Training Requirements For Dog Agility Competitions
No commentsFollowing the best in breed is perhaps one of the toughest yet rewarding contests there are on the dog show circuit. The dog agility competition is when a dog is run through various obstacles, and scores are based on speed and accuracy on maneuvering those obstacles.
The idea behind the event besides the dog getting through the course is to judge how effectively the handler and dog are able to work in unison. There are no real restrictions on what type of dogs can compete but dog agility training is not for everyone.
During the competiton the dog will have to, with the careful assistance of the handler, negotiate various obstacles like tunnels and jumps. The handler will receive a layout of the course beforehand. The agility training the dog received prior to competition day will determine how well it does.
Agility training does take alot of work but it is not a difficult thing to teach a dog. One of the easiest ways to start is to use a dog treat to entice the animal through an obstacle. The agility training should start off fairly easy at first and gradually build up in intensity.
There has to be good communication between the dog and handler. Competition day will be a noisy affair and the dog must know and understand exactly what its handler is communicating to it at any given moment. Everything happens at speed so there is little room for error.
Sometimes the handler is not the owner but someone trained professionally in dog agility. Regardless, the key is that whoever is responsible for the dog in the agility contest knows what will motivate it to perform at its best because at no point is there any physical contact between the two.
Dog agility training takes dedication from both owner and dog. Consistency is the name of the game but watching your dog achieve and work its way successfully through the course will be worth all the hours you put in.
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 1:29 pm and is filed under Dog training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
