As a young child I loved nothing more than spending time with my little dog Trigger. We used to spend hours in the garden having fun together and one of our favourite activities was a game I made up and named ‘Plant Pot Agility’! If you have children, it’s an especially great one to play and also provides an opportunity for them to both choose the objects and even decorate them if they wish.
For this game you need to get a little creative. Take a look around your house and garden, what can you use to make a few jumps, tunnels or obstacle course? You’ll be surprised at what you can come up with when you get your thinking hat on! Here I have used bricks, garden canes, a hula hoop (tied to canes with dog poo bags 💩) and some football plastic cones. But use what you have got and what is accessible to you.
You can also easily set this up indoors if space allows and you could even weave around cushions and make tunnels out of objects such as chairs. As you can see, Penny thinks this is a wonderful game and not only did it tire her physically, it also tired her mentally as she had to use her brain to work out where she needed to go next whilst responding to the verbal commands given.
As with all training, give the command as your dog carries out the action. For this game, you should guide your dog initially around each part of your obstacle course using a tasty treat. Once they are confident with each part of the course you can then speed up the activity and connect each section together.
If you have a very young dog (less than a year old) an old dog, or one with a health condition, do think about the course you set up to limit the impact on their joints. Avoid jumping actions and create a suitably challenging course for their physical abilities. Keep an eye out this week as I will be releasing more on this!
As always, let me know if you try this game out and tag me in your videos. I’d love to see your dog’s having fun and also what objects you come up with to make your obstacle course!
Dog-ease Training & Behaviour
Disclaimer: All training is attempted at the owner’s risk and Adem Fehmi accepts no liability for any injuries to pets or owners sustained during training. If your dog is showing signs of a behavioural issue please seek professional advice.
