What is Dog Agility Starters?
Our Agility Starters is for dogs & owners who have never attended agility classes, or need to get back to basics with their dog. The class meets weekly for one hour for six weeks.
Course Aims:
To introduce owners of dogs who wish to work towards competition agility with their dogs. This course will establish a good foundation in relationship building, control, physical ability and mental awareness for both handlers and dogs. Designed to prepare dogs for entering our agility training class, this course offers up to the minute training techniques, which will not only help in further training, but also raise the owners awareness of a dogs needs within their general relationship with their dog.
This course is also designed for anyone wishing to begin agility training with their just for fun as working towards competition is not compulsory in these classes.
Who is this course for?
Either those who have never trained agility before, or those who have already trained a dog for agility and now have a second or subsequent dog with whom they would like to commence training. You do not need to have any prior knowledge of agility training techniques, and if you do, you will be guaranteed to learn new ones!
Course Content:
A combination of demonstrations by the Trainer with practical sessions with your own dog
- Relationship Building
- Introduction to targeting
- Focus Work
- Handling Exercises
- Teaching Balance and Body Awareness
- Introducing Hump Bump Grid work
- Further Target Training
What Will I Learn?
In this class, you can expect to learn:
- how to use clicker training to make training clearer and easier for your dog
- which rewards to use while training your dog (treats, toys, praise, play)
- how to raise criteria so your dog steadily makes more progress with each skill
Along the way, we begin to fade your dog’s lead by first training your dog on-lead, then with the lead dragging along the ground, then with a light line attached, and finally off-lead. (Off-lead control is necessary before you can progress to the next class, Intermediate Agility.)
Class Curriculum
The equipment we use includes low jumps (including the tire), short tunnels, the chute (collapsed tunnel) fabric, a PVC ladder, a round board that wobbles when stepped on, narrow planks, and traffic cones.
The tricks we teach include hand targeting, beg, spins to the left and right, turning tightly around an object (“wrapping”), and backing up. We also teach an off-lead stay.
What happens at the end of the course?
After you have completed the first 6 weeks, you will be invited to continue your pre agility and introduction to the agility equipment for a further six weeks. The fee is £60 for this, after which you will go onto a pay monthly in advance plan at £6 per week.
Agility is a great way to have fun with your dog, a great opportunity to keep fit and I really enjoy visiting different places each summer when competing.
BE WARNED ITS ADDICTIVE!
How Do I Sign Up?
Ready to join us? Great! The only pre-requisite is that your dog has graduated from a group training class in the past, such as basic manners or puppy class or our puppy training class. (If you haven’t done that yet, contact us and we’ll see when we can place you on one of our classes.)
To join us, just fill out our online enquiry form – it’s the first step to enjoying agility with your canine companion.