Agility Basics: 6 skills to get you started.
Agility is an exciting dog sport that challenges a dog’s athletic ability while promoting teamwork between dog and handler. It is a great way to build confidence in dogs and owners also often notice an improvement in basic obedience skills. Agility training has become very popular for owners, whether they are hoping to compete in the future or just spend quality time with their canine companion. Because of this popularity, new students may find themselves waiting for a foundations class to open up. While you likely don’t have all the fancy equipment, there are still some foundation skills you can get work on at home. Check out our top 6 beginner exercises below to get started!
2 Paws Up
This foundation skill is always our first introduction to body awareness exercises. Dog’s tend to have fairly good front end awareness although they may not always want to put their feet where directed. In class we use plastic exercise steps to introduce this behavior, but you can use anything a bit wider than your dog’s natural stance that is strong enough to support their body weight. Some dogs may shy away from slippery surfaces at first, so adding a bit of traction tape or matting can help them feel more comfortable. Hold a treat in your hand (lure) to encourage your dog to move around the step, mark any interaction with the step with a “yes” and reward with the treat. Some dogs will step up right away, others may need to be rewarded for smaller behaviors like bumping the step or moving around it at first. Keep in mind that lifting the treat up above the natural height of the nose will encourage the dog to shift their weight to their rear end, making the front end lighter and easier to move. I never recommend physically placing the dog’s feet on the step since we want them to actively engage in the learning process, not do it for them. I also avoid using any verbal cues until the dog can reliably step up on their own, even cues that seem relatable like “paw” can create confusion. When your dog becomes familiar with this behavior, see if they can offer to step up without the treat lure in your hand. Wait until they step up, mark, and then reward! Once your dog can reliably put 2 paws on the step, you can challenge them by introducing smaller objects, objects with different textures or things that wobble like exercise balance discs.
4 Paws On and In
In agility your dog will have to climb on and balance on different pieces of equipment. Full body awareness of the front and hind end as well as balance and proprioception (the body's ability to sense its location, movements, and actions) is very important. One way to improve on this is to challenge our dog’s to step on or into something with all 4 paws. In class we use plastic bins such as cat litter boxes to introduce an “in” behavior before moving on to more difficult objects like tires that require the dog to tighten up their natural stance. You may have an empty Amazon box at home that would work just as well. For the 4 paws on activities we begin with agility training tables before moving on to narrower items that will be closer to the specifications of the dog walk and teeter (approximately 12” wide) which requires the dog to have increased awareness of foot placement.
Spin
Not only is this a great warm up exercise as it requires your dog to move their entire body with precise foot movement, but it can be helpful later on for teaching more advanced turns like a switch. A spin is most easily introduced by luring the dog with a treat in the hand, using a circular pattern from nose towards back hip. You are looking to reward a complete 360 degree rotation but as some dogs may struggle in one direction or be unsure about having an arm overhead, you may reward for 180 degrees, or less, to start. Spins should be practiced in both directions; most dogs will find one direction naturally easier, so keep this in mind while teaching this behavior. Verbal cues can be added once you know the dog can successfully produce the behavior and your initial treat lure becomes the physical cue. I do suggest removing the treat from the luring hand as quickly as possible so the dog does not become reliant on seeing the treat. Mark the behavior upon completion and then reward from your pocket or treat pouch.
Targeting
The targeting exercises in class are designed to draw the dog’s attention to a target disk via a combination of capturing and shaping. We utilize thin frisbees or round lids to introduce targets but will add in rubber feed bowls later on for distance work. Most of the time it is a bit of trial an error to see what works best for each individual dog. Working with a dog that is familiar with offering behaviors, I often put the target on the ground and start moving around slowly, marking and rewarding any attention towards the target. Something as small as a glance towards the target can be reinforced at first; this training approach is called shaping. While my desired behavior may be for the dog to move away from me, go to the target and put their paw or nose on it, I want to start by reinforcing the smallest possible behavior that relates to that target, think baby steps. Another approach would be to start by holding the target behind your back, bringing it out and setting it on the ground, marking and reinforcing as soon as your dog drops their head to check it out (most dogs do this when seeing something “new”). Once you have reinforced, pick the target up and hide it back you back again for a couple seconds before repeating the process again. Removing the visual of the target and reintroducing it makes it novel and interesting again and can be a great way to bring your dog’s attention to it so that you can capture an interaction. Avoid placing treats on the target in an effort to lure your dog to it; this appears to work but does not allow them to create a learned connection to the target. I do usually suggest rewarding on the target once the behavior has been marked; rewarding away from you is a great way to encourage distance work. Target training is not something that is easily achieved in one short session so be patient. Once your dog realizes they can easily earn a reward just by paying attention to that little round disc on the floor, you will have a hard time keeping them away from it!
2 On/2 Off
I mentioned above that dog’s typically have good front end awareness, the same cannot always be said for the hind end. Most dog’s awareness extends to avoiding placing their rear paws on said object. Starting on a table or platform, encourage the dog to step forward to put the front paws onto the floor, keeping the back paws on the table (you can utilize a target to bring the dog’s focus forward and for reward placement). Lowering the reward towards the ground will bring more weight into the dog’s front end, encouraging them to stop in what we refer to as the 2on/2off position. You can also use the exercise step from the 2 paws up exercise, starting with the front paws up, encourage the dog to move forward slowly, rewarding for any rear foot contact. It may take some time to get both back feet on the step but your dog’s rear end awareness will begin to improve with successful repetitions. The 2on/2off behavior is not only good for rear end awareness but is also the starting point for teaching a stop contact which can be a valuable skill. Check out Sophia in the picture above, she is working on perfecting her stop contacts!
Sit Stay
This basic obedience skill is important and very useful in the agility ring; A solid sit stay can be used to set up a start line with distance. Work on proofing your dog’s stay- turn your back, work up to longer distances of 15-20 feet, add distractions. When it comes time for the release, encourage a quick, excited return to you or work on sending out to a table or target. In agility, the release is just as important as the stay!
