Speeding up a Slow Dog

Speeding up a

Slow Dog

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Step 1

Check the weight of the husband/partner
and the weight of the dog

Step 2

If half the husband's dinner is in the dog,
try to reverse the situation.

Step 3 Now try some fun exercises.

Wake up the dog and waggle his favourite toy. Wake him up again and tell him this is fun. If he's in the mood think up a phrase that's going to be a trigger on the start line. I started with "On your marks.....get set", but I felt a bit silly in the ring so now I just say "Are you ready?"

Waggle the toy again and when he's ready to run chuck the toy and shout "GO." I know this sounds like "NO," but Jamie responds to "GO." You could try "RUN," or "CARROTS." Now race away with the dog to get the toy.

I tried this a few times until Jamie got the idea. Then I raced him over poles on the ground and little jumps using the wind up phrase "Are you ready?" at the start. This made him have a few mad turns but at least he was enjoying going fast instead of plodding round like a geriatric. We progressed to bigger jumps and finally we tried it at a show and it worked. We also speeded up the weave but that's a different story.

If you have a dog like Sasha the only wind up you need is to let the dog see the agility stuff. The best way to describe it is the way someone described her own dog to me. It's like blowing up a big balloon and then letting it go!

Home > Agility Fun > Speeding up a Slow Dog



	Step 1 Check the weight of the husband/partner and the weight of the dog	Step 2 If half the husband's dinner is in the dog, try to reverse the situation.
	Step 3 Now try some fun exercises. Wake up the dog and waggle his favourite toy. Wake him up again and tell him this is fun. If he's in the mood think up a phrase that's going to be a trigger on the start line. I started with "On your marks.....get set", but I felt a bit silly in the ring so now I just say "Are you ready?" Waggle the toy again and when he's ready to run chuck the toy and shout "GO." I know this sounds like "NO," but Jamie responds to "GO." You could try "RUN," or "CARROTS." Now race away with the dog to get the toy. I tried this a few times until Jamie got the idea. Then I raced him over poles on the ground and little jumps using the wind up phrase "Are you ready?" at the start. This made him have a few mad turns but at least he was enjoying going fast instead of plodding round like a geriatric. We progressed to bigger jumps and finally we tried it at a show and it worked. We also speeded up the weave but that's a different story. If you have a dog like Sasha the only wind up you need is to let the dog see the agility stuff. The best way to describe it is the way someone described her own dog to me. It's like blowing up a big balloon and then letting it go!