So you and your dog have nailed agility foundations – congratulations! At the start of your agility journey, building awesome skills through foundation lessons is very important and so much fun. Foundation training creates solid skills that will serve as the basis for all your future agility training.

Now you might be asking, “What are the next steps in agility? Where do we go from here?” It’s normal to feel excited to move on, but also a bit overwhelmed by all the things to learn. Don’t worry – every agility handler has been in your shoes. This guide will walk you through a fun, step-by-step journey after foundations, with an emphasis on not skipping the basics (they’re the key to long-term success!).

We’ll cover learning the obstacles, trying new handling techniques, and putting things together in small sequences. Along the way, we’ll talk about common beginner challenges and share tips from the OneMind Dogs method – including seeing agility from your dog’s point of view. Let’s jump in!

Teach your dog the agility obstacles

After foundations, it’s time to make sure your dog can confidently and independently complete all of the agility obstacles – but slowly and patiently. It’s important to introduce your dog to new obstacles in a methodical way to protect their confidence and wellbeing. At OneMind Dogs we have step-by-step video lesson on how to do that here.

Your dog will have seen tunnels, wings and low jumps during your Foundation training, but now you’ll introduce all the other equipment: long jump, weave poles, tyre, wall and contact obstacles (like the A-frame, dog walk, and seesaw). Wait until your dog is physically matured before introducing weaves and full-sized contact obstacles.

Start low and easy

Begin with lowered contacts, jump bars at the dog’s hock height and only a few weave poles. For young dogs (under ~12-18 months), it’s best to hold off on high jumps, full-height contacts, or weave pole training. You can still lay the groundwork for those obstacles now though – for example, practice contact target training on a target mat or teach an independent 2-on-2-off position on a low step. This way, when your dog is old enough for full-size equipment, they’ll be ready to tackle it confidently.

Make it fun and positive

Use treats, toys, and praise generously so each obstacle is a happy place for your dog. If your pup is hesitant about an obstacle (many dogs find the teeter/seesaw movement a bit scary or weave poles confusing at first), break the training into tiny steps and celebrate each success. Keep sessions short and upbeat – end before your dog gets tired or bored. Remember the “two and two” rule: if your dog gets something right twice in a row, you can raise the challenge a little or move on; if it goes wrong twice, simplify the task so your dog can succeed. Keeping things achievable builds your dog’s confidence.

No equipment? No problem!

Many new handlers worry they can’t practice at home because they lack full equipment. But with a bit of creativity, you can do a lot in your backyard or local park. For example, an aerobics step can stand in for a contact obstacle, and you can use PVC pipes to make a practice jump and other bits and pieces. In fact, with just one jump, you can achieve a lot in your agility training right at home. Read this guide to see what sort of agility exercises you can do with one jump.

By gradually mastering obstacles one by one, you’re continuing the work from your agility foundations. You’re showing your dog that each new challenge is fun, and you’re reinforcing the independence they’ll need later (you won’t want to babysit every obstacle in a real course!). Take your time here and don’t rush ahead to advanced equipment too soon. As the saying goes, you wouldn’t build a house without a solid foundation – and in agility, those foundation skills ensure your dog tackles obstacles safely and confidently for years to come.

Learn different handling techniques, from the dog’s perspective

Agility isn’t just about obstacles – it’s also about how you guide your dog between those obstacles. This is where handling techniques come in. Handling techniques are the moves and cues you give your dog with your body (and occasionally voice) to tell your dog “turn this way,” “go straight to that jump,” or “take the tunnel”. There are a bunch of fancy-sounding moves (front cross, rear cross, blind cross, and more), but don’t let them intimidate you. At its core, handling is about learning to communicate in your dog’s language – primarily through body language and movement.

Back to basics (again!)

Guess what – you can start practicing handling without a full course. In fact, you can learn all the basic handling maneuvers using just a single jump as we spoke about earlier. Pick one jump in an open area and work your way through the basic handling techniques in this list. These techniques are natural reactions for your dog, so you’ll be amazed how quickly they learn!

This is not only easier on you both than running a whole course, but it’s also a lot of fun! You’ll start to discover what kind of handling works best for your dog – maybe your dog drives ahead nicely so rear crosses are easy, or maybe you find that a front cross gives clearer information in certain situations. By isolating the techniques, you can focus on timing and footwork and building obstacle value for your dog, without the chaos of many obstacles.

OneMind Dogs method tip

Remember, dogs pay way more attention to our body cues than our words. Your dog has been reading your 7 handling elements since day one – that’s their native language. For example, your dog naturally notices which way you’re moving or your chest and is pointing and uses that to guess where to go next. So as you practice handling techniques, concentrate on what your body is saying to the dog. When you learn to handle in a way that makes sense to your dog, it’s like you’re finally speaking the same language – and that’s a magical feeling!

