Dog Agility - It's All About the Handler
By Kate Carter
"My dog can jump really high. I bet he'd be good at agility."
I hear this all the time, but the truth is, jumping is only a small part of what agility is about. In fact, agility is not so much about the dog's athletic prowess as it is the human's ability to teach her dog to play the game. If you really think you and your dog are cut out for agility and want to give it a try, here are a few things you should know before getting started.
First, agility is a means to bond with your furry pal. Competing in trials is something for which to strive, but in the beginning, it's mostly about enhancing your relationship with your four-legged friend. The cool thing about agility is that it gives you the framework for spending a few minutes of one-on-one time with your buddy, every day, and believe me, your dog will love you for it.
Second, agility is about teamwork. It's about working together so that you and your dog develop a way of communicating, with the objective of navigating a fun obstacle course together. It's like a well-choreographed dance. You are the leader, and your dog is counting on you to lead him accurately and smoothly through the dance, and not step on his paws!
Third, it's all about training. If your goal is to get to the point where you and your dog can waltz through a course of 15 or 16 obstacles, you are going to have to take lessons and you will have to practice. Take Dancing with the Stars, for example - you know darn well those teams did not get on stage without a lot of training and practice. Fortunately, our dogs are very smart and don't require the same training regimen the stars do.
Finally, you must always remember that your dog never does anything wrong. If you think he did something wrong, you're off the mark. When your dog makes a mistake in agility, it's only because you didn't train him properly.
If you're still interested in taking up the sport (and who wouldn't be?), the next thing to do is to find a good agility instructor. Your local dog training facility might offer agility lessons, but be sure to find out what kind of experience the agility instructor has. Good instructors not only will have taught a wide variety of humans and dogs, but also they will be competitors themselves, or at the very least, will have competed in the past. There is much more to agility than simply learning the equipment. You want someone who can teach you how to handle your dog, how to cue him properly, how to assess you and your dog's learning needs, and how to problem solve when things aren't going according to plan. Only someone with trial experience can give you the full picture and help you and your dog be a solid team.
But wait...let's back up a few steps. There are four fundamental behaviors to work on that will serve you well throughout your agility career: sit, down, come and stay. If your dog is proficient at those four commands, you will have great success in the early stages of agility. If he doesn't, you'd best take a basic obedience class first, and then move on to agility. Agility classes are very stimulating environments, and a dog who comes when called, sits patiently by your side while you wait for your turn, lies down when asked, and stays while you get in position to call him over a jump, will be, two paws up, the star of the class.
A list of Agility organizations can be found here.
Kate Carter is a freelance writer, editor, and photographer from Waterbury Center, Vermont. She plays agility with her two border collies, Brewster and Phoebe, and competes recreationally in the USDAA venue.
