Training Agility Indoors vs. Outdoors
Since I opened my indoor location 5 years ago, I occasionally have students asking about the need for outdoor agility training. The scenario is always the same: “someone” told them they needed to get their dog outside to do agility. I always ask “why?” and their answer is always the same. They tell me they lose connection with their dog outside, the dog might take off, run around sniffing, or get distracted easily. These are the best reasons in the world to NOT do agility outdoors. These issues are far better addressed away from the obstacles. Why have the dog learn that being disconnected and distracted is how outdoor agility is done?
I always ask these folks this question: “How much time does your dog spend off leash outdoors, not in your back yard?” The long answer always boils down to none or just a little when the out of control dog can be kept from being run over by a car or from chasing after a cat or deer. In short, the dogs aren’t off leash because the handler doesn’t have control. This is not an agility issue.
In her book “Animals Make Us Human,” Temple Grandin talks about how desperately dogs need to do what she calls “seeking behavior.” You have seen dogs seeming to be looking for a lost contact lens every chance they get, right?! TG thinks that dogs that don’t spend hours doing this behavior in new places on a regular bases can go a bit nutty because they crave it so badly. She attributes the lack of access to off leash roaming to many modern day behavior issues. It’s an interesting concept at the least.
Beyond dogs needing to “just be dogs” outdoors, and it possibly being unfair to ask them to perform for you the ONLY time they are ever in a new place and off leash, we have the issue of good old fashioned teaching.
Dogs have to be taught to be responsive when they are in new outdoor locations and off leash.
I agree the great outdoors presents all kinds of training challenges not found indoors but all of those challenges can be and should be met away from the obstacles! We won’t even train our contact performance on the real equipment because we want all mistakes to be made elsewhere. The types of challenges the outdoors presents should also be addressed in an appropriate environment. This critical learning should be done in fields, at parks, and beaches. Recalls, sends with front crosses and pulls, circle work, stay work and of course fetch to hand and tug can all be done outdoors to create a dog that is responsive outdoors, while off leash.
Early learning is best done without distractions. Indoor locations are wonderful for distraction free learning for both dog and handler. If the outdoors is not novel for your dog it won’t be distracting. I’ve not seen a dog trained to do agility indoors that had reliable general training outdoors not have reliable outdoor agility performances.
Quality instruction and the love of being outside with your dog in the warm sunshine are the best reasons to train outdoors. You do not have to train agility on a regular basis outside in order to have a reliable outdoor performance.