Get guidance and have fun

It can help to take high quality handling lessons, online or in person, so you can learn from experience and see the footwork and timing in action. If you have access to an instructor or an online program, use it – a knowledgeable coach can give valuable feedback that speeds up your learning and reduces frustration for your and your dog. Did you know that OneMind Dogs Agility Premium comes with unlimited feedback from our coaching team, via personal video analysis?

But even if you’re training solo, you and your dog can make great progress. Keep sessions short and upbeat, just like obstacle training. Many dogs love this one-jump game – it becomes a fun dance between you two. And each technique you learn is another tool in your toolbox for future courses (your own special “handling signature,” as we like to call it). Enjoy this process of learning together. It’s incredibly rewarding when your dog gets what you’re asking because you’ve communicated it clearly.

Watch our free Beyond Foundations webinar for more great tips!

Put It Together in Small Sequences

Now for the really exciting part – small sequences! This is when you start stringing a few obstacles together and truly feel the thrill of teamwork. After all the foundation work, obstacle training, and one-jump handling practice, you and your pup are ready to connect the dots. But we’re not talking full competition courses yet – think short sequences of just a few obstacles to start.

Why small training sequences?

Running small sequences is the bridge between practicing individual skills and running an entire agility course. It helps you learn how to handle lines and how to give your dog timely cues while moving. Your dog learns to pay attention to multiple instructions in a row, and you learn how to maintain connection when things get a bit more dynamic.

In fact, once you and your dog have a couple of basic obstacles (like jumps and tunnels) down and know a few handling moves, it’s important to start doing sequences to improve your coordination and flow. Think of sequences as drills that improve your “team rhythm.” Each mini-course you run will reveal something new about your teamwork – maybe you’ll notice you were not giving your dog enough information, or your dog needs work on committing to jumps at an angle. These insights are gold for your training.

Start simple and safe

Ideally you’ve already practiced some small sequences during your foundation training. Teaching your dog to drive ahead of you down a line of obstacles is a vital foundation skill. Now you can start creating simple sequences with a few side changes in between to practice different handling option. The possibilities are endless, but the key is to increase difficulty gradually. Don’t feel like you have to set up 10 obstacles or tricky techniques right away. Mastering a 6-obstacle sequence with smooth turns and good timing is far more valuable than muddling through a full course of 15 obstacles with chaos.

Focus on timing and connection

When running a sequence, try to watch your dog and anticipate when they are committed to one line of obstacles so you can cue the next direction. For example, if your dog is heading for a tunnel, you should already be signaling where to go next after the tunnel! If you wait until they’re out of the tunnel, they might look at you like, “What now?” or invent their own fun (hello, zoomies or off-course obstacles). Staying a step ahead is something you’ll get better at with practice.

And if it goes wrong – say your dog takes the “wrong” obstacle – don’t fret. It’s all feedback. Maybe you accidentally faced that off-course tunnel with your “chest laser” (oops!), basically inviting your dog to take it. Mistakes simply highlight what to work on. Adjust and try again. When in doubt, break the sequence into pieces and practice one part at a time, then link it together. Bonus tip: Video your training! You can often see what your body language is telling your dog while reviewing your video. And if not, submit it to our coaches for help!

Keep it fun:

Just like earlier stages, keep sequence training fun and rewarding. After a short sequence, throw a party with your pup – tug on a toy, give treats, let them know they’re a superstar! This keeps their enthusiasm high. Mix up your sequences and courses regularly so neither of you gets too comfortable with a single pattern. Dogs, especially smart agility dogs, can start to anticipate if you always do things in the same order – mixing it up teaches them to truly follow your cues (and keeps their brains sharp). With patience and consistency, you’ll soon have a dog that can zoom through a little course confidently while having a blast and following your handling at the same time! And there is no better feeling than when it “clicks” and you both sync up as a team.

Watch our free Beyond Foundations webinar for more great tips – this 30-minute on-demand webinar breaks down exactly what skills to focus on next and how to build your agility journey step by step.

Common agility beginner challenges (and how to overcome them)

Even with a solid plan, it’s easy to feel unsure when you’re new to agility. You’re not alone! Here are a few common challenges that many new agility handlers face, along with tips to overcome them:

“There’s so much to learn, I feel overwhelmed!”

Agility is a big sport with lots of pieces, so feeling overwhelmed is natural. The cure is to break it into bite-sized pieces. Focus on one step at a time (that’s why we have the stages above). Maybe this week you concentrate on contacts, and next week on that front cross. Remember that even top agility champions started as beginners and learned bit by bit. Celebrate small victories – each skill you and your dog master is progress! Don’t hesitate to revisit foundation exercises whenever you feel things getting shaky. Those basics are your security blanket; reinforcing them will make the next steps feel easier.

“When should I start sequencing actual obstacles?”

A lot of newcomers worry about the “right” time to start running sequences or courses. The truth is, you can start small sequences sooner than you think – you don’t have to wait until everything is perfect. As soon as your dog can do a couple of obstacles reliably (say jump and tunnel) and you’ve learned a handling move or two, give a short sequence a try. It’s beneficial to practice linking obstacles early on, because it teaches you timing and teaches your dog to follow one cue after another.

