6 Awesome Benefits of Dog Agility Training
Many people only know about dog agility training from the high-speed competitions they see in dog shows. However, while seeing top dog athletes perform amazing feats of agility is impressive, it paints a limited picture of a much broader sport. With some basic training and dog agility equipment you can use at home, your dog can reap the benefits of dog agility training, too.
What Types of Dogs Can Benefit from Agility Training?
All types! Contrary to popular opinion, agility training isn’t just for show dogs or dogs recovering from injuries. Whether your dog is young or old, quick on their feet, or a little slow to go, it doesn’t matter. In short, any dog can benefit from agility training.
That’s because agility training isn’t a single “one size fits all” activity. It comprises different kinds of activities that can be set to different skill levels. This makes it easy to adapt to your dog’s specific aptitudes and limitations.
Is it Hard to Train Your Dog with Agility Equipment?
Not at all. While all of the different types of dog agility equipment may seem overwhelming at first, anyone can learn to use them.
Short instructional videos, like those found on our YouTube channel, can show you step-by-step how to use your equipment correctly.
Start with just a few minutes a day, using beginner-level exercises. Then, you can build up to longer, more complex sessions. Dogs are pretty clever and often catch on quicker than we think they will.
The variety of options for dog agility training really does mean there’s something for everyone and every dog. You may choose training that involves learning how to balance, walking to and sitting on selected targets, avoiding obstacles, and more.
For example, a cavaletti set (commonly known as “hurdles”) can be adjusted so the bars are just a couple of inches off the ground. They also can be spaced to make them the perfect distance apart for your dog’s gait. You can then use the cavaletti for walking or trotting exercises over the poles. That same piece of equipment can also be used to set up a course for your dog to weave around.
Remember that the goal is to perfect their form, not simply get through the exercise. So be patient, reward your dog when they’ve performed well, and enjoy the bonding time you have together.
6 Benefits of Dog Agility Training
1. Physical Exercise
All dogs need physical exercise to stay healthy and fit. For most of us, that means taking our pup for a walk.
Walks are great cardiovascular exercise, but if you’d like to add some extra variety and pizzazz to your dog’s daily workout routine, agility training is the way to go. Compared to walks, agility training builds more strength and offers your dog the opportunity to sharpen their concentration.
It also has physical benefits like improved mobility and balance, which can be especially helpful for older dogs. By doing agility exercises at an appropriate pace for their age and ability, you can help keep your dogs active and healthy.
For example, using the cavaletti mentioned above for walking and trotting exercises will maximize your dog’s shoulder and hip extension, which is helpful for dogs of any age. Or you can set them up into a course for your dog to weave around. Even at a slow walking pace, weaving around cones increases spinal flexibility and strengthens your dog’s core.
2. Weight Maintenance or Weight Loss
Obesity is a growing problem for dogs, with nearly 60% of dogs in the USA classified as overweight or obese.
Keeping our dogs at their ideal weight is crucial for their health. Excess weight in dogs has been linked to a variety of health issues, from cancer to diabetes to arthritis, to name a few. To give our dogs the best chance at a long and healthy life, we need to help them stay fit.
If this is an area where your dog struggles, agility training can help. Not only is it a great way to burn calories, but it’s fun, too! And any exercise that’s fun is an exercise your dog is more likely to want to do.
3. Mental Enrichment
As important as physical exercise is, dogs also need mental enrichment to truly thrive.
Without enough enrichment, dogs can get bored and even anxious. While we might think of boredom and anxiety as strictly human traits, nothing could be further from the truth. Animals need mental stimulation to stay happy.
Agility training perfectly fills this need. It requires your dog to figure out how to maneuver through obstacles while following your commands. This means problem-solving and attention to detail, which provide the critical mental exercise dogs need.
4. Fighting Anxiety
Anxious dogs can benefit greatly from dog agility training. In training, your dog will be forced to give you their full and undivided attention to succeed. This helps focus their mind and keeps them from focusing on other things that may make them anxious.
Using different kinds of dog agility equipment also helps anxious dogs confront their fears. They learn that they can interact with new things safely and securely.
This doesn’t mean that you should try to train your dog when you see them actively showing signs of anxiety. That would be counterproductive. Train when they are calm and relaxed.
At-home equipment is the ideal way to introduce agility training to an anxious dog. You can train at your dog's pace, in the comfort of their own home without the distraction of other dogs. And it only takes a few minutes a day for them to get a good workout.
You can build up to longer sessions, but consistency is key if you want to see a difference in your dog's anxious behavior.
5. Builds Confidence
Agility training builds a dog’s confidence. When they learn to use a new piece of agility equipment or successfully navigate a new obstacle, their confidence grows. And when you praise your dog for their successes, it grows even more.
According to the United States Dog Agility Association, this can prove especially helpful with dogs who are shy or timid. As they gain experience with their agility course, a dog who started out clinging to their owner can become more confident navigating it by themselves. In this way, it can help bring them out of their shell.
6. Bonding
Agility training also brings dogs and their pet parents closer together. It requires a dog to be attentive and pay absolute attention to their human. And it requires the human to keep a close watch on everything their dog is doing and direct them safely through their training.
Bonding also happens as your dog gets positive reinforcement from you in the form of praise and pets when they succeed.
Here’s another way agility training helps us bond with our dogs: it forces us to put down our phones. Even when we’re out for a walk with our dogs, most of us have our phones tied to our hands. But agility training forces us to be 100% attentive to our dogs.
All this close interaction also makes training more enjoyable for your dog overall and means they’ll look forward to their agility training more and more.
In Conclusion - Let’s Get Moving!
Dog agility training may seem intimidating or “not for everyone,” but it’s actually a great way for dogs of all ages and activity levels to get wonderful physical and mental benefits. By using dog agility equipment specifically designed for at-home use, you can easily bring these benefits to your pup today.