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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on August 23, 2009 at 9:04am

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Permalink Reply by Cindi on August 23, 2009 at 9:25am

First, remember not to get your dog into any kind of jumping until he is a year old. Corgis are sturdy little dogs, but it's necessary to wait for your dog's bone and muscle to fully form before getting involved. That being said, the best thing you can do is work on obedience. Start with the basics. Take a class. Socialization is very important and a class can give you that plus basic commands. Another thing is setting up an obedience course. I do this for my classes and it's a great way to get your pup in tune with what you want. We don't use any verbal commands; hand commands only. If you want info on setting up an obedience course, drop me a line.

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Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on August 23, 2009 at 11:33am

Start with basic obedience. Sit, dow, come stay, heel, etc. Even though it seems like these have nothing to do with agility, if your dog will not follow these commands off leash, outside of your house, 100% of the time, agility is going to be tough. Every dog training facility I know of that teaches agility makes you go through 2-3 advanced obedience classes (after the basic puppy class) before they will even begin letting you train for agility. My dog is now over a year, and we are still getting a handle on some of the finer points of obedience off leash before we can start agility classes.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Geddes on August 23, 2009 at 3:28pm

Hi Shannon! All three of my corgis have taken agility classes after passing advanced obedience. You do need to have all those obedience commands in place. Also, the advice about resisting jumping at your pup's young age is very sound. Their skeletal make-up and bone plates are not solidified until one year and, unfortunately, lots of damage can take place if a pup strenuously jumps, wrestles with larger dogs or is encouraged to continuously circle in one given direction.

Do watch Team Monty on YouTube. Monty is a very skilled agility corgi and you can see (and applaud) the fruits of much practice. In agility, the position of the handler's body, shoulders, dog-to-handler eye contact and ability to "sound out" the equipment commands (i.e., jump, up, ramp, chute, tire, weave, teeter, table) at the exact time play an important part. The handler's choreography on the course is also crucial. For me it is a challenge to walk the course and remember the order in which all the equipment will come (but I am not a competitor either)! Another fun corgi and handler to watch on YouTube is Kaley Corgi and Sandra Chow.

So, start with obedience and strive to solidify those commands, view agility videos (and keep your eyes on the handlers, too), see if there is a local dog club that might have classes that you can watch, remember that when you eventually do get into an agility class that it is not a social setting for the dogs - it is a time of team formation between you and your corgi and always keep agility a happy and positive experience.

All the best from: Bear (herder and reluctant agility participant), Tasha (agility speeding bullet) and Linus (will do agility for bacon but prefers to herd sheep) and Nancy, who is always tired at the end of the day!

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Permalink Reply by Sam on August 23, 2009 at 9:34pm

I too would recommend you stay off of any jumps or steep climbing until he is a year or older. One great thing you can do now is get him used to a wobble board. These are easily made by having a round piece of wood about 30 radius. Find a ball on a rope toy and attach it to the bottom so the board moves. Early training with this will help him immensely when it comes time to work on the teeter (way down the road) You may also set up cones in any sort of sequence and work with him following you or being next to you. You can work on having him move slow when you ask and fast when you ask. You could also lay a throw rug, piece of cardboard or any other object on the ground. Teach him to sit and down on that object. Remember always teach a release word as if you begin to compete the stay becomes very important. Come, sit, down and stay will become very important so this must be incorporated through out his day, every day. You can teach him to turn left, turn right, spin left, spin right. There is so much you can teach him very young to keep him engaged without challenging his growing body. A few tips from a long time corgi owner....make all training times short and sweet. Always end on a good note. Include play within the training to keep it fun. Dont work hard, just work smart.

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