How do I increase speed?

A

Auntkhaki

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I've been doing agility with my 5 year old male for just under a year now. He's extremely accurate and dependable and hard to really excite. He's now on the verge of getting his AX and AXJ. The problem is he only runs at a moderate speed! I can easily get in front of him on the course. Up until now this hasn't be a big issue but will become one as we get ready to start Exc B. I've asked this question of a number of folks where I train and the only answer I get is "Take a pound or two off of him". He's not a delicately boned sheltie - he is very solid and stocky but not overweight by any means!
Any suggestions for speeding him up? I realize this might just be his personality and way of performing but 10 seconds under course time instead of 2 might be nice!!
 
I don't think that there is an easy remedy for a moderately paced dog. My first dog, Bentley, is the same. He always makes me sweat it out when it comes to course times!

That being said, we've been doing agility for a year and a half now, and I am finally seeing more speed. I think that a lot of it has to do with confidence and repetition. Some dogs are just naturally more cautious and careful. It takes a while for them to be confident enough to perform obstacles (and in between obstacles) more quickly.

However, I have heard of some people "racing" their dogs to the reward. In other words, put a treat at the end of a dog walk or another obstacle. The first one there, gets the treat. I don't think this would work for my dog because he is very polite. He would never take something from me, or before me. It might work for your dog?

Is there anything that gets your dog amped up? I'm able to get Bentley more excited by pushing him around before we start. Also, with a slower dog, it's always a good idea (depending on the course) to do a running start. A sit/stay can really demotivate and even creates a slower start.

Just a couple thoughts :)
 
Is he toy motivated?
Maybe slow it down again and built value for the jumps with getting him excited for each one?

But I am a noobie lol, and way behind you in training, but ALSO have a big Sheltie, allright... but he's not 'fat' either.. as you can see fromt he beach photo, lol.. kinda scrawny, actually!
He's tall, but he won't be a rocket ever, lol
 

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Auntkhaki said:
I've been doing agility with my 5 year old male for just under a year now. He's extremely accurate and dependable and hard to really excite. He's now on the verge of getting his AX and AXJ. The problem is he only runs at a moderate speed! I can easily get in front of him on the course. Up until now this hasn't be a big issue but will become one as we get ready to start Exc B. I've asked this question of a number of folks where I train and the only answer I get is "Take a pound or two off of him". He's not a delicately boned sheltie - he is very solid and stocky but not overweight by any means!
Any suggestions for speeding him up? I realize this might just be his personality and way of performing but 10 seconds under course time instead of 2 might be nice!!
Click to expand...

I am having the same problem with my 5yr sheltie We just started showing. She runs as fast as she runs. Very accuate though. I even got the take a few pounds off suggestion. Ok she could maybe lose a 1 or 2 lbs(snuck up on me in the last 6 months) not but that wasn't always the case. I have had minor success speeding her up over 3yrs of training. She hates toys, physical reving etc. I did find running with her from the start helps. Praising with good, yes and such helps her kept moving forward. She is getting better with training time so much better this year alone. I held off showing her for a long time because of speed issues. I finally decided what the heck this might be the fastest we go. She does seem to be getting faster now that we finally trialed. I'm looking forward to any suggestions as well.
 
Careful what you wish for...

I have had to really speed up my female to make course times as we move up. Currently she runs around like a Border Collie - with speed but it does mean we can lose accuracy.

Now she is a fast dog by nature, I had slowed her down in our early days of training. To speed her up I do a lot more distance work in class. This gives her the confidence to speed things up if she doesnt feel she has to wait for me. We also have done a fair amount of jump sequences where she can learn to drive ahead.

I also rev her up before a run. We play fetch (at trials) before she goes on (leaving enough time for her to get her breath back) and this gets her adrenalin pumping. Then I say 'ready, ready, ready' slowly at the start line to get her revved up again. Then a big decisive "go" with a drop of the hand and she's off. I find this combined with a lead out ensures she has speed at the start. My other sheltie I run with (mainly because he will go if the judge tells me go) and his starts are nowhere near as fast.
 
After reading some of the replies, the first question that popped into my head is...."why is your dog slow"? Is it weight (you said no)? Is it fear? Is it confidence? Is it his personality? etc.

I ask, because like Bentley, my dog Koji has gained speed the more confidence he gets. When I started out, our times were 2.5-3.0 yps. Typically on the lower end. Now, I'm running about 3.5-4.0 typically on the higher end. He's gotten more confidence everything. Sometimes he's also got a big head and gets stubborn.

OTOH, my other dog is just slow. It's his personality. He's not the type to rush or really run all that fast. Even when he plays chase with Koji, Miko (the other dog) outsmarts him. Instead of full out chasing him, he just positions himself to where he just needs to lunge at Koji to get him to run. He also does this with other dogs. when we did agility, he was slow and steady to the point of my gawd would we finish? LOL.

It's interesting to read though, because it seems everyone had a different reason for why their dog was slow. And obviously, different reasons means different training. I mean, I thought for sure my trainer was joking when she said eventually Koji would get faster. lol. He has, but he'll never be super fast.
 
k9kreationz said:
After reading some of the replies, the first question that popped into my head is...."why is your dog slow"? Is it weight (you said no)? Is it fear? Is it confidence? Is it his personality? etc.

I ask, because like Bentley, my dog Koji has gained speed the more confidence he gets. When I started out, our times were 2.5-3.0 yps. Typically on the lower end. Now, I'm running about 3.5-4.0 typically on the higher end. He's gotten more confidence everything. Sometimes he's also got a big head and gets stubborn.

OTOH, my other dog is just slow. It's his personality. He's not the type to rush or really run all that fast. Even when he plays chase with Koji, Miko (the other dog) outsmarts him. Instead of full out chasing him, he just positions himself to where he just needs to lunge at Koji to get him to run. He also does this with other dogs. when we did agility, he was slow and steady to the point of my gawd would we finish? LOL.

It's interesting to read though, because it seems everyone had a different reason for why their dog was slow. And obviously, different reasons means different training. I mean, I thought for sure my trainer was joking when she said eventually Koji would get faster. lol. He has, but he'll never be super fast.
Click to expand...


That is an interesting question. Ember is slow because of confidense issues. Justice was slow because he was my first agility dog. I taught him to be slow because my brain was too slow and thats had I taught him. He is mister methodical. Everything the same all the time.:smile2: It was great because if you showed him how to do something once(not kidding) and he got praised for it that was the way he did it forever. The down side if you wanted to change how he did something later because you let him do it once wrong wihout comment or he learned it wrong, it was hard as heck to do. This is the dog that counts his steps on the go outs and to the jumps, that times the signals and judges commands in his head in obedience. The dogs that never ran up a contact without squaring himself first because he was taught to go on and off the contact straight. If he was a person I think he would be an engineer with a T square and pocket protector.:wink2::lol:
 
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what my agility instructor has us do to increase speed is toss our treat pouch. When working on training a segment at the end toss your treat pouch so he goes for it, full speed ahead. Will help you get his speed up a bit.
 
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