Agility training for dogs is a great way to channel all of their abundant energy, and give it a productive outlet. The agility training not only is a great way to exercise your dog physically, but it will also sharpen his wits through the problem solving he must do.

A dog that is well exercised and happy is much more likely to refrain from bad behaviors. After all that training activity he will just want to relax-he’ll be too tuckered out to cause mischief.

Of course, not all dog breeds are well suited for agility training. For instance,  dogs descended from the working breeds such as Retrievers, Shepherds, Herding Breeds (collies, cattle dogs) Spaniels and Terriers are physically more suited for the agility training than very large breeds such as Great Danes, St. Bernards or a Mastiff. The very large breeds tend to tire out too quickly and aren’t gifted by nature for this type of activity. If a breed of dogs is too small, it is also unable to meet the physical demands of agility training-for instance, they can’t make it over the jumps.

If your dog seems to have the right personality (very athletic and energetic), you might want to train your dog for agility contests. In order to get good results with agility training your dog, you will first need to have already obedience trained your dog.  That is because in order to perform the tricks required your dog will need to pay close attention to your commands and hand signals.

Besides the regular basic obedience commands such as sit, stay and heel, you need to teach your dog hand signals to turn left or right, to go slow or fast, when to stop, etc. Therefore, pay attention to getting a good foundation with general obedience training first, before trying the agility training.

Wait until your dog has grown to full size prior to starting the agility training. A puppy won’t be ready for the obstacle courses until he has become full grown. That usually means waiting until your puppy is at least a year or so old, (perhaps a bit longer for a larger breed) to get  started with the agility training exercises. This kind of training for dogs over about 8 years old is not recommended since the training is harder for an aging dog’s body to handle.

If you would like an example of agility training, try to look up a Dog Agility Club in your area to check a competition out. It is really fun to see these dogs performing the obstacle course exercises. If you have seen a competition on TV, you already know how amazing these dogs are. Clearly the agility training is teaching the dogs to do some incredible tricks. The variety of different obstacles that the dog have to go over, under or through calls for some excellent training.

While watching a competition, you can easily see how much the dogs enjoy doing the tricks on the obstacle course.  The results of the agility training are something that would impress any dog owner. It is no wonder so many people are becoming interested in dog agility clubs.

Agility training includes exercises such as jumping over hurdles, climbing over a tall A-frame structure, crawling through tunnels, and weaving his way through a series of “weave poles”. By combining all these exercises together, your dog will be sharp both mentally and physically. By the way, you will get lots of exercise yourself-you will be burning lots of calories while  agility training your dog.

To get started with agility training for your own dog (if he fits the profile of being physically active and the right size for the training) check out to see if there is an agility training club near you. Don’t be discouraged by how hard the tricks seem. By teaching each step progressively the training becomes something you and your pet can handle.

Hopefully, you have learned something about dog agility training, and find this article useful with regards to your own pet.

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