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Agility Dog Training - Keeping Your Animal Fit And Healthy

Author: AdrianFletcher
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When was the last time you ran an obstacle course. Unless you are in the army, it might have been when you were a kid. Do you remember how difficult it was ? Moreover, if you only stared at the course without actually attempting it then you are aware of how difficult it might have appeared.

So if we acknowledge the difficulty of such a course why do we expect our dogs to be able to do such a course. After all, they are a test of endurance, agility and conditioning. Are dogs innately conditioned to run through tunnels, over bridges and jump fences ? No, they have to be trained.

Agility dog training programs are devised so that an animal can develop the physical stamina to deal with an obstacle course. It will aid your dog in becoming fit and strong. It will also train the dog to listen and respond to it's owners commands as the animal is under the owners control during the running of the obstacle course. This is great for two reasons, the dog learns simple obedience training and the relationship between owner and animal is cemented. Dog agility training programs can boost your dogs ability to think for itself and deal with unstructured or unpredictable situations. In fact, your dog does not understand how or why to slalom through poles or run over a seesaw. This has to be learned by the animal so that it can apply these techniques to the variety of courses it will run in different locations or situations.

Indeed, this is a challenging task for any trainer to communicate these skills to a dog. It should take quite a few hours of instruction with a skilled trainer before your dog will be able to tackle an obstacle course. Once this initial training is completed, it will be your task as the owner of the dog to continue it's training. In the end, it is about creating a strong connection between you and your dog. Once you have taken over this training role, it is up to you to keep your dog fit and up to date with the new obstacle course challenges. This might be hard to begin with but you will derive a great sense of achievement if you can improve your dogs performance and shave a few seconds of it's time.

And the cutting edge of all this training is to involve your pet in an official competition. I am sure you have seen these sorts of things on TV at dog shows like Crufts and the like. There is a perception that these kinds on events are cruel to the animal but most dogs can't wait to do a course. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that these events are the highlight of any show along with the relay events. If you have seen such a competition you will notice just how much the dogs enjoy running through the courses as they wag their tails furiously and bark excitedly. Possibly the dog gets excited by the noise of the crowd but it makes for great viewing to see the excited dogs.

Of course, in order to be successful in running such an obstacle course it will need solid agility dog training so that it has the skills and remains safe. This is an aspect of agility dog training that most people fail to consider. The aim of agility dog training is not just the development of the dog's all round skills and fitness, but also to make sure that the dog does not hurt himself.

And finally, the best reason for making your dog jump through hoops or over gates is to keep him fit and active, which will promote a healthy and well socialized animal. You will have a great time doing it as well.