Teaching agility purely for fun

[Maxy24]

I am interested in doing some agility type stuff with Tucker. He's fast and athletic and I just think he'd enjoy it a lot. I have no desire to ever compete. I just want to set up some agility stuff in the backyard (likely homemade as the aquiptment costs a lot) and run him through the obstacle course.

However I want to make sure I'm doing it safely. He is 6 months old, what can and can't he do? What things do I need to teach him before letting him run on certain obstacles?

[CaliTerp07]

Start everything completely flat. No jumping--just put pvc pipes on the ground and have him hop/run over those, go through tunnels, a tire jump resting on the ground, etc. He's a pretty little guy, so even at full height he'll probably only a jump a few inches anyway

[AgilityPup]

You can also work on a plank, just flat on the ground, and start having him put his front paws down on the ground and keep his two back ones on the plank for a 2o2o.

[MafiaPrincess]

Whether for fun or competition you still need to teach it safely which means foundation work.

[corgipower]

I would suggest teaching all the foundation stuff correctly...I'm sure others can tell you how better than I can...not just for safety, but also because after a few months, when you get bitten by the bug, you'll want to compete.

[Snark]

Our first foundation handling class involved teaching the dogs/puppies to go through the jump standards (no jump bar set) so they would get the idea that uprights mean go thru, not around. My instructor did not allow any jumping for dogs under 10 months.

I agree with everyone about taking foundation classes, even if you don't plan to compete. Not only will you learn how to safely teach Tucker to do the obstacles, you'll have someone to ask if problems arise...

[Maxy24]

Thanks for the advice, sorry I never got back. This is something that I can't do until summer since I'm not home very much. But does anyone have any good links (videos would probably be best but written explanations are good too) of what foundation stuff is. I know very, very little about agility. I just want the dog to run an obstacle course in the back yard, that's all, I promise we will not compete lol. But I want to do it safely. We cannot do a class at this time, it's too much money. If it's something I NEED a class for we just won't do agility, it's not a huge deal, I just thought he'd have fun.