Dog Agility Contact Equipment

Teaching The Contact Equipment
Some dogs are braver than others when it comes to learning the contact equipment. In particular the see-saw can be scary. I put a plank on top of a small log to get Jamie started, but Sasha just followed a titbit and didn't seem to notice that things were moving underneath her. Later she developed a fear of the see-saw however, and has had to undergo a lot of retraining.

According to Dawn Weaver this can happen if you don't give a thorough grounding in the see-saw and get dogs used to something moving underneath them. She always teaches the see-saw first. A wobble board can help to get a dog used to the idea that things move and it will help to improve their balance and awareness. (see my wobble board page for ideas)

Jamie needed reassurance and I had to put my arm round him at first. If you can get a dog to walk on something narrow like a plank balanced on a couple of house bricks it really helps with their confidence. Some people start with walking between the rungs of a ladder placed on the ground. A dog has to learn to touch the contact part of the equipment and there are various ways of doing this. One way is to get someone to hold a titbit at the bottom of the ramp to encourage the dog to go right to the bottom instead of jumping off. Some people use training hoops at the bottom of the ramp while others prefer to teach the dog to stop on command. The stop can be with four feet on the contact, two feet on and two off, or with all four feet on the ground at the bottom of the contact. You can use a target such as a titbit on a plastic lid to get the dog to stop where you want it to stop.

If you belong to a club you'll probably see a number of different methods of teaching and you need to find the one that works well for you and your dog. Good luck.


	Contact equipment includes the dogwalk, see-saw and A-Frame. Most of the sellers on ebay sell garden equipment which doesn't take up so much room and is very useful for training contacts. If you're looking for full sized equipment you might be lucky and find someone selling their equipment at a reduced price. Here are the live listings.



	Teaching The Contact Equipment Some dogs are braver than others when it comes to learning the contact equipment. In particular the see-saw can be scary. I put a plank on top of a small log to get Jamie started, but Sasha just followed a titbit and didn't seem to notice that things were moving underneath her. Later she developed a fear of the see-saw however, and has had to undergo a lot of retraining. According to Dawn Weaver this can happen if you don't give a thorough grounding in the see-saw and get dogs used to something moving underneath them. She always teaches the see-saw first. A wobble board can help to get a dog used to the idea that things move and it will help to improve their balance and awareness. (see my wobble board page for ideas) Jamie needed reassurance and I had to put my arm round him at first. If you can get a dog to walk on something narrow like a plank balanced on a couple of house bricks it really helps with their confidence. Some people start with walking between the rungs of a ladder placed on the ground. A dog has to learn to touch the contact part of the equipment and there are various ways of doing this. One way is to get someone to hold a titbit at the bottom of the ramp to encourage the dog to go right to the bottom instead of jumping off. Some people use training hoops at the bottom of the ramp while others prefer to teach the dog to stop on command. The stop can be with four feet on the contact, two feet on and two off, or with all four feet on the ground at the bottom of the contact. You can use a target such as a titbit on a plastic lid to get the dog to stop where you want it to stop. If you belong to a club you'll probably see a number of different methods of teaching and you need to find the one that works well for you and your dog. Good luck.