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K9 Parkour/Urban Agility

3K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  KZoppa 
#1 ·
Hello all
I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with this. I have seen a few YouTube videos, joined a few Facebook groups, and tried to find some stuff on line about it, but I thought I would ask here too. (You can never have enough information). I know I can't do anything major with my pup until he is 18 months old, but I was wondering if there were any exercises I could do with him when I bring him home to make transitioning into this easier for both him and I lol
I think it looks like an excellent way to make walks more fun, and a good way to make him use his brain.
Thank you :smile2:
 
#3 ·
Why not go to an agility class? They will teach you and your dog to navigate various obstacles. Then you can take what you have learned and find various obstacles on your walks to make it more interesting.
 
#4 ·
There is a lot of things you can do at home,in the woods,and in town.Let's see...walk over a lot of different surfaces,cardboard,bubble wrap,a flattened wire crate,plywood.Make a low walk way out of a couple of cinder blocks and a sturdy board,then hop over the board.Go to a playground and jump up on the benches,picnic tables,merry go round,etc.Walk or hop through hula hoops.Walking along the trunk of a fallen tree in the woods,and so on.
 
#5 ·
Here are some other things to help create a well rounded pup!

Adapted with permission from Margaret Hughes
1. I will do Relaxation Protocol both in a crate and on a mat daily. My end goal is a dog who can relax tethered on a mat or happy in a crate while I teach training classes.

2. Everyone will ignore the puppy for the first 5-10 mins of coming home. I want to make coming and going a non issue, as it is with our adult dogs.

3. Crate games will start immediately. See number #1.

4. The puppy will be worked daily on recalls. The plan is to do a lot of off leash attention work.

5. The puppy will start Puppy K and a Puppy Sport Foundations class with me within 2 weeks of coming home.

6. The puppy will be crated or wall tethered and ignored for 15 minutes a day while everyone is home to learn that this is a "no big deal" activity. There will also be times when the puppy is left totally alone so that she will not be stressed by it as an adult.

7. The puppy will be in a crate, X-pen, wall tethered or tethered to me at all times. I want to prevent bad habits.

8. The puppy will be conditioned to love a head halter until loose lead walking is installed.

9. The puppy will wear a front attached harness when we are not actively working on loose leash walking to prevent bad habits.

10. No one will be allowed to "carry" the puppy around like a stuffed toy.

11. The puppy will get at least one daily trip off the property.

12. The puppy will only be petted, talked to or looked at if she has all four feet on the floor.

My 10 Training Rules

I will keep a behavior log/ dictionary to track the signals and cue words.
I will keep a training log to track where in the learning the puppy is for each behavior.
I will keep a socialization / public assess log to track how much the puppy is getting out.
I will install verbal’s by training without body language and train as cleanly as I can.
I will consider weaken behaviors as "untrained" and go back to the beginning to re-teach it.
I will only train one behavior at a time in a session.
I will focus on "How can I change it?" instead of "Why did she do that?"
I will remember that any interaction with the dog is training the dog.
I will prevent or interrupt undesirable behaviors, rather than ignore them.
I will keep the end goal insight was I train each behavior.
By the time my pup is 12 weeks old, she will have:​
Experienced 12 different surface: wood, wood chips, carpet tile, cement, linoleum, grass, wet grass, dirt, mud, puddles grates, uneven surfaces, on a table, on a chair, etc...


Played with 12 different objects: fuzzy toys, big & small balls, hard toys, funny sounding toys, wooden items, paper or cardboard items, milk jugs, metal items, etc...

Experienced 12 different locations: front yard (daily), other people's homes, school yard, lake, pond, river, boat, basement, elevator, car, moving car, garage, laundry room, kennel, vet hospital (just to say hi and visit, lots of cookies, vaccinations) grooming salon (just to say hi) etc...

Met and played with 12 new people: (outside of family) include children, adults (male and female) elderly adults, people in wheelchairs, walkers people with canes, crutches, hats, sunglasses, etc...

Exposed to 12 different noises: (ALWAYS keep positive and watch puppy's comfort level-we don't want the puppy scared) garage door opening, doorbell, children playing, babies screaming, big trucks, Harley motorcycles, skateboards, washing machine, shopping carts, power boat, clapping, pan dropping, vacuums, lawnmowers, etc...

Exposed to 12 fast moving objects: (Don't allow to chase) skateboards, roller-blades, bikes, motorcycles, cars, people running, cats running, scooters, children running, squirrels, horses running, etc...

