What is agility?
You heard that right, if you want to train your dog in agility at home, with K9Turf you’ll be Crufts ready in no time at all! Dog agility training is essentially an obstacle course involving a range of different obstacles such as jumps and tunnels. If you’re dog likes a challenge, more advanced courses or ‘runs’ can be created by including, see saws, tyres and weave poles. The training courses are designed to test your dog’s balance, speed and of course agility, as they navigate the various obstacles. This also improves the pet-owner relationship by teaching both communication and obedience. Read on to lean more about how and why you should build an agility course with K9Turf.
Why choose K9turf?
K9Turf is a 100% pet friendly artificial grass designed specifically for dogs. It has a 4 layered pro-flow drainage system which allows the entire woven backing to act as a drainage ‘hole’. This means that your artificial grass will not hold onto pet waste or the harmful bacteria it contains, instead the Zeolite infill which sits in the base of the grass yarns, causes pet urine to crystallise on contact. The crystallisation process prevents toxic ammonia gasses from being released, keeping your lawn fresh smelling even after pet use. Not only that, but K9Turf’s yarns are specially woven using the most advanced resin technology available today, ensuring the tensile strength and overall integrity, to withhold your pets from pulling up the fibres whilst playing or training.
Building Your Course
K9Turf is the ideal surface material for any dog agility training area, once your pet friendly artificial grass is installed you are ready to start building your course! If your dog is new to agility training, it may be worth taking them out to a dog park to get a better idea of what kind of activities they are most receptive to, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. There are many types of obstacles which you can include in the layout of your agility course to ensure the most fun and productive training sessions for both you and your pets. We recommend starting with:
Weaving obstacles: Anything tall enough for your pet to weave around will work well, ensure the obstacle is well weighted at the base to ensure it doesn’t fall over if your pup knocks into it.
Tunnels: Tunnels can be purchased online from many online stores, be sure to check your dogs’ size before-hand! You’ll also be happy to hear it’s fairly easy to create a DIY tunnel by cutting out the bottom of a bin, box or even using a children’s play tunnel if you already have one laying around!
Ramps and See-Saws: No agility course is complete without some kind of ramp or see-saw. Your dogs will enjoy the variation in gradient, and this will encourage them to anticipate the next activity in the course. If your dog is new to agility training it’s best to start with a stationary ramp to help your pup get used to being elevated.
Agility training, like any other dog training, takes time! Always use positive reinforcement keep your furry friend excited about the activity, keep sessions short to avoid frustration or exhaustion and ensure you have plenty of water and a few treats on hand to keep your pup happy throughout training.
We hope this blog inspires your and your pup to get active this summer, if you do build a K9turf agility course
