Dog training........?

Question

I was wondering what kind of stuff at home that I can use for dog agility training without buying those expensive things for real training....We have a large area in our house that I can train my dog...

What kind of stuff commonly found at home...Example chairs...etc..

Thanks again

Answer 1

Place a long board between 2 chairs.  

I know you don't want to spend money but you can purchase a tunnel at a kids store.  They aren't as heavy as the ones actually used in agility but they work.  

Also, you can place sticks in the ground to make weave poles.

Answer 2

     I use a hula hoop for a jump plus built an A frame. I also use a curtain rod in a doorway for a jump. Large boxes from stores make tunnels..

Answer 3

Your other answers are on the right track in giving you ideas of things to use to make agility obstacles, but I just wanted to say that just because you are not going to be using expensive equipment does not mean that you will not be doing "real training".   Your dog will not know the difference between genuine agility course equipment and what you come up with at home.  Any training you do is real training.

Answer 4

Here are some plans you can buy for $10 on Ebay that will tell you what you need, and how you can build things yourself pretty inexpensively.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dog-Agility-Plans-DI...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...

I bought the plans in the second link, and while I haven't had a chance to build any of them yet, found the plans to be pretty thorough.  

Answer 5

When we were little, me and my sister used turn the living room into an obstacle course for our dogs. We used pillows stacked up to climb on and jump over and sheets to make tunnels, using the sofas to attach sheets to and as extra high jumps. I guess you could do the same thing for your dog.

Just make sure that if you are making him jump over anything he won't hurt himself if he doesn't make it, i.e. if he catches his back legs the jump needs to fall without hurting him if it hits him. Also don't stack up things that will make a noise if he knocks them over as it may scare him and put him off jumping all together.

Having said that, I bought a tunnel for my Yorkie that only cost 12 pounds and I'm sure you can find other things that are equally as cheap! Although just practising jumps, etc, is going to help him improve in agility, I don't think it will recreate the exact feel, so investing in the proper equipment may be worth it if you are taking/ plan to take agility classes. However, if you're just doing it for fun at home then stack up those pillows!

Hope that helps!