Experienced 12 different challenges: climb on, in, off and around a box, go through a
cardboard tunnel, climb up and down steps, climb over obstacles, play hide & seek, go in
and out a doorway with a step up or down, exposed to an electric sliding door, umbrella,
balloons, walk on a wobbly table (plank of wood with a small rock underneath), jump over
a broom, climb over a log, bathtub (and bath) etc....

Handled by owner (& family) 12 times a week: hold under arm (like a football), hold to
chest, hold on floor near owner, hold in-between owner’s legs, hold head, look in ears,
mouth, in-between toes, hold and take temperature (ask veterinarian), hold like a baby, trim
toe nails, hold in lap, etc…

Eaten from 12 different shaped containers: wobbly bowl, metal, cardboard box, paper,
coffee cup, china, pie plate, plastic, frying pan, Kong, Treatball, Bustercube, spoon fed,
paper bag, etc......

Eaten in 12 different locations: back yard, front yard, crate, kitchen, basement, laundry
room, bathroom, friend’s house, car, school yard, bathtub, up high (on work bench), under
umbrella, etc....

Played with 12 different puppies (or safe adult dogs) as much as possible.

Left alone safely, away from family & other animals (5-60 minutes) at least 12 times a week. (for my pup that means crated.)

Experienced
a leash and collar 12 different times in 12 different locations.

Potty in at least 12 different places on as many different surfaces as I can manage.

Attend at least 12 different group classes sessions and or play sessions.

Eat from a Scent Pad in 12 different places.

Eat from 12 different food toys


Moms:)
 
#6 ·
I plan on going to a puppy obedience class. I get a pretty good deal with being a member of the local kennel club. However there are no agility classes anywhere near me. The closest one is over 2 hours away, one way, and thats a bit far to go once a week, especially since we will be having to drive back later at night with alot of the drive being in the middle of no where, with no cell signal. (Sometimes I love the U.P being so secluded, but other times not so much lol)
When i asked this question on the facebook K9 Parkour groups, I was pretty much told they can get up on stuff, but I need to lift them off. I figured that I could use this as another way to socialize him.
I have a list of places I would like to take my pup to socialize. Playgrounds, the river (Especially for the loud metal bridges), waterfront concerts they have, petsmart, a small corner store allows well behaved dogs and pups, stuff like that =)
 
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#8 ·
Thanks.
I have more written down, I just can't remember them all off the top of my head.
I was told to practice rear end awareness exersizes. Does anyone have any examples of these suitable for a pup?
 
#10 ·
FDSA just finished up their first Parkour class. They will be running another class in December Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FF255: Advanced Parkour that will build on what was covered in the first class. I don't know if the first level class will be available for prerequisite purchase, but you can always contact the instructor. Meanwhile, this might be a good class to take in the June session. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - CC110: K9 Conditioning

The FDSA class is based on the International Dog Parkour Association's titling rules. What is Dog Parkour? - International Dog Parkour Association While the training title is optional for older dogs, it's the only one dogs under 18 months can earn. All three of my dogs have their PKD-T, and have started on their Novice titles.
 
#11 ·
If we're talking about fun stuff to do with dogs without spending money (which is why I'm interested in parkour),
my 'wobble board' is a piece of plywood placed on top of a rounded object (bottle cap for Sonic's intro). Put the board on a soft surface for noise sensitive dogs as the board will go 'bang' on a hard surface. You can just keep putting larger objects (rocks) for more bang, and a smaller board to get that rear end awareness going. Great pre-training for agility or found objects. No purchase necessary.
With Dynamo, I had her stand on a piece of plywood found in the woods, with a log place underneath as a rocker. This got her well prepared for the teeter.
I just started Sonic indoors with a huge piece of plywood on a film canister lid. He's just learning the clicker games, so I still need to make things easy.
Will have him do things like dog-walks over 2x6's on bricks, plywood ramps on stairs, send out's to mats and targets. Fun stuff, free, and maybe will have some cash left over for agility someday.
Does anyone know how to teach tic tacs?
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
It's just urban agility. Basically work your dog on different surfaces and obstacles safely. Which you should do anything from puppy on up. There's tons of videos on youtube about it. The tictacs video shared above is from dogparkour. K9 parkour is really just teaching your dog to be okay with different obstacles. It's using your surroundings for new and different footing and skills like balance.
 
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