STATIONS
You will work with your dog on building value to the station your first day in agility class.
Stationing in a nutshell, involves sending your dog to a designated location where they’ll stay until released.
With proper training, neither duration nor distractions will matter. The dog should remain happily stationed while other dogs are being worked.
Stations provide mental stimulation by working your dogs’ impulse control, frustration tolerance, patience and many other soft skills.
There is an active choice on the part of the dog – to remain in one place, even when more interesting things are going on around them. Making that choice requires focus, the ability to delay gratification and an understanding that their turn will come!
Stations also help the dogs not to worry about the other dogs in class, they all become just white noise.
3 Distinct Parts:
1 – Go to this thing
2 – Get on it (sit, down, stand, 2 paws)
3 – Stay until released
CONES
You and your dog will be introduced to cones very early in your training as they have so many uses in agility.
Cones are useful for learning body language and directional cues. You can work on “Go” “Out” “Tight” “Switch”, you can increase distance and speed as well as work on timing and handling cues. Working with cones can build confidence that is critical for distance work.
When you move into sequencing, you can use cones as a steppingstone. Once you get your dog to drive to a cone, place the cone next to a jump as a marker. Your dog will see the cone and drive to the cone, which will in turn drive them to the jump. You can also utilize cones when training obstacle discrimination.
FIT PAWS/LADDER/ROCKER BOARD
It’s body awareness time! With body awareness activities we are working on fine motor skills, balance, spacial and rear-end awareness, so we encourage the dogs to slow things down. Slowing things down is part of the challenge because they can’t use momentum and they have to navigate each step they take. It requires them to use different muscles along with balance and coordination which activates different parts of their brain.
HOMEWORK: ADVENTURE WALKS
Turn your walks with your dog into adventure walks. Use your agility eyes to find things for your dog, to climb on, jump over, run across, run through and go around. This will help your dog learn to move their body in new ways- ways that will come in handy in agility class, build confidence and have fun!
