For the most part, dog agility competitions use the same types of obstacles. While each organization will have rules about height and the amount of obstacles on a course, you tend to see agility equipment such as agility tunnels, an agility chute, a pause table, a teeter totter, weave poles, an A-frame and a dog walk on just about every course.
When you are first getting started, you might be wondering about what pieces of agility equipment need to be purchased first. Generally, you can't go wrong by grabbing a few jumps. All of the agility organizations use jumps and they tend to make up the bulk of the course, so your dog will need to become a jumping expert. Single, double and triple pole jumps are common, as well as the tire jump and panel jumps of varying height.
A few organizations, most notably the UKC, have a couple of extra jumps and agility equipment that aren't used by most other organizations. The window jump is something you might see on a UKC course. They also have some fun pieces of agility equipment such as a sway bridge or the swing plank. These types of obstacles are a lot of fun to watch dogs zip across while still maintaining speed and balance.
Jumps are exciting and fun for dogs, which makes them fairly easy to teach, but there are other pieces of agility equipment that aren't too complicated to learn. While it's not as exciting as tire jumps or weaves, the pause table is an important piece of agility equipment that serves as both an agility training tool and an obedience tool. The pause table is simply a raised square structure that dogs must hop onto and "pause" for a certain number of seconds before continuing through an agility course. Your dog must learn how to stay, sit and lay down anyway, so the pause table provides you with an opportunity to teach these important skills.
Contact obstacles, such as the tunnel, collapsible chute and the dog walk, all can be fairly easy to teach, as well. Dogs can be somewhat intimidated by the tunnels and chutes at first, but with practice and praise, they tend to enjoy zipping through them pretty quickly. The height of the dog walk also can be scary at first, so introduce this item slowly and let them take their time getting used to the height. Obstacles such as the teeter also can be tricky at first, because of the movement and sometimes dogs are intimidated by the height of the A-frame, so just be patient and give them time to adjust.
You can purchase just about every piece of agility equipment that you might need from an online source. Carlson Agility, for instance, sells everything you could need for agility training. You can find contact equipment, all types of jumps, weaves, chutes, tunnels, teeters, K9 training equipment, specialty UKC equipment and much more. If you are training with a smaller breed of dog or perhaps a puppy, Carlson Agility also offers most agility equipment in miniature sizes.
When you are first getting started, you might be wondering about what pieces of agility equipment need to be purchased first. Generally, you can't go wrong by grabbing a few jumps. All of the agility organizations use jumps and they tend to make up the bulk of the course, so your dog will need to become a jumping expert. Single, double and triple pole jumps are common, as well as the tire jump and panel jumps of varying height.
A few organizations, most notably the UKC, have a couple of extra jumps and agility equipment that aren't used by most other organizations. The window jump is something you might see on a UKC course. They also have some fun pieces of agility equipment such as a sway bridge or the swing plank. These types of obstacles are a lot of fun to watch dogs zip across while still maintaining speed and balance.
Jumps are exciting and fun for dogs, which makes them fairly easy to teach, but there are other pieces of agility equipment that aren't too complicated to learn. While it's not as exciting as tire jumps or weaves, the pause table is an important piece of agility equipment that serves as both an agility training tool and an obedience tool. The pause table is simply a raised square structure that dogs must hop onto and "pause" for a certain number of seconds before continuing through an agility course. Your dog must learn how to stay, sit and lay down anyway, so the pause table provides you with an opportunity to teach these important skills.
Contact obstacles, such as the tunnel, collapsible chute and the dog walk, all can be fairly easy to teach, as well. Dogs can be somewhat intimidated by the tunnels and chutes at first, but with practice and praise, they tend to enjoy zipping through them pretty quickly. The height of the dog walk also can be scary at first, so introduce this item slowly and let them take their time getting used to the height. Obstacles such as the teeter also can be tricky at first, because of the movement and sometimes dogs are intimidated by the height of the A-frame, so just be patient and give them time to adjust.
You can purchase just about every piece of agility equipment that you might need from an online source. Carlson Agility, for instance, sells everything you could need for agility training. You can find contact equipment, all types of jumps, weaves, chutes, tunnels, teeters, K9 training equipment, specialty UKC equipment and much more. If you are training with a smaller breed of dog or perhaps a puppy, Carlson Agility also offers most agility equipment in miniature sizes.
About the Author:
Cheng Bernhardt enjoys dog agility training. To discover an agility equipment, or to find additional agility dog training equipment such as agility jumps, please go to the Carlson-Agility.com site today.
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