Indoor Dog Agility Training Basics

Indoor dog agility training during the winter is possible with the right equipment. Be creative and think of new places to set up your equipment, make it a challenge yet fun for your dog.

Depending on where you live, there might be snow on the ground from November through March, but that’s no reason to give up your agility training. Bring your dog training indoors, right in your own home.

Create Creative Training Locations

Get creative with your training locations. Do you have a hallway, basement, or garage? Then you have a place to train! Before it snows and your equipment is frozen to the ground, store some in your garage, shed, basement, or put a tarp over it. Bring in one piece of equipment at a time, and begin your indoor training.

Utilize a Pause Table

We do a lot of indoor training with a Pause Table. In fact, we keep one in our living room for both obedience training and agility training all the time. The Pause Table is a great obstacle for developing your obedience behaviors and teaching agility directional commands

Don’t Forget the Contact Trainer

Don’t forget to work on your contacts. It’s easy by having a Contact Trainer indoors. A 3-Piece Contact Trainer offers you versatility; you have an A-frame side, the Pause Table, and a Dog-walk plank. Practicing your two feet on and two feet off is convenient and quick when you have indoor contacts, only a few minutes a day to steady your dog’s behavior.

Caution when Jumping

Indoor jump training must be approached carefully. If you don’t have indoor matting, don’t jump. You don’t want your dog jumping on concrete or wood floors. But you can use the uprights or posts to practice your handling. Use your Sit-stay or Down-stay and practice your lines or dogs path with no jump bars.

Practice the Weave

When the weather doesn’t cooperate, practice your weaves indoors. Are you training with a weave-chute or straight line weaves? Five minutes a day of weave training through out the winter will have your dog weaving smoothly by springtime. You can practice weave entries and weave sends or weave recalls.

Leverage Mini-Agility Training Equipment

There is also a variety of mini-agility equipment that can be purchased that doesn’t require the same space as standard equipment. There are mini-teeters, mini-dog walks, and mini-A-frames. These are great obstacles for puppy training or indoor winter training.

So, during the cold winter months or those dark rainy days, don’t give up on your agility training. Whether you are starting a young pup, working a novice dog, or an experienced titled dog there is always something that you can do indoors with your agility training.