Winter Dog Agility Training

Brad Carlson

Yes, its cold outside, but don't stop your dog's agility training. Depending on where you live, there might be snow on the ground from November through March, but thats no reason to give up your agility training. Bring your training indoors, right at your own home.

Get creative with your training locations. Do you have a hallway, basement, or garage? Then you have a place to train! Before it snows and your equipment is frozen to the ground, store some in your garage, shed, basement, or put a tarp over it. Bring in one piece of equipment at a time, and begin your indoor training.

We do a lot of indoor training with a Pause Table. In fact, we keep one in our living room for both obedience training and agility training all the time. The Pause Table is a great obstacle for developing your obedience behaviors and teaching agility directional commands Don't forget to work on your contacts. It's easy by having a Contact Trainer indoors. A 3-Piece Contact Trainer offers you versatility; you have an A-frame side, the Pause Table, and a Dog-walk plank. Practicing your two feet on and two feet off is convenient and quick when you have indoor contacts, only a few minutes a day to steady your dog's behavior.

Indoor jumping must be approached carefully. If you don't have indoor matting, don't jump. You don't want your dog jumping on concrete or wood floors. But you can use the uprights or posts to practice your handling. Use your Sit-stay or Down-stay and practice your lines or dogs path with no jump bars.

Weaves can be practice indoors. Are you training with a weave-chute or straight line weaves? Five minutes a day of weave training through out the winter will have your dog weaving smoothly by springtime. You can practice weave entries and weave sends or weave recalls.

There is also a variety of mini agility equipment that can be purchased, and don't require the same space as standard equipment. There are mini-teeters, mini-dog walks, and mini-A-frames. These are great obstacles for puppy training or indoor winter training.

So, during the cold winter months, don't give up on your agility training. Whether you are starting a young pup, working a novice dog, or an experienced titled dog there is always something that you can do indoors with your agility training.

About the author:

Brad Carlson is a Dog Trainer at Agility by Carlson. For more training details, visit our website at http://www.carlson-agility.com/

RELATED ARTICLES:

3 Important Things To Remember When Training Your Puppy
There are as many ways to raise a puppy as there are to raising a child. In fact, one way per family in general! But most of us agree that when it comes to children, certain things are universal and undisputed. Here are three things that a lot...read more

Dog Training: Here Is A Strong Training Method To Effectively Control Your Dog At Difficult Situations
The head collar has become an increasingly popular dog training tool in the past couple of years. Two of the most well known brands of head collar on the market are the Gentle Leader and the Halti, but there are many other brands that incorporate...read more

Dog training - Leash/collar training
There are many different styles of dog training, and finding the one that works best for you is important for creating a dog that is a talented, loyal and faithful member of the family. All successful methods of dog training work to reinforce...read more

Train Your Dog With Respect
Proper training of your dog should begin when he is a puppy. The first four months of a dog’s life are very important in the training of your dog. This is when they learn behaviors that they will practice in the future. Socializing your dog...read more