# Some beginner agility questions



## Locke (Nov 3, 2008)

Now that I have my driver's license, I have a lot more freedom to get involved in dog sports/training.


I think Mitch would LOVE agility, and Cracker introduced me to a club not too far away, so I'm thinking we'll enroll in classes soon, but want to ask some questions first.

1) I do not have anywhere to practise on equipment outside of class, is that going to be a problem?

2) What obedience commands are necessary for him to know/be 100% reliable before starting agility?

3) For our training, I use a tennis ball as a reward. We go through all his tricks, then I toss him the ball and he goes off and chews it. He is OBSESSED with his tennis ball, and at times is so focused on getting the ball that he is not concentrating on learning the command. He is not very food motivated, so I think the ball would be best for luring him through the obstacles and on to equipment, is there a way to curb his obsessiveness? Or should I find a new motivator?


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

Locke said:


> Now that I have my driver's license, I have a lot more freedom to get involved in dog sports/training.
> 
> 
> I think Mitch would LOVE agility, and Cracker introduced me to a club not too far away, so I'm thinking we'll enroll in classes soon, but want to ask some questions first.
> ...


If you look in the Agility thread in the Training section, recently I posted some exercises that would benefit anyone while taking classes or preparing to take classes. Other things that you need is a good recall and being able to work with your dog off leash or at the very least a very loose leash on the right and left.

I would recommend that you hide the ball and not use it as a lure to get him to do anything, get him to do the behaviour then toss the ball. You can also get a ball on a rope and toss that to stop him from leaving you and not coming back (if he does that). The goal is to get them to engage with you and want to play with you not the ball. 
We also don't use food/toys/balls etc to lure dogs into doing agility or the obstacles because we want the dogs to focus on the task and not be looking at the motivator which can be dangerous especially when the dogs are doing the contact equipment.

If Cracker recommended Renee at All About Dogs, you'll be fine, she is an excellent teacher and very nice.


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