Dog Agility Training Equipment

Agility is the fastest growing dog sport in North America. It’s often seen on television and many people are familiar with it. They may sit at home watching it with their dogs wondering if they could ever do the things they see the people and dogs doing on TV. Agility is extremely popular with people who have dogs of all sizes. It’s not just for big dogs or small dogs, or for Border Collies. Any dog and owner can take part in the sport, including mixed breeds. But to do so you need to be able to practice on dog agility training equipment, either with a club or at home.

Many places have kennel clubs, training clubs and other dog clubs that offer training facilities for agility practice. Agility is a great team sport. But if you would like to practice at home you can obtain dog agility training equipment from pet supply stores and from online sources. This equipment can help you sharpen your dog’s performance (and your own) or work on any problem areas.

Agility courses are somewhat like obstacle courses. Components include a contact trainer — something like an A-frame ramp which the dog runs up. He must be sure to get on and off at designated places on the equipment. Equipment also includes agility jumps of different sizes and styles; colorful hanging tire jumps; and weave poles (and possibly guide wires to help train your dog to go through the poles). A pause table where your dog lies down and waits for your count to continue, and a teeter are other pieces of dog agility training equipment that you may wish to use for training. You may also want to add a chute or tunnel for training purposes.

You and your dog may encounter any of these pieces of equipment on an agility course, and you will probably encounter most of them at various times, depending on the level of difficulty you and your dog are facing. Like other sports agility has ranks for beginners, intermediate competitors and for the advanced levels. As you advance in agility the courses will become more difficult and you will face harder obstacles and more complicated courses.

You probably won’t need all of this dog agility training equipment in the beginning. A good starter kit would include weave poles, a set of jumps and a teeter. That would give you and your dog plenty to work on at home for a while, especially if you were also training in conjunction with an agility team at other times and had access to other dog agility training equipment.

Agility is a great sport for you and your dog. It’s a lot of fun and most dogs who participate in it love it. It combines precision off-leash obedience work with a wild race around the course to do things both accurately and fast. It’s a sport that includes both you and the dog on the course at the same time, both working toward the same goal. If you think you might like agility, give it a try. Talk to people in your local agility clubs. If and when you need dog agility training equipment they can help you make good choices.

There are several organizations in the United States which offer competitions – the American Kennel Club, the United Kennel Club, the United States Dog Agility Association, and the North American Dog Agility Council among them. Obstacles and rules are somewhat similar for all of the organizations. Many people participate in more than one organization – they compete in whatever events are close to their homes, so they may join multiple organizations. If you do become involved in agility you will probably have many opportunities to compete with your dog.