Dog Agility Training

Karen VanHoy: Hi! I am Karen VanHoy and I am Captain of the Santa Barbara Flyers. I teach dog agility classes. I am going to show you today some agility training tips that you can do with your dog.

First of all, we are going to be talking about a nose touch to a target. Next, we will be talking about play drive with a toy or a food bag. Then will be showing you some basic weaving skills, teaching your dog how to start weaving. Then we have tunnels, we will be starting with a short straight tunnel going on to a curves tunnel.

We will be starting to show you how to do some basic jumping skills in the straight line and then a little bit in a half circle or a full circle. Then I am going to start to the basic skills of trying to get your dog to work away from you, laterally or having your dog work out in front of you.

Then of course, we always want to work on the basic -- release word for your dog that they really do know what the release word is, and then we will be taking that release word and putting it on the start line in front of a jump and using that, so that the dog stays there until it is called.

Now to get started, the equipment that you will need for these segments are -- a clicker, a touch plate, a food bag, a tug toy, a touch board, 4-6 agility jumps, a set of 6 weave poles, a tunnel, lots of non-crumbly treats in your pocket and after that you are going to need a lot of patience. You and your dog will both have a learning experience here. Remember to make your training sessions fun, and don't over work your dog. Make sure that they have plenty of water if they needed.

So before we get started, I will tell you just a little about myself. I am the Captain of the Santa Barbara Flyers Dog Sports Club and I have been there for the last 11 years, where I teach dog agility classes. I also train and compete with my dogs in Agility, Flyball, obedience. I dabble around a little bit in herding and I am also in the conformation ring. I also have a therapy dog, which is from Therapy Dog International and we have been visiting our local hospital for the last eight years, comforting patients and visiting nurses.

So let's get started.