NB AGILITY
dog agility training at grafham water canines, cambridgeshire
fast & fun!
Agility training is a great thing for you to do with your dog – health, fitness, bonding and fun!
Agility training isn’t just for owners that wish to compete with their pets, it also has fantastic benefits for all dogs. Keeping your dog fit is important to their health, and agility training is a great way to do this whilst simultaneously improving your dog’s behaviour and overall wellbeing.
behaviour
Many dog owners know daily exercise is good for dogs, but agility training combines exercising with a task and the challenge of learning new skills, which stimulates the dog's brain.
Dogs were bred to work alongside humans, and they thrive on having a job to complete. Bored dogs tend to have more behavioral issues than dogs who are challenged with new problems to solve.
exercise
Dog agility training is a really fun and creative way to improve your own fitness as well as your dogs and to add weekly exercise into your routine.
For most beginners, agility training requires attending a weekly class and reinforcing the learning for thirty minutes a day but watch out, Agility can be VERY addictive!
the bond you have with your dog
In agility training, the dog and its handler work together to complete the course. Both have important roles to play: the handler must give clear commands, and the dog has to follow them. The connections between agility handlers and their dogs are often much stronger than those between normal dog owners and their dogs. The time spent working on commands and moving through obstacles together helps bridge the communication gap between you and your dog and will make the two of you into a really great team.
Nicki's competition dog 'Tiny Jim'.
Jim has 14 UKA and KC open wins to his name
and currently competes at KC Grade 6.
Get Involved!
Agility is a fantastic dog sport that brings enormous fun and health benefits for dog and humans alike. Here's how to get your dog involved with agility training with us!
To start Agility Training your dog needs to be:
- Fit & healthy (and not overweight) – agility is a strenuous activity
- At least 1 year old, older if a large breed (young joints take time to mature)
- Be friendly and comfortable in a group of people and other dogs
The first step is to contact us to arrange for you to attend an introductory session. Your dog needs to have a good level of basic obedience to start agility so the introductory session also gives us a chance to assess where you are with your basic training, here is a rough guide to what we are looking for:
- Be able to hold a sit-stay for 30 seconds in a group class setting
- Lie down on command
- Come when called around other dogs and people
- Accept restraint by the collar
- Heel / walk close on a loose lead when asked (some of the agility equipment is introduced with the dog on a lead for safety and training reasons)
- Heel / walk close off lead one length of the arena with a sit at the end.