PDTE 2013 Winter Newsletter

Fun and
natural agility
WINKIE
SPIERS,
ENGLAND
WHY BOTHER?
Many people dwell too much on training
tricks, obedience, flyball, rally-O,
and a whole host of other stuff that
dogs wouldn’t choose to do alone,
and which I don’t think teaches them
any really useful life skills. I think that
fun and natural agility is far more useful
and important.
IT IMPROVES RELATIONSHIPS
Natural agility is fun and improves our
relationships with our dogs. If we ask
them to do things that are fun and
that they often naturally choose to do,
they will prefer to be with us and will
view us in a better way.
Dogs that are kept in confined conditions,
who are not allowed to use
stairs or get on furniture, and who
cannot jump up or move around freely
can become quite clumsy and underconfident.
When they are out, they
may be so overexcited that they could
be prone to injure themselves. To
develop a healthy body, a dog needs
to be able to use its body throughout
its life and to be co-ordinated and
confident doing so.
PUTTING FEET ON A LOG
This is not as easy as you may think; it
can be frightening for some dogs to
put their feet on a different surface
and to trust their human that it’s okay.
It requires some balance and coordination.
An openness of mind and
confidence that what their human or
handler is asking them to do is okay
means that the world becomes less
one-dimensional. Many dogs are afraid
to do anything different, because
they’ve been too controlled and told
no too many times. This exercise as
well as all exercises should be done
slowly.
REGULAR BREAKS!
Regular breaks are important as they
give our dogs time for latent learning
to happen and generally for them to
chill out and relax. Take it slowly and
never push the dog to do more than it
is comfortable doing. It’s nice for dogs
to watch others doing exercises too;
they can learn from each other and
can improve the human-dog bond just
by being together.
DISMOUNT SLOWLY
I use a lot of hand signals, and I want
the dogs to do everything slowly and
in their own time. The more they rush
and throw themselves about, the more
likely they are to do themselves harm.
This can help in difficult situations
as well; understanding ‘wait’, how to
come off something slowly, helps us
get our dogs out of difficult situations.
Generally, however, it helps them
develop an understanding of where to
place their feet and control their body.
HIGH ADRENALINE GAMES
Often with these games dogs can be
prone to physical exhaustion, soft
tissue damage, and obviously they
can get highly stressed. The toy is the
main stimulus in these games, not the
owner, and I think they are developing
a relationship with a toy rather than
with a person in many such circumstances.
GROUP ACTIVITIES
Dogs love to copy and mimic each
other, and watching what others do
encourages the shyer and less confident
ones to join in. Exploring with
friends is fabulous, especially when
people can be part of the fun and
games!
BALANCE AND COORDINATION
These are useful at all ages and for all
different breeds. They teach a dog not
to be clumsy, to know where his feet
and legs are, like dog Pilates or yoga;
both young and old dogs enjoy these
exercises. The oldest dog in my class
at the moment is an ex-rescue dog
who is 12 years old, and he loves doing
these exercises. They have improved
his confidence and inter-dog and
people skills!
STRETCHING EXERCISES
This is not like teaching a dog to walk
on its back legs, as that can be damaging,
but to look up and stretch to
reach or find something or to explore
something feels nice, and they don’t
overstretch themselves when they are
calm and happy — less opportunity
for sprains and pains.
ALL-IMPORTANT BALANCE
With something to lean on, dogs can
be encouraged to explore more and
take life more slowly. In all of these
exercises the people play a part, which
means that it’s nice and useful to have
a human around. I see too many dogs
who want to be as far away from their
people as possible as they are not fun
to be with.
FOLLOWING THE HAND
This increases understanding. If our
dogs can follow our hand, they will
trust us to help them out of situations.
Recently one of my dogs got caught
up in wire. I was able to ask him to be
still while I unhooked him and guided
him out of the mess. He did this by
HAND SINGNAL DURING
THE SPIDER EXERCISE
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