Where to Start!

J

Jragon

Forums Regular
I'm getting my new pup early July and I'd really like to get him into agility and obedience early on. I haven't done a whole lot of agility stuff, my dog now, who is a retired show dog and 6 years old, I've taught to do some jumps (and can jump 2 feet no problem to my surprise!) in the last year or so. He only does it when he really has the energy and feels like listening though! It amuses him for so long then he quits. But I never did anything like that with him early on so he's not used to it either...

With my new pup I'd like to start early with the stuff. I'm definitely taking him to obedience classes ASAP to get him socialized and to train him to listen (I can't stand a dog who won't listen), but I'm wondering how soon to start on agility? And also, where to start?! I have tons of space in the yard to set things up, we have a couple jumps, and a tunnel, and I'd like to add more to it. I was wondering what other things would be good to start with and how to go about training them at a young age with this stuff.

Is there anywhere I can look that will help me out with this? Maybe a good agility training website that is out there that has a lot of good info or something. Any help would be appreciated, I would like to be prepared ahead of time!

Oh, and one thing I'd really like to teach him is the difference between left and right! :lol:
 
wow, around here that is a loaded question, lol
There are also a few threads on this.

As to the left and right that is something you can teach your pup...
Hold them on the ground, put a treat in between the front paws and pass it through from behind so he has to look down to get it out of your hand. When he looks down for more cookie, tab him slightly and gently on his right hip, when he whips his head say Tight and mark the behaviour by saying yes or clicking and give cookie on that side. alternate hands do the same for left. keep it at very short sessions...

For agility my personal suggestions would be not to bother buying obstacles until much later, a lot of new to agility people put their dog wayyy too fast on obstacles and either turn the dog off, injure it or confuse him. It is very tempting, don't get me wrong :biggrin2: I learned afterward how much importance there is what goes in between the obstacles, because my dog didn't know and neither did I, LOL. We are still learning and there are experts out there who are wayyyyyyy more accomplished than I.

First off, clicker training, this will help you shape things down the road when you really need it in agility! An agility dog needs to learn independently and you can't get that if you don't train positive enforcement only, although positive doesn't mean permissive! You get a dog that will listen willingly and can learn and wags his tail during training.. plus gets a pup good and tired :yes:

Second teach your dog the 'reward zone' so that he gets rewarded a LOT on either side of you at the leg by your knee/thigh, depending how big the dog is. When you walk feed him from the side you want him on, keep going when he catches up you want him to catch up on that side he was on again and get rewarded with the treat by your leg... This will teach the dog how to run with you and not 'butt-pass' you on the field... lol

TUG TUG TUG games and play, always always make yourself more interesting (and foolish) than any other stimuli he will encounter out in the fields :razz:

Keep jumps at lowest height. Click and train the behaviour ... so that he learns to see a jump, means take a jump! 80% of a course are jumps... Don't jump a puppy, but a realllll low like the base bar will do.

Target training... use margarine or yoghurt container and click and train the dog to touch it with his nose only.. don't do it like me where I have a dog that loves to paw at it.. and that is exactly what I didn't want :rolleyes2:

That should keep you busy ;)
 
http://www.agilityrightfromthestart.com/

I have found this book to be a really useful tool in preparing a dog for agility. It focuses on building confidence and teaching both you and the dog training techniques. There is no agility equipment invloved for the first 2/3 of the book so it should be perfect for starting early and preparing your puppy.
 
Obedience, obedience, obedience!!!!!! Agility is so great, but you will have problems later on if you don't practice your foundation! (especially recalls coughNELLIEcough) :smile2:

After, I would start by Working with low jumps. Have your pup explore the jumps (VERY LOW) and have him know what there for. I think that classes are the best way to go to learn other obstacles and socialization. Good luck & congrats on the puppy!
 
Thanks all for the helpful info so far! Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and for the helpful tips. At least I know where to start now and won't be completely lost! :lol:
 
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