There's No Place Like Home!

Today’s Dog Agility Blog Action Day topic is about “Backyard Training” and how handlers train their doggies in the sport of agility.  I live in a condo and have no “backyard” in which to practice.  Luckily, I do belong to a dog agility club and have unlimited access to a field with equipment, including rubberized contacts, a break- away tire, safe jumps, and quite a bit of “running space” for my dog, Jefferson, to let loose from time to time.  

But, much of my training has consisted of my working on fundamentals in my living room.  When we first learned the weave poles, my father made me a set of “weave-o-matics” out of PVC pipe for a Christmas present.  Every night, for one week, I would watch Jeopardy and send Jefferson through our homemade weave poles during the commercial breaks.  Yep, this is how we first learned how to perform the weaves before we took our performance to the practice field and competition grade weave poles.  

Another obstacle we regularly practice is the "table" using my ottoman in the living room.  I remove the cheese sticks from the refrigerator and we work the "table" at least once a day (or more, especially before a trial).  I rev up Jefferson, saying "Are you ready?" and practice the table by running fast down the hallway with him before asking him to jump upon the ottoman, aka the "table," much like he would be required to perform during a trial.  Then, I count to five, lead out and release him to continue his running through the house with me while we play with his tug toy.

Some additional training we perform in my condo includes “start line” stays, impulse control, taking the leash on and off and sends.  Examples of games we play daily include our playing tug, throwing and retrieving a ball, running to a target, and restrained recalls every night before bed.  But, probably the most beneficial training we do indoors involves my playing "warm" and "cold" using operant conditioning, marking the desired behavior with either a clicker or with my voice by saying "yes."  I have taught him to bring his leash to me, lay on his doggie bed, touch the vacuum cleaner, weave between my legs and even push a walker with wheels!  Operant conditioning has been especially helpful to us since I am working on Jefferson learning to want to work with me and readily accept mistakes (made by both of us).

 

Overall, I believe that your doggie's relationship with you and training you execute outside the field, whether it is in your backyard - or in my case, the condo - transfer into the quality of the agility performance you and your team achieves during a trial.  

Team J-Dawg had some great runs during last weekend's trial, earning two Q's (the first time we have earned multiple Q's in a weekend).  I am so proud of our working better together as a team, and attribute much of our success to my dedication in working on growing our bond outside of the agility ring.  

Here is our first place Advanced Gambler's Q:

 

 

And 2nd place (24.22 seconds!) Starter's Jumpers Q:

 

"There is no such thing as a difficult dog, only an inexperienced owner."

~Barbara Woodhouse