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Is your dog timid around people or other dogs?  Is your dog sensitive to sounds?  Agility training can provide the environment and structure to build confidence in your dog.  Agility classes are a great place for people to learn about the sport and learn how to train, but the timid dog may take a long time before he is ready to come out from under your chair or off your lap.

A timid or shy dog can only learn inside their comfort zone.  So, training must begin where they feel safe and behaviors must be taught in very small increments. Home will probably be the best place to train and have learning takes place for your dog .
So, how do you train at home?  You will need guidelines and equipment. There is a multitude of websites that can give you information on agility training.

There are also books and videos that will give details and visual aids and lesson plans for beginners thru expert levels.

There is a variety of equipment that is useful and helpful to have at home.  Equipment recommendations are based on your available space and location of training.  Do you have a large yard that will hold 10 obstacles? Do you have a small yard where you will need setup equipment and then tear down before you can setup again?  Will you be training in your garage or basement, or as some agility addicts, in your living room?

For the timid dogs make sure your equipment is safe and sturdy.  The pause table is a good place to begin your agility training.   A 12” high pause table, with adjustable legs for later use, is a good starting place for all size dogs. Remember with your shy dog, setup your table in an area that is very familiar to your dog.  If your dog barks at anything new, just leave your pause table in your house or yard for several days, let your dog inspect and smell it on his own or with a little coaxing, but don’t push to fast, remember baby steps with the insecure dog.   With treats in a dish or his favorite toy placed on the table encourage your dog to get up on the table.  You will need to be patient, because this may take than one lesson.  If your timid dog looses interest in food or toys when you attempt something new, trying holding him and you sit on the table.  If your dog is too big to hold, have him on leash and you sit on the table.  If he backs away coax him, only treat or reward him when he comes to you, never when he’s pulling back away from you or the table.

Eventually, you want your dog to be able to jump on the table with your cue word, “Table”, “Box”, “Kennel”, whatever word you use, Stay on the table as you back away and then Come when you call. Do the training slowly so that your dog is not pushed too soon.

From Pause Table to Contact Trainer is a good transition for shy dog.  A Contact Trainer comes in different designs.  We recommend a 3-Piece Contact Trainer that has one mini A-frame side, a Pause Table, and then a mini Dog-walk side.  Your dog can sit on the table and then be coaxed down the A-frame side or the Dog-walk side.  Just remember with the shy dog, training is done in increments, slowly and comfortably, with a little push to cheer him, but not enough to overwhelm him to cause a shutdown.
You can follow the above techniques introducing new obstacles as your dog is able to succeed.  As your dog succeeds on each new piece of equipment you will see his confidence grow.

There are lots of dog lovers clubs in the US that offer a lot more for both the dog lovers and their dogs. Here are some of them.

The American Kennel Club has a dog lovers sections called “For the Love of the Purebred Dog”. This article is more than a canine purebred section. It is dedicated to living at home with dogs. This dog club gives informative and educational materials concerning to pet care, training, nutrition and a lot more. It also includes funny stories, art, pet history and the more popular Companion Animal Recovery method. There are also more popular sites like the dog breeds and events page.

The American Mixed Breed Obedience Registration or (AMBOR) on the other hand was created in 1983 with the objective concerning to the perseverance and accolades in obedience contests of mix breed dogs and handlers. This dog lovers club also gives support and inspiration to dog handlers.

Important Information for Members:

1. Mixed-breeds. Unlimited full membership is open to handlers and owners of mixed-breed dogs as long as the pet is spayed and nails are cut. There should be front and side photo shots of the dog that will be included in the application. This is the ticket to all the obedience and agility programs, automatic tabulation in the agility and obedience nationwide ranking system. This also includes a given eligibility for the annual awards. This achievement will be given honor in AMBOR highlights (AMBOR’S newsletter) and on the website. The member will be eligible to any agility and obedience national competition in the future. Dogs with assigned numbers are marked as purebred and should be enlisted as a purebred. Also, dogs that are listed as mixed-breeds that are given a number based on the owner’s application causes its membership to be changed to a status of a purebred.
2. Purebreds. Purebred dogs can be listed with AMBOR with a rule that entry is limited to the AMBOR-supported agility program. All dogs that are purebred, listed with AMBOR and exhibits AMBOR-supported programs on agility will have competition points monitored and there will be an automatic issuance of certificates. Dogs that are purebred and listed with AMBOR are not qualified to be a part of the agility and obedience scoring systems. They will also not be included in the website on highlights and not qualified for any mixed-breeds national competition in the future.

