1 August 2021

Games to play with your dog outdoor

For agility we would like to remind you for some basic safety tips to avoid injuries:

• Choose a place that provides a safe landing and also offers a non-slip surface. A lawn is ideal.
• Select materials that will not injure your dog – light plastic tubing, wood, PVC bars and fittings are all good bets.
• Anything over which your dog is expected to jump, such as a bar or a hurdle, should be unfixed, but supported so that it displodges on contact. The bases, however, should be stable and unlikely to tip over on contact.
• Make sure you’ve got enough space between obstacles. Jumps require some running space for takeoff and landing – about five strides in advance and four afterward.
• Your dog will need to know the basic commands before being taught to negotiate an agility course. During training, reward your dog with toys or a healthy snack when he completes a task successfully.
• Make sure you don’t push your dog too hard, or force him to do something that he is afraid or reluctant to try. Be patient and work on one activity at a time.

Remember, always start with a simple exercise and increase difficulty as soon as you see your pal is ready for something more ambitious.

Our top 3 outdoor exercises:

1. Fetch and carry. Fetching and retrieving stimulates your dog and allows him to use most of his senses, as well as his muscles.
2. Cone slalom. Set up a series of cones and teach your dog to dribble around them with a “Weave” command. Begin by encouraging him to push the ball upon the command and start the game with his left shoulder nearest to the first obstacle in a short course of cones.
3. Agility games. Jumping, moving on to hurdles, walking in circles, hula hoops, weaving, seesaw, “pause box”, tunnels, time trials.

Games to play with your dog outdoor