Dog Agility Week Four: Training the Agility Teeter

Hello everyone!

This week we will be looking at a challenging, yet fun obstacle that is necessary to teach to your agility dog.  This obstacle is the teeter!  The teeter is used in many dog agility venues and used in the Standard courses of AKC trials.  Like I said, it can be a little tricky to teach, but, once trained, it is truly amazing to watch your dog soar up and over the teeter with confidence!  Here in this video you will see some basic tips and tricks, but keep reading to know anything and everything there is to successfully training the teeter.

As you will see in the video, the "bang game" is a common game to teach your dog to establish their confidence with the loud noise the teeter will make when it hits the ground.  At an agility trial, the dog must ascend up the teeter and may not jump off the teeter until it has hit the ground.  This means that your dog MUST be comfortable with the loud "bang" that the teeter does make.  So to play the bang game, begin with lots of treats and lift up one end of the teeter and have the dog step on it so that it hits the ground.  Begin by lifting the teeter just a few inches off the ground and work your way up to holding it up as high as you can.  By spending time teaching this game, your dog will have more confidence around the teeter and will be prepared to actually climb up the obstacle.

Now once you feel that your dog is MORE THAN CONFIDENT (I'm stressing this because you do not want your dog to ever be afraid of any obstacle) with the bang game, it is time to move on to a more challenging approach.  Direct your dog up the plank and reward them with treats as they climb up.  When they get to the end of the plank, before it hits the ground, slowly lower it down to the ground and heavily reward your dog.  Continue this until your dog understands the concept of the teeter.  Once your dog is confident with this exercise, continue with the same steps, but now as your dog approaches the end of the teeter, let it drop to the ground and make a noise.  Begin by letting it drop only a few inches and slowly increase the height. 

Remember that training the teeter is probably not something that will be accomplished in only one training session.  The teeter takes a lot of time and work, so be prepared, and always keep it fun for the dog!

I hope you were able to find this helpful and leave any questions below!

Happy training!

-Hayley