AGILITY TRAINING
A fun way to build on your bond and exercise your minds.
Agility is a great way to deepen the bond between you and your dog whilst maintaining fitness, as well as ensuring your dog uses their brain making them a more happy, relaxed companion at home too.
We believe agility is designed for all breeds and sizes and do all we can to adjust to this and suit each dogs way of learning. We encourage dogs and handlers of all levels to get involved in the sport.
BEGINNERS GROUP AGILITY CLASS... This course will focus on fun agility foundations, starting your dog in the correct way. Any dog that has completed basic obedience classes (bronze good citizens level) is welcome. This means they have a reliable wait and recall. Classes will take place in a secure arena in a group of no more than 6, allowing for individual time and guidance. This class will be suitable for dogs over 12 months of age.
Please enquire if you would like to be added to our beginners agility course list.
TIMETABLE...
WINTER MONTHS...
Mondays: 1-2-1s all day
SUMMER MONTHS...
Mondays daytimes: 1-2-1s available
Monday and Thursday evenings: 1-2-1s available
Tuesday evenings: Beginners group class
PRICES...
30 mins - £11.50 or 1 hour - £23
45 minute initial 1-2-1 - £20
1 hour group lesson - £10
I currently offer 1-2-1 agility sessions and beginner group classes. Please message me with any other queries.
BEGINNERS GROUP CLASS COMING SOON... please enquire
EXTRA INFORMATION...
The power of a 1-2-1 session is it can be tailored to you and your dog individually. We can work as fast or as slow paced as you'd like. Some people come with their own goals in mind, whilst others come for some fun, course running and challenges. If this is the case, we can test our dogs and highlight these individual goals together.
Having time away from a group setting can take the pressure off and allow you to work at your dogs pace on skills they struggle with most. This means you are not restricted to what the majority are working on. By working alone it can mean quicker results and more progress is seen.
Although the sport is fun, fast and exciting, I like to stress that not every session will be running full courses. Skill, sequencing and fitness exercises are also incorporated into our training. This can be challenging and new for both dog and handler.
BEFORE STARTING, we do ask if every dog can have achieved their bronze level good citizen test or equivalent training to this such as attending regular pet obedience classes. This means a somewhat reliable recall and wait is expected.
Basic obedience training is essential before putting your dogs to any agility equipment or classes. We also ask that your dog be at least 12 months of age.
If you are unsure on anything, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information
WHO CAN JOIN?
We welcome all breeds and sizes of dogs, however, do ask for your dog to have completed the equivalent of its' Bronze good citizen dog scheme test in order to have the relevant control necessary for agility (recall and wait). We also ask for dogs to be at least 12 months of age or older before starting agility training.
WHAT SHOULD I BRING?
We ask if you can bring plenty of your dogs favourite treats and a variety of toys to every class. Examples of types of toys include a tugging toy, a toy that will fit into your pocket or a long chaser toy, don't worry if you don't have all of these just bring what you have and what your dog most likes. With these items, it means you are prepared for any exercise we may introduce into the class.
Please also have your dog in a flat collar (no tags/chains etc), and bring a reasonably long lead (3/4ft long).
WHAT TRAINING METHODS ARE USED?
We believe in positive training methods only, these are kind, fair and effective. We find dogs respond best to positive reinforcement methods such as shaping, luring and targeting.
Although not everyone may want to reach competition level agility, the methods used will set any dog up for this path in life if you were to decide this is what you wanted to do, and you got the 'agility bug'. Dogs safety is priority in all our training.
WHAT TREATS SHOULD I USE?
Tasty, moist food treats are usually the best to use as rewards during training, examples of these include that such as chicken, cheese, liver or cocktail sausages. Surprisingly, these usually work out cheaper than normal commercial dog treats. Tiny pieces of the food should be used of about 1/2cm in size so we don't fill your dogs up!
HEAD TRAINER
My name is Jodie and I am the agility instructor at Hartson Dog Training. I am a stage 2 qualified BIPDT instructor as well as having completed 'The Agility Club' instructors course achieving a First Class level. I own four border collies which I currently train and compete in agility with up to kc grade 6. I have trained dogs since the age of 12 and have competed for the past 6 years, this includes qualifying for the UKA Grand Finals in 2021, 2022 and 2023! I have also competed in YKC Agility at Crufts multiple times, and more recently competed in the Crufts Novice Cup at Olympia/Horse of the year show 2025!
I have worked with a variety of breeds, including chihuahuas, labradors, spaniels and poodles.