The Modern Guide to Pre-Agility
Safe foundations before 12 months
Families often ask when their puppy can start agility. The equipment has to wait until your puppy's body has finished growing, but the training can start now. Everything a good agility dog needs can be built in the first year without a single jump.
This guide is full of step-by-step exercises for puppies up to 12 months, split for younger and older puppies where it matters. It covers body awareness, flatwork, handling, gentle strength work, surfaces, rewards and games, then safe first steps with tunnels and planks on the ground, and a plan for moving into full agility.
I've been training dogs for over 30 years, and I wrote this the way I'd explain it if we were stood on the training field together.
What's inside
Why young joints need protecting, and what pre-agility really is
Confidence, socialisation and handling for future agility dogs
Body awareness and gentle strength work, with no impact
Flatwork and your puppy's first handling skills, at a walk
Rewards, placement and games that build drive and connection
Turns, sends, recalls, targets, tunnels and planks, all on the ground
Circuits, warm-ups, cool-downs, sample plans and moving into full agility
Pages to print and keep
A session log to track progress
A quick-reference page with the safety rules
Why this guide is different
Nothing in it involves jumping or raised equipment
Exercises are split for younger and older puppies
Every chapter has a safety check
It's written by a trainer who has competed at Crufts and Olympia
It's built on games plus structure, with reward-based training
Who it's for
Families with a puppy under a year old who'd like to try agility later, or who simply want a confident, coordinated puppy who loves working with them, wherever they live.
What you get
A 90-page PDF and an EPUB in one ZIP file, emailed to you straight after checkout. Read it on your phone, tablet, e-reader or computer, and print the pages at the back.
