Benefits of Dog Agility
Dog agility is an exciting canine sport charged full of speed and skill, and it’s gaining in popularity every day. In short, dog agility is a timed race where dogs whiz through an obstacle course one at a time, guided by their handlers using a combination of voice commands, hand signals, and body language. Dog agility is a race against time, but the dog’s speed must always be controlled at all times because it’s also critical that the dog makes no mistakes. Because agility dogs run the course off-leash and their handlers may not touch their dogs or any of the obstacles, the dogs must be exceptionally well trained.
The training and tasks that are experienced by agility dogs and their handlers all require a great deal of discipline and speed. But these same rigors of dog agility also pay off, providing several significant benefits to both members of the team:
- It’s more fun for you and your dog than almost anything else you could do together. The atmosphere surrounding dog agility training and competitions is so charged, it’s almost electric.
- It’s great exercise. Dog agility places a premium on fitness. If you and your dog aren’t in tip-top shape when you start, you soon will be after taking up this exhilarating sport. Running, jumping, twisting, and rapidly turning, all required of both team members, provide a whole-body cardio workout for both you and your dog. Your legs, arms, heart, and lungs will all get stronger, you’ll tone up many of your muscles, and you’ll probably lose some weight along the way, too. Many people and dogs alike could use a bit of that!
- You’ll get to know a whole new set of people, and your dog can safely interact and play with other well-behaved dogs.
- You’ll gain a strong sense of accomplishment and pride. You’ll be proud of your dog, proud of yourself and proud of your accomplishments as a team. It’s likely that your dog will be admired by a number of spectators, and that will make you proud, too. Your dog will be happy, satisfied, and content to be fulfilling the job you’ve given to him or her. If you watch an agility dog in action, you’ll see lots of tail wagging and otherwise merry, animated behavior.
- You’ll end up with an extremely well trained dog. A highly obedient dog that listens to your every command, knows a variety of hand signals and even understands your body language. A dog that loves you and eagerly watches you and your movements, living solely to please you.
See what we mean? These benefits all come out of teaming up with your dog so that you can do dog agility. But putting all these benefits aside, there’s one more, and it’s the most meaningful benefit of all: the strong bond and sense of trust that forms between the agility dog and its handler. The bond’s strength increases as you work together, and in the end, you’ll be an inseparable team, on and off the agility course.
Dog agility, when done well, is poetry in motion. It’s exciting to watch, and even more exciting to do. Best of all, its many benefits will mentally and physically invigorate you.
