Dog'O'Pogo Agility Lessons

Lessons

All breeds (mixed or pure) are welcome to join our group!

Please come dressed for the weather as lessons are held on foam rubber matting in an unheated concrete building. Clean inside shoes are required. No outside shoes are allowed on the matting.

All participants are expected to help set up and put away any equipment.

It is recommended that large breeds be at least 12 months before any serious training. Please consider your dog's breed and size. Large dogs' growth plates take longer to close. At a young age, dogs should not be jumping any higher than their hocks.

Lessons are held at 8465 Buchanan Road, Coldstream ("The Bunker")

The lesson schedule is updated by the Lesson Committee. Click this link to see the current lesson schedule for dates/times/instructor info.

Things you will need

your dog - at least 11 months old
clean indoor running shoes
completed basic obedience and knows basic commands
updated immunizations / titres
regular flat collar - no chokers or pinch collars please
lots of soft, tasty tidbits (such wieners, chicken, Rollover)
a toy with which your dog is motivated (balls, stuffies, tug toys)
plastic bags (you are expected to pick up and take it with you)
for classes other than introduction to agility, you will be required to have an ex pen or crate.

Intro to Agility

Does your dog love to run and jump? Does he climb on logs, or run between trees? Maybe you need something fun to do together? Why not try our Intro to Agility class?

You will learn the basic skills to teach your dog how to jump over jumps and through a hoop (tire) including the basic foundations for running on the dog walk, A-frame, and teeter by walking on and stopping at the end of planks and inclined boards.

This class or equivalent foundation class is a prerequisite for future classes and club practice sessions.

Dogs will be working alongside other dogs, which is why we must have good focus on each other, and a good recall for your dog.

Interested? Email lessons@dogopogo.ca for more information

Advanced Handling

This class will advance your team further into the handling you will need as you become more proficient at the basics.

When your dog needs to change direction ahead of you, you need plenty of time to cue the information to him/her. We teach you how to find your dog's line as well as your own line while running around the numbered course. We show you the importance of 'walking the course' so you can see the obstacles from your dog's eye view before you tame him/her out with you.

Prerequisite: Some basic handling for jumps and tunnels is required. Some experience on contact equipment is also helpful. This is a continuing class. Please email to be put on a list in case a spot opens up.

For more information email lessons@dogopogo.ca

Handling Skills

We show you how to give your teammate the information needed to get around the course and do set ups that can be worked at whatever level participants are at. All the basic handling moves will be introduced (front cross, serpentine, backsides, threadle, pinwheel, sending, driving lines, etc.) You can do this class multiple times, until you feel confident enough to think about entering a trial.

Prerequisite: Must have taken an Introductory course in agility with Dog'O'{Pogo or another organization. Dogs must love cookies or toys.

For more information email lessons@dogopogo.ca

Handling Plus

Agility teams are constantly learning and progressing through the many ways of handling your dog efficiently and with real teamwork. Is your dog speedy or more methodical? Does he/she understand your instructions? You will learn which body and verbal cues you can use to get him/her to go straight, turn tight, take the far side of a jump or tunnel and many other valuable skills.

Prerequisite: Dogs must have completed and Intro to Agility class or equivalent, have some sequence handling, and be over 12 months old. This is a continuing class.

For more information email lessons@dogopogo.ca

Introduction to Contacts

Learn the skills needed to have your dog safely negotiate the Teeter, Dog Walk and A-Frame. To run on each of these 'contacts' your dog must progress through specific steps taught carefully and with lots of rewards.

Class will have a maximum of 5 students. Dogs will be crated in their vehicles or inside the building (quietly).

Prerequisite: Dogs must have completed an Introduction to Agility class or equivalent, and be over 12 months old.

For more information email lessons@dogopogo.ca

Introduction to Weave Poles

Good performance of weave poles is a much needed skill for teams who want to compete in agility trials. Start learning them now with our instructor, as she takes your team through the steps to performing weave poles with accuracy, confidence and speed.

Class will have a maximum of 5 students. Dogs will be crated in their vehicles or inside the building (quietly).

Prerequisite: Dogs must have completed an Introduction to Agility class or equivalent, and be over 12 months old.

For more information email lessons@dogopogo.ca

Agility Foundation

This is a foundation building class designed to take you and your dog on your agility journey into more advanced skills. You will develop a good start line sit and wait, which is so needed in agility. You will teach and proof your dog Impulse Control. You will develop/perfect/proof the skills needed to change sides when your dog is ahead or behind you on jumps
and tunnels.
All these skills and more are important to becoming a real dog/handler team while getting around a course successfully and safely.

Prerequisite: At least an Introductory class on the Agility obstacles with
Dog’O’Pogo or another club.

For more information email lessons@dogopogo.ca

Sports Foundations

Embark on the next steps of your Agility journey! Here are essentials to further your training. A 4 week (1.5 hr./session) that will lay the ground work for getting into the ring & beyond. The sessions include a mix of fun positive games & food/toy/play rewards. You’ll learn about -
- startlines
- Focus
- Self control, arousal up/arousal down management
- building confidence & connection
- body awareness activities
- contact end behaviours (2 on 2 off)
- pre & post run routines
- general guidelines attending in person trIals
- work on tunnel & jump sequences

The class is suitable for dogs 8 mos. & older. The activities will be adapted to the needs of handlers & dogs. Class size is a maximum of 5 students.

Reminders:
- Bring paper & pen, a hungry dog on lead ( no flexi leads)
- Lots of small soft food treats, tug toy
- A mat, crate, food bowl
- Please leave your dog in your car until needed.

Email lessons@dogopogo.ca for more information

Jump Grid 1

Dogs jump all the time: onto the couch; over logs, through bushes etc. when there is something interesting to explore. In those cases, the dog is making its own decisions about direction, speed and height. They are in control so they are mostly successful. But in agility the handler and the dog are a team, and the handler wants to control direction, speed and height. Meeting the handler’s expectations makes the jumping task much harder for the dog.

Jumping is probably the most important of all the agility skills. Dogs will have to navigate hundreds more jumps than any other agility obstacle! Jump grids are gymnastic exercises where the DOG figures out how to successfully jump agility sequences. We want to make jumping as easy for the dog as we can!

Our motto will be "rhythm and accuracy. Neither height nor speed are our initial goals.

What: During each class we will try two different grids and your team will get a minimum of three turns. If you want to do homework, please know that grids are very hard work for the dogs, and it easy to overuse a particular muscle group. Ideally, spend about 3 minutes actually running a particular grid. And, don’t do grids more than 3 times a week.

Bring: We will need a target for your dog to aim for. A toy or food on a target plate are fine. The target will ALWAYS be on the ground, so think carefully about what you bring. If a toy is so valuable that your dog can't stop itself from running to it, pick a lesser value toy. If your dog doesn't have a value for the target, there's no reason for it to tackle the jump work.

Who: This course can accommodate dogs at all skill levels, but novice dogs will be working on different skills than more advanced dogs. For example, if you don’t have a “start line,” be prepared to spend lesson time training that.

Email lessons@dogopogo.ca to express an interest in this class

Dog'O'Pogo offers private lessons!

If you can't find a group class we have several experience instructors who would be happy to help you find the right match for your and your dog. We teach intro to agility, handling at all levels, weave poles and beginning contacts. Private lessons are 30 minutes with your and your pooch in with your instructor. This is a wonderful option for many teams.

Email: lessons@dogopogo.ca for more info and to make arrangements with one of our instructors (Deb, Sherry, Monica, Lindsay or Shelley)

Lessons

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Intro to Agility