AGILITY TRAINING BENEFITS

Agility Training Benefits For You and Your New Rescue Cocker
by Helen and Mitch Skinner

What do you do with a new 1 1/2-year-old cocker who is full of energy but has had no guidance on channeling it? That is the dilemma that faced us when we came home with Duncan, our newest rescue cocker. He had not been abused, but neither had he been trained in obedience. We immediately enrolled him in a basic obedience class. In no time at all it was very evident that Duncan (like most cockers) wanted to do whatever made his humans happy. His instructor noticed how much Duncan wanted to perform for us and suggested that he would be a great candidate for agility.

We were pleasantly surprised to see how very quickly Duncan took to agility and how the lessons he was learning in class were carrying over into all aspects of his daily life. He absolutely loved it - plus he learned socialization skills by being in a training situation with other dogs and humans. In addition we learned a lot about how to communicate with Duncan!

After completing basic agility, we tackled intermediate agility where he continued to shine. Most importantly, we began to see him mature. Duncan settled more easily into a routine at home; he calmed down considerably when meeting other dogs and humans on his walks; and he listened better when we needed to correct his behavior.

Duncan needs to have a job that is his own responsibility. For Duncan, doing agility is both fun and something that sets him apart from our other two cockers. Snickers is the one who goes visiting and shopping, and Lucky is the cocker who goes kayaking. So Duncan needed something special to do!

We also found it fun to practice Duncan's homework with our other two cockers. Soon all three were playing well together. We also realized that with the agility classes, we were able to give some enjoyment back to Duncan for all the pleasure he gives us.

So will Duncan become the next national agility champion? Maybe. But what is really important is your rescue cocker's enjoyment of becoming a working team member on the agility course!

If you aren't familiar with agility, it is a course with planned obstacles - jumps, tires, seesaws, tunnels, weave poles, and A-frames. Your dog must make his way through, over and around these with your guidance, his human partner. Competitive performance is judged by correctly completing each obstacle and by the time it takes to finish the course. Teamwork between you and your dog is the key to success! Now here are some terms:

Agility Classes proceed from learning how to correctly negotiate each obstacle, to doing several obstacles in a sequence, to learning how to coach your dog through an entire course. It's fun and challenging!

Your Agility Instructor leads the way by both showing you what you need to learn and by showing you how your dog responds to your signals, both verbal and physical. Your instructor provides coaching to you as you and your dog progress from single obstacles to the more complex courses.

Positive Reinforcement is a key element in all of the training and very important in helping your rescue cocker develop confidence in himself and you. Training starts with obstacles at their lowest heights and gradually moves up to full height. This approach is key to building confidence in new situations; your instructor will start things slowly and easily; you will progress when your dog is ready.

Time Commitment consists of typically 45-minute classes once a week. It's best to do training in short, fun segments that you and your dog can enjoy.

Training Equipment initially will be the obstacle equipment at the training site. Most training sites will arrange for you to use their facility for practice sessions between classes. These sessions should be only about 15 to 20 minutes. At some point you may want to own some of the more difficult obstacles (weave poles and seesaw) for use at home.

My sincere thanks to Pam and Katie, agility instructors at It's A Dog's World, for their contributions to this article and for being such excellent and positive teachers for Duncan. Thanks also to Lisa Sweet, owner of L Sweet Pet Grooming, for being such a fine obedience instructor and for suggesting agility training as a next step for Duncan.

Some websites that offer helpful information:

The Dogpatch
Petsforum Group
Affordable Agility, Inc.

Editor's Note: CSRNE has dynamic cockers available for adoption that would enjoy the benefit of agility training (including Duncan's brother, Buddy). For more information, please call 603-547-3363.