Jan-Busy Trainer

Having a baby and four dogs does not always leave a lot of time for agility training. I wanted to make sure I was getting in some foundation training and came up with a plan. I picked two activities that I could do in front of my house five days a week (I change it every month). These activities take about five minutes (more or less is up to you). First I posted my activities to the fridge to make sure I don't forget and it is already planned out for me. Example: Inside circle work with cones and hand touches.
This month I am going to talk to you about the inside circle work with cones. I wanted an easier way to work on inside circle work to help my coordination with it. I set up four cones in a square and placed a fifth one in the center (can make it as big or small as you want).
Then I have my dog on the outside of the cones on my left side (since that is our weak side). I treat my dog as we walk along the outside (less treats as they get better) and always treat at the cone as you are turning. The cone just gives you an obstacle to help teach you and your dog the turning technique. Once you are comfortable doing the outside you can change direction going to the center cone or doing figure eights. This helped to keep the game more exciting for myself and my dog really had to pay attention to what I was doing.

Hope you are having fun training with your dog and remember a few minutes a day can make a world of difference.