| Greater Columbia Obedience Club, Inc. |
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AGILITY CLASSES |
Learning the sport of agility involves more than teaching your dog to perform all of the obstacles on an agility course. The human part of the team must learn to communicate with their dog precisely and consistently. Finally, most handlers have to spend a good bit of time helping their dog get comfortable in the stimulating environments that they will encounter both at agility trials and at agility training sessions. We recommend that dogs and handlers develop some basic skills in obedience as a foundation to prepare them for agility. |
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GCOC's Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Skills courses are a good starting point. Before taking their first agility class, your dog must have a great recall, good sit and stay performance, and be capable of successfully performing these skills in a variety of different environments.
We offer a single progression of the agility program each year starting in January. Participation in the Foundations of Agility class is required to move forward in the sequence. We aim to give handlers enough experience and introduction to the obstacles that they can complete a novice course.
To see what classes are coming up, go to GCOC's Class Calendar & Registration.
FOUNDATIONS OF AGILITY
This class emphasizes all component skills needed in agility: self control, motivation, balance/coordination, and handling. Dogs and handlers will learn a foundation of safety and skill which will enable them to continue to more advanced agility training if they wish. No prior experience in agility is required. We will introduce you and your dog to the agility obstacles in a positive, safe manner. Learn the tunnels and jumps and learn to preform them with confidence and speed in short sequences. This class is held in the large back room at GCOC. Prerequisite: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Skills or equivalent. Admission to the class is restricted to dogs and handlers with the skills to successfully complete the class. |
BEGINNING SEQUENCING
This class will move dogs and handlers to our outdoor agility field. Skills from our foundation course will come together to set up teams to work on small sequence of courses and build to running an entire course. Prerequisite: Agility Foundations |
SPECIALTY SKILLS
This series of classes introduces the contact obstacles and weave poles. Each obstacle will be taught in a four week long class. Prerequisite: Beginning Sequencing |