Dogs love to practice their agility skills and are happy to practice in pretty much any type of weather, but when it's rainy, snowy or your area is in the middle of a thunderstorm, going outside is not a good option. While inclement weather can put a damper on your dog's daily outdoor agility training, there are definitely some agility activities that you can easily set up inside your home so that he can exercise and train.
If you have room in a basement or garage, you can set up quite a few agility obstacles inside so that you will always be ready to go, no matter what type of weather you are experiencing. You can keep a pause table, an A-frame, a teeter-totter, a tunnel or chute and a couple of jumps inside so that workouts can happen at any time. Of course, not everyone has space for this, but there are still many options for indoor training.
When the rain hits, bring your pause table into the living room and spend some time practicing with your dog on this apparatus. While dogs really love dashing through weaves and tunnels and running up and down A-frames, the pause table is extremely important and is a key part of obedience training. The dog must learn to stay and sit on the table for at least five seconds, and a rainy day is the perfect time to practice this important skill.
Another option is to set up an A-frame or teeter and have your dog practice those skills. This is an especially good idea if your dog is a bit nervous about these two pieces of equipment. You can adjust the teeter or A-frame and begin at a lower elevation and work with your dog until he or she feels comfortable at a low height and then adjust the apparatus to a higher position.
The A-frame and the teeter are part of a group known as contact obstacles. The dog walk is another type of contact obstacle. You might find it difficult to fit the A-frame in your living room and certainly the dog walk might be too big. However, a contact trainer is a good option that sort of combines the skills of the A-frame or dog walk along with a pause table. Some contact trainers have just two ramps and no pause table, but you can purchase a three-piece contact trainer that will allow you to work on pause activities, as well as walking up and down ramps.
Sometimes you can build your own equipment, but this can be difficult and time consuming. There are several companies that build agility equipment that looks just like the equipment you see at a competition. Carlson-Agility.com, for instance, offers a full line of dog training equipment, including agility jumps, agility dog walks, dog tunnels, chutes, pause tables and any other training equipment you need.
If you have room in a basement or garage, you can set up quite a few agility obstacles inside so that you will always be ready to go, no matter what type of weather you are experiencing. You can keep a pause table, an A-frame, a teeter-totter, a tunnel or chute and a couple of jumps inside so that workouts can happen at any time. Of course, not everyone has space for this, but there are still many options for indoor training.
When the rain hits, bring your pause table into the living room and spend some time practicing with your dog on this apparatus. While dogs really love dashing through weaves and tunnels and running up and down A-frames, the pause table is extremely important and is a key part of obedience training. The dog must learn to stay and sit on the table for at least five seconds, and a rainy day is the perfect time to practice this important skill.
Another option is to set up an A-frame or teeter and have your dog practice those skills. This is an especially good idea if your dog is a bit nervous about these two pieces of equipment. You can adjust the teeter or A-frame and begin at a lower elevation and work with your dog until he or she feels comfortable at a low height and then adjust the apparatus to a higher position.
The A-frame and the teeter are part of a group known as contact obstacles. The dog walk is another type of contact obstacle. You might find it difficult to fit the A-frame in your living room and certainly the dog walk might be too big. However, a contact trainer is a good option that sort of combines the skills of the A-frame or dog walk along with a pause table. Some contact trainers have just two ramps and no pause table, but you can purchase a three-piece contact trainer that will allow you to work on pause activities, as well as walking up and down ramps.
Sometimes you can build your own equipment, but this can be difficult and time consuming. There are several companies that build agility equipment that looks just like the equipment you see at a competition. Carlson-Agility.com, for instance, offers a full line of dog training equipment, including agility jumps, agility dog walks, dog tunnels, chutes, pause tables and any other training equipment you need.
About the Author:
Cheng Bernhardt enjoys talking about dog agility training. To discover a dog obstacles course, or to find more agility dog training equipment like dog agility kit, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com website today.