The Shared Benefits of Dog Agility Training

When most people think about dog agility training, they think about canine sports and competitions. It’s true that much of the information about agility training is centered around how to improve when competing, but it’s also true that there are several benefits for both owner and dog that don’t have anything to do with winning awards.

Improve the Bond Between You and Your Dog

Why should you spend time teaching your dog skills that won’t be used in a competition? One of the most important reasons to work through this type of training is the strengthened bond between you and your canine friend. Dogs naturally want to gain approval and seek out love and attention from their owners. During training, you and your dog must work closely together, building trust, and learning to recognize each other’s signals as you train. As your bond is strengthened, your dog will become more secure in your relationship, and his or her behavior will improve.

Notice Better Behaviors and Obedience

As you engage in training sessions with your dog, you may notice improvements in many areas. For example, agility training is an activity that uses a lot of energy, so if you have a very active dog, you may see that Fido is calmer at home. When dogs get an appropriate amount of exercise, they are more likely to avoid destructive and aggressive behaviors. You may notice improvements in surprising areas, such as remaining obedient when distractions, such as other dogs and animals, appear. If your dog struggles to stay or sit on command, you may want to start your training with a pause table.

Enjoy Improved Physical Fitness Together

Naturally, agility training has a lot of physical benefits, and because you, as the owner, must be there during training, you may enjoy some physical improvements as well. Agility exercise affects some specific areas of physical fitness:

Improved coordination
Increased endurance
Stronger muscles
Better stamina

In addition to improving your dog’s fitness (and probably your own,) agility training is also a great way to sharpen your dog’s mind.

Add Some Fun To Training Sessions

Many obedience classes and the practice that dogs and their owners do at home can get kind of boring. This is simply the nature of going through the same commands and patterns of behavior over and over. Agility training isn’t a replacement for obedience training, obviously, but it does add an element of fun to your daily practice sessions. As a bonus, agility training provides a lot of opportunities to focus on success and positive rewards. This is important to both of you in the moment and throughout your training. Train your dog’s agility to bring some fun to what are often mundane training sessions.

Give Agility Training a Try

If you’re looking for a new activity that you can enjoy with your canine companion, agility training may be a great fit. You can enjoy a closer bond with your dog, improved health and fitness for both of you, better behaviors, and more fun while training. Have you tried other types of training without the goal of competing? What are your favorites?