Handlers that register to the AMBOR-supported trials on agility should put their AMBOR number on the form at the club’s entrance so that competition points will be monitored.

A well-train dog usually leads a happier and healthier life and its owner also can enjoy a trouble-free lifelong companion. Dog training – basic obedience, house and potty training are therefore essential and important to a dog’s education.

The conventional method of dog training tips and guide would be to list a series of things that you should “Do” and you might even know the A-Z of dog training! But sometimes what should be done can be said best by telling what should not be done.

This article seeks to list 18 “Don’t” when you train your dog. The reasons for the don’ts will become evident as the lessons continue and each one is based upon the distinctive psychology of the dog’s mind.

1. DON’T punish your dog while you are angry or lack control of yourself.
2. DON’T punish your dog with the lead or any instrument of training or anything he should associate with duty or pleasure.
3. DON’T sneak up on your dog or grab him from the rear.
4. DON’T chase your dog to catch him; he must come to you or run after you.
5. DON’T coax your dog to you and then turn upon him with the whip. You will repent the deception.
6. DON’T trick or fool or taunt your dog. It is cruel and discrepant to tease your canine to come to you when he cannot.
7. DON’T punish a dog by stepping on his paws needlessly. They are exceedingly sensitive. Don’t twist his ears playfully or otherwise. Never strike him on the backbone, in the face or on the ears.
8. DON’T grab your dog or reach for him quickly. He should never fear you, should not be made nervous by you, and should feel that punishment given is deserved.
9. DON’T nag your dog; don’t be giving orders to him constantly; don’t pester him with your shoutings.
10. DON’T praise a dog for doing a certain act, then at a later time, scold him for doing the same act. If you permit him to bite your toes today and think it fun, do not strike him for doing it tomorrow, when you are not in good humor. Consistency is a chief virtue in dog training.
11. DON’T train your dog immediately or soon after he has eaten.
12. DON’T lose patience with a puppy younger than six months. Never throw or kick a puppy nor lift him by the head or leg or skin of the neck.
13. DON’T train him in feats requiring much strength or endurance until he is at least six months old.
14. DON’T work your dog without some short rest or play periods during training. A five-minute rest for every fifteen minutes of training is desirable.
15. DON’T permit everyone to give commands to your dog. While you are training him, he must be a one-man dog, depending on you alone to feed him and care for him.
16. DON’T consider tricks the chief end or the chief part of training. Usefulness is the object sought in all instruction of the dog. Acts that spring naturally from the dog’s instincts are to be fostered.
17. DON’T expect your dog to be a wonderful dog after a few weeks of training; four months to a year may be necessary in order to make the master proud of him, but the work is worth the effort. Training never ends.
18. DON’T jump to the conclusion that your dog is dumb. He may differ with you believing that the trainer should know more than the dog.

To end, try to remember these 18 Don’ts rules, enjoy training your canine and most importantly have lots of fun along the way!

We are often asked, “How many jumps should I start with?”  You can never have too many single jumps to practice agility.  A good starting place is four jumps.  This is the absolute lowest number of jumps that we recommend.

You can teach a variety of skills, drills, and exercises with four jumps.  Four jumps will allow you to work on a short jump chute or jump grid.  You can setup a “box” with your jumps and practice handling, collection, and 270 degree jumps.  You can teach your dog jumping left and right.  You can be outside the box and send your dog or you can handle from the inside of the box.  Your jumps can be setup in a horizontal line, so that you can practice serpentines and treadles.

Eight jumps is the next step you can get.  Now you can setup two boxes with one introductory jump.  You’ve now multiplied your drills that you can practice with your dog.  Your jump grids can be of recommended size and quantity of jumps.  You can also setup your jumps in a circle with the jump bars perpendicular to the circle or on the circumference of the circle.  This pattern also enables you to train a variety of skills.

Double jump and triple jump is your next consideration.  You could set two or three single jumps together to make your expanded jump, but having double and triple jump in your course work is really valuable to practice.  We’ve seen many puppies run a clean course and the last obstacle is a triple and the dog is not prepared for it, and bang, down comes the bar.

You can really be ahead of the pack and have two sets of eight jumps.  This is the ultimate in training because you can keep a jump grip up at all times that is separate from your course work, and have eight single jumps to have for course work.  And when you include your double and triple, you can really practice all the jumping skills and drills necessary to get you those “Qs”.

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.

Please click here to read my reviews of the best of the on-line dog obedience training programs: Online Dog Training Program Reviews.