themselves correctly in order to guide the dog where appropriate.

Dog agility can be very good for both physical and mental fitness for both the dog and handler. It can also produce some incredible changes in confidence of dogs that suffer with severe submissive behaviour issues.

Any kind of dog training is good for the relationship between dog and owner. It is vital that the dog regards the owner as the pack leader, and training is a very good way of reinforcing this.

For more information about dog training in general, and some of the issues that may arise, please feel free to have a look at my dog training website. There is further information about agility training for dogs also. The website is call Basic Dog Training Online.