Just keep it simple and short as discussed. If your sequence work uncovers a weak spot (e.g. your dog keeps missing a jump), that’s okay – go back and place a reward behind that obstacle for a while, then try again in a sequence. Agility training isn’t strictly linear; you’ll bounce back and forth between individual skills and sequences as you improve.

“I keep comparing myself to more advanced handlers – I feel behind.”

It’s easy to look at other agility teams blasting through courses and feel discouraged. But here’s the thing: every one of those handlers was once a beginner, struggling to remember where obstacle #5 is or how to get their dog to turn the right way. Don’t compare someone else’s middle to your beginning. Focus on the journey of you and your dog as a team.

OneMind Dogs coaches always remind students to “focus on your own team, not what others are doing”. You’ll progress at the pace that’s right for you and your dog. Instead of feeling behind, look at experienced teams as inspiration and insight – what do you hope to achieve in a year or two? They are simply further along the same path. Agility is not a race; it’s a personal journey with your dog.

Take pride in the improvements you see week to week. Maybe last month your dog wouldn’t stay at the start line and now they do – that’s a win! By concentrating on your own progress and keeping things fun, you’ll stay motivated and confident. And trust me, those advanced handlers are silently cheering you on – we all love seeing newcomers fall in love with this sport.

Train from your dog’s perspective (The OneMind Dogs way)

One thing that makes the OneMind Dogs approach special is training through the dog’s perspective. We touched on it in handling, but it’s such an important mindset that it deserves its own highlight. What does “seeing agility from your dog’s point of view” really mean? In short, it means always considering what your dog actually perceives on the course and how they naturally react to your cues.

The truth is, agility is so much easier when you handle in a way that makes sense to your dog. Remember, dogs aren’t out there analyzing the numbered course map, learning English or plotting strategy. They’re simply reacting in the moment to your body language and cues and trying their best to do what you want. If a dog goes off-course, it’s often because our cue was unclear or late from their point of view. When you learn to give clear, timely, consistent signals (the kind of information a dog naturally understands), everything starts to feel almost effortless for both of you.

How to understand the dog’s perspective

So how do you apply the dog’s perspective in practice? Start by literally getting down to your dog’s eye level now and then – what do they see when they’re coming out of a tunnel, or taking a jump and looking for the next obstacle? Is your position making it obvious where to go, or could it be confusing? For example, if you are standing near two jumps, your dog might not know which one you intend unless your body clearly indicates it. Little things like the angle of your feet, the direction of your chest, and whether you’re moving or stopped tell the dog a story. Consistency in those cues builds your dog’s trust that “yes, you’re showing me exactly what you want.”

Timing cues

Also, think about timing from the dog’s view: Dogs have a much quicker reaction time than we do; by the time we humans think “okay, turn now,” the dog might have already passed the ideal turn point or planned two obstacles ahead. That’s why we aim to cue turns early – basically giving your dog information before they need it, not as they’re performing the action. It can feel early to us, but to the dog it’s just in time.

OneMind Dogs often talks about “speaking dog” – meaning using primarily physical cues in a timely manner, because dogs instinctively understand that. Verbal commands are fine support, but your teammate will trust your motion, position, and eyes more than any word.

Agility is teamwork

The best part of adopting your dog’s perspective is that it makes agility way more enjoyable and rewarding for your pup. Your dog doesn’t care about ribbons or Q’s; they just know that running agility with you is a game. When you make your guidance clear, your dog can run with confidence and joy, rather than worry or confusion. It truly feels like you have one mind with your dog (yep, that’s where “OneMind Dogs” comes from!). You’re in sync, and there’s no better feeling than that partnership.

As you progress on your agility journey, keep checking in on this perspective. If something isn’t working, ask “How might my dog be seeing this?” It could reveal a simple fix, like using an earlier body cue or setting a better line. And always remember to have fun out there – if you’re having fun, chances are your dog is too. After all, agility is a team sport, and your dog is the most important teammate you have.

Enjoy the journey

Graduating from “dog agility for beginners” to the next level is an exciting time. There’s a whole world of skills and experiences ahead of you, and you and your dog get to explore it together. Remember that every agility champion once asked the same questions you’re asking now. By investing time in solid foundations and then taking the next steps methodically – learning obstacles properly, practicing handling techniques, and building up with small sequences – you are setting yourself and your dog up for long-term success and lots of fun along the way.

Whenever you feel unsure, come back to the basics and to your dog’s point of view. Foundations aren’t a phase to skip; they are habits to keep. Each new layer of skill will circle back to those fundamentals you built. Most importantly, keep it joyful. Your dog doesn’t judge your handling or care if you knocked a bar – they just love playing this game with you. So celebrate every small win, laugh off the bobbles, and give your dog an extra cookie for being your partner in this adventure.

Here’s to your great agility journey ahead! With patience, practice, and a focus on understanding your dog, you’re well on your way to becoming the agility team you aspire to be. 🐕🎖️

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