# How is agility taught?



## beanz (Jul 14, 2014)

I've been working with Piper, my almost 5 month old spoo on basic obedience using clicker training. We are interested in the puppy pre-pre-agility class being offered locally and got an opportunity to spend 10 minutes having a little go at the tunnel, doggie walk and the weave poles. I didn't really get a chance to speak to the trainer so was wondering if any of you could enlighten me as to how agility obstacles are taught. My preference is to lure and reward with food/toys. What are the different ways that weaving, for example, would be taught?


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

beanz said:


> I've been working with Piper, my almost 5 month old spoo on basic obedience using clicker training. We are interested in the puppy pre-pre-agility class being offered locally and got an opportunity to spend 10 minutes having a little go at the tunnel, doggie walk and the weave poles. I didn't really get a chance to speak to the trainer so was wondering if any of you could enlighten me as to how agility obstacles are taught. My preference is to lure and reward with food/toys. What are the different ways that weaving, for example, would be taught?


With a pup her age I would do a lot of groundwork and rear end awareness. Things like coming down a stair or two & holding their back feet on a stair with front feet on the ground to start a 2 on 2 off contact. You can click & treat for holding correct position. Working with a ladder on the ground of pool noodles or PVC to teach rear end awareness. Backing up in general or to a target with back feet. Holding back & front feet on a plate & working up to spinning on a plate. Turning into & away from me to begin to learn crosses. Sending out & around a target in both directions. All of these can be done with clicker & food & don't require expensive equipment. For weave poles there are a few methods. 2x2, channel, weave o matics or wires. With a pup her age I would work with open channels, weave o matics or 2x2 method for entries. Many pups can pick up closed poles quickly but personally I don't like to stress their growing bodies. See there are many behaviors you can work with an eye towards agility safely. If you do these things young they are better prepared and already know some of the behaviors you will ask for when they are on actual equipment. Tricks like bowing for stretching or the classic beg/sit pretty to work core muscles. If you make it a game of various fun tricks & keep it fun you should have a happy worker! Also working with a really good trainer is key. I've gone on & on here but feel free to pm me with any questions 

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## beanz (Jul 14, 2014)

Thank you SO much! I didn't know any of the terms that I should've been googling to get the sort of exercises we should start practicing. Your post helps a lot. I am keen to start doing all these foundation rear-end awareness stuff with her. I'm not sure whether this puppy class is right for us though as they seem to put them through the equipment right away. The trainer asked me to lead her through the weave poles by her leash. I asked if I could lure instead. Do you have any good names/websites/youtube channels that demonstrate some of the things we should be practicing? I've been predominantly using kikopup's youtube channel for the basic obedience stuff.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

You might want to check out this post I made when someone asked a similar question a while ago:

http://www.poodleforum.com/1276674-post4.html

I train Agility without aversives. I use both food and toys. I wanted to mention, though, that my training philosophy tries very hard to avoid luring. If you start luring your dog (with food or toys!) you tend to create a dog who focuses on the lure rather than the goal. That's a recipe for a "Velcro" dog, one who finds it difficult to work away from you. For heaven's sake, don't lure through the weaves!

There's more, but take a look at my post. Lots to keep you occupied for a while! LOL!

--Q


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

What is the instructor's background in agility? Do they compete? What titles have they finished? How long have they been teaching agility? You should feel comfortable asking these questions and a good trainer will be willing to answer.

I'm not saying that there aren't good instructors out there who don't have multiple titles and haven't been training very long but that said you are paying for their advice and experience. Having not been in your class I can't say whether anything went on that was off but you will certainly want to do some research when seeking a trainer. I got very lucky when I found mine. There have been a couple of others in my area that although I don't think they would intentionally give bad information or cause harm they just didn't have practical experience. At the time I didn't know that I had gotten so lucky. 

Agility Right From the Start is a book related to clicker training. From the Ground Up is a good starter too. There is not enough that can be said about having a knowledgeable positive trainer.

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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Quossum that link took me to a new member intro from 2007. It might just be my phone. Can you check please?

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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

Yikes! For me it took me to the actual post, but in case it doesn't work for others, here's a link to the thread. The post I made is #4.

http://www.poodleforum.com/24-perfo...g-more-pre-agility-questions.html#post1276674

Hopefully one of these will work! LOL

--Q


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

Quossum said:


> Yikes! For me it took me to the actual post, but in case it doesn't work for others, here's a link to the thread. The post I made is #4.
> 
> http://www.poodleforum.com/24-perfo...g-more-pre-agility-questions.html#post1276674
> 
> ...


This one works 

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## beanz (Jul 14, 2014)

Thank you for your responses. 

I really do appreciate the information as I'm a complete newbie and don't know anything about training agility. The only reason I mentioned luring during the quick 10 minutes session was because I didn't feel comfortable with the more physical method that was asked for. I don't lure my puppy with food anymore... she's happy to follow an empty hand lure. Anyway, now that I have some good resources to follow up on I will do my reading and start implementing things as I go. 

Unfortunately, from the googling that I've done there isn't much choice where I am. I'd taken my puppy to pre-school classes while she was very young and it was all positive reinforcement, clicker stuff but now that I want to progress to more complex behaviours and skills there is nothing available. The classes we tried with the other positive reinforcement trainers are all very basic skills that she can do easily (even in highly distracted settings) and the other dogs there all have much more problematic behaviours that need addressing. 

Anyway, so we have found a place that does obedience and agility but their teaching style is different to mine. Seeing how they are a lot more experienced than I am, and compete etc. I am not about to make a fuss. I have spoken to the owner and she is fine with me continuing to use my clicker and food during class. So I guess as long as we're both respectful of each others training styles it's not a problem. However, I have had a few other people with puppies the same age as mine come up and ask about the clicker because they see how well Piper responds to it (we only did 2 sessions of the intro course and are being moved up next time). 

Thanks again


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

I will say that in a completely new class new dogs/new people there may not be as much emphasis on groundwork as you might see in a class of young pups with people who are already competing with older dogs. The exercises I suggested along with the resources Quossom provided are coming from experienced performance people who are sure of the results we want. However, these things will also build a deeper bond between you and your pup as well as teamwork. It lays a good foundation should you choose to compete one day and even if you don't ever compete it is a good thing to do. 

I'm glad the instructor and you were able to discuss what you are comfortable with. It is also excellent that you are looking for ways to train things outside of a formal class. Continue to research and train positively and you will do well!

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