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Dog Agility Training for Your Puppy
You may be asking, "When can I start agility training with my
new puppy?" You can start immediately, with certain
recommendations. Puppies are always learning, so every time you
are with your pup you can be playing and socializing with
agility in mind. Always remember, if you can control your
puppies environment, you can teach and train the behaviors you
want, left on their own, even in a fenced yard, puppies will
learn and develop behaviors that later we may want or need to
extinguish.
Expose your puppy to different surfaces. One of the first
behaviors we teach our pups is "Box" or "Table". This behavior
transfers to the agility pause table. Lure pup up on a low pause
table, treat them on the table. You can call the pause table
anything you want. (If I was starting over I would name the
pause table "Box" instead of "Table" for my dogs because on the
agility course there is the potential to have too many "T"
words, i.e. tunnel, tire, table, and teeter. The problem is I am
also a creature of habit, and under pressure revert back to my
default words, "table" would be one of them.)
Teach your pup to "Box", meaning to get up on a variety of
obstacles. In our training field we use "Box" for upside down
kennel tops, the bottom of barrels turned upside down, bird
crates, and more. Be creative with your pup, get them to get up
on all kinds of surfaces, exposing them to different shapes,
sizes, and textures. Once your pup is comfortable getting up on
a "Box", then you can begin to ask them to sit on the box also.
You can also begin to use Buja boards for motion training. Buja
boards are generally made from plywood, 36" x 36" with a painted
surface or covered surface. On the underside, there is a 2x4 box
where a partially deflated ball is placed. This enables the Buja
board to rock gently. At first you can reward your pup for
getting one paw on the board, then reward for two feet and
eventually all four. Depending on your pups temperament will
determine how fast they get comfortable on the Buja Board.
Perch training can also be started with young pups. The Perch is
generally a 1'x1' wood surface that is raised by 2"x4"'s
underneath. So the Perch is about four inches in height. The
Perch helps teach pups rearend awareness. Again, you can reward
your pup for getting one front paw on the perch and then the
other. Perch training is mostly used with just the front paws on
the Perch.
These are just a few behaviors you can teach your young pup.
Exposure to a variety of surfaces and heights will help your pup
build confidence in his future agility training.
About the author:
Brad Carlson is a dog trainer at Agility by Carlson. For more
training details, visit our website at
http://www.carlson-agility.com/
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