Why Agility Dogs Can Heel So Well

Most often I hear complaints about the difficulties of having a multi-sport dog. Rarely do I hear someone say "I'm so glad my dog also does agility because it helps us in obedience." So, this post is dedicated to all of those agility dogs who bathe off the dirt from the horse arena and show off in obedience!

Greg Derrett inadvertantly helped my dogs with pace changes. My dogs read slow and fast with natural body language. Returning to normal from fast is as easy change for my agility dogs.

My dogs do very well with proofing. Thank's Susan Garrett for It's Yer Choice! This game of impulse control has eliminated sniffing in the ring for my dogs.

Send Your Dog! No problem! My dog was already use to being sent ahead of me to take his line or send ahead with a toy thrown. Running across the obedience ring was no big deal. Going out to retrieve was natural.

Call Your Dog! My dog has been chasing blind cross body line for reward zone. We threadle! My dog already knows to come in to me when my feet face the dog.

Stays with distractions. My dogs already know how to stay on the start line at a show....doing novice and open stays are no big deal! If your dog can be solid when they are waiting to explode off the start line, they can handle the obedience ring.

Just a few reasons why I'm glad my dogs are multi-sport dogs! Agility for obedience!

Fun with Roo!

After mopping the little building I teach in on Wednesday, it was too rainy and cold to go outside and play agility. So, Roo got to have some fun inside. We did 180's, 270's, and some single jump work along with a little obedience. I notice on my video that I need to click for close heeling when off leash. Video is a fantastic way to work on precision in your training. Things you may not notice while you are working are often revealed in video. I find my little FLIP super helpful in our training. A cheap tripod is very useful for this.

Video 1  Roo Playing

Video 2 Roo Playing 2