Dog Agility Toronto
Our nationally ranked agility instructors will take you from complete novice to competition ready in the exciting dog sport of Agility!
Agility at When Hounds Fly
You’ve done the work and your dog has graduated Foundation Skills! You have developed great training skills, a strong working relationship with your dog, and your dog has a good recall to be able to work off-leash, is engaged with you for treats, toys, and personal play, and has a function stay. It’s time to join our Agility and Hoopers program and train them like the athlete they are (or could be)!
Finally! We are proud to have a full, multi-level Agility program, to take your dog from complete novice, to successfully completing a full course, and even trialing… and beyond!
Please note: Agility is not for new dogs that have never taken training before. It requires a lot of pre-requisites such as the completion of Foundation Skills class. If your dog has never taken training, start in Foundation Skills or see the pre-requisite information below if you trained at other excellent schools.
@whenhoundsfly check out Mindy, head instructor of K9 Sportsplex, playing agility with her Border Collie! two spots remain in our next series of Agility Level 1 at South Etobicoke. alumni, book in Busypaws! #dogtraining #agility #bordercollie #toronto #etobicoke #positivereinforcementdogtraining ? The Fast - Official Sound Studio
First: Sport Prep for Agility and Hoopers
Course Description:
- This course is designed to provide you and your dog the foundation skills you’ll need to make learning agility fun! We will work on developing focus, confidence and engagement through a series of games and activities that will help to eliminate common struggles and enhance your dog’s learning experience.
- Throughout the course, you will work on advanced skills such as disengagement from distraction, working in proximity with the handler, managing excitement levels, impulse control, developing body awareness, strengthening your connection as a team, and fostering a resilient and optimistic outlook toward new experiences
Prerequisites
- Completion of Foundation Skills or Evaluation Module
- Your dog has to be engaged with you for treats or toys
- Your dog needs a functional recall
- Your dog needs a functional stay with some duration and distance
Next: Choose Hoopers or Agility Track
Hoopers Level 1
Course Description:
- Hoopers is an agility-style sport focused on distance handling, using ground-level obstacles like hoops, barrels, tunnels, and gates. It’s all about flowing courses, minimal risk of injury, and maximum enjoyment for you and your dog in a supportive and inclusive environment.
Prerequisites
- Sport Prep for Agility and Hoopers or passing a 1-1 paid evaluation
- Your dog has to be engaged with you for treats or toys
- Your dog needs a functional recall
- Your dog needs a functional stay with some duration and distance
Hoopers Level 2
Course Description:
- Take your Hoopers training to the next level with a focus on advanced handling techniques and longer, more dynamic sequences. This course helps teams sharpen their precision and efficiency, enhancing communication and confidence on challenging courses. Perfect for those ready to refine their skills and elevate their Hoopers experience!
Prerequisites
- Completion of Hoopers Level 1 with good proficiency in skills covered or passing a 1-on-1 paid evaluation
Agility Level 1
Course Description:
- This series will develop advanced impulse control, focus and dog handler engagement
- Learning basic obstacle, handling, flatwork skills, foundation skills needed for contact equipment performance such as comfort on planks.
- Introduce jumps and tunnel performance
Prerequisites
- Sport Prep for Agility and Hoopers or passing a 1-on-1 paid evaluation
- Dogs attending this class must be generally non-reactive to other dogs and tolerant of handling by strangers.
Agility Level 2
Course Description:
- Building on the skills learned in Level 1, this course will continue to develop handling sequence and flatwork skills
- Further development of plank performance, increased comfort with moving surfaces and teeter noise and introduction to A-Frame and weave pole performance
Prerequisites
- Completion of Agility Level 1 with good proficiency in skills covered or passing a 1-on-1 paid evaluation
- Dogs attending this class must be generally non-reactive to other dogs and tolerant of handling by strangers.
Agility Level 3
Course Description:
- This course will focus on further development of contact performance skills. The teams will continue to work on weave pole performance, and sequencing while learning how to safely navigate the agility contacts.
- Introduction to the Dog Walk, progression to low teeter and full height A-Frame performance
- Equipment used will be set at low heights to start and slowly progress to full height
Prerequisites
- Completion of Agility Level 2 with good proficiency in skills covered, or passing a 1-on-1 paid evaluation
Agility Level 4
Course Description:
- This intermediate/advanced level class will focus on the handling skills needed to navigate a agility course
- Teams will continue to refine handling while learning how to read a course and determine the best handling technique to use on a different courses every second while increasing comfort on full height contact equipment, perfecting contact performance and weave skills on alternating weeks.
- Ideal for teams that want to play recreationally or have aspirations to compete.
Prerequisites
- Completion of Agility Level 3 with good proficiency in skills covered, or passing a 1-on-1 paid evaluation – dog/teams from other schools need to be able to sequence 5-6 obstacles and have no issues with contact equipment set to low levels
Agility Level 5 – Agility Club
Course Description:
- Similar to Agility Fun Matches or a House League, each participant gets a specified number of minutes to run the course. You can use toys and treats!
- K9 Sportsplex team members can be asked to judge, score faults, and even include you on a posted brag board for friendly competition if desired!
- There is no formal instruction, but it is supervised for safety, timing, and scoring
- Club can and should be taken multiple times to continue to practice and refine your agility skills
Prerequisites
-
Completion of Agility Level 4, and dog/handler is comfortable with all equipment.Dogs needing additional work to get comfortable with the Teeter, A-Frame, and/or Dog Walk should re-take Level 3 to gain more comfort on the equipment
Meet Your Agility Instructors!
We’re partnering with the talented trio of K9 Sportsplex – Mindy Yuan, Nicole Ridout, and Rosemary Cullander.
The K9 Sportsplex team boasts over 25 years of combined agility experience, including training, competition, and teaching.
They’ve titled multiple dogs in Agility, have competed both at the Regional and National levels, and continuously seek opportunities to learn from top Agility instructors and handlers from around the globe.
Agility Tuition
6-week Sport Prep for Agility and Hoopers: $360 plus HST
Hoopers, Agility Levels 1-4 and Agility Club: 6-week course: $360 plus HST
Each class is 45 minutes in duration
For details regarding class/training policies, please see our Policy page:
Where and When?
Note: Agility programs are only offered at South Etobicoke
Hoopers Level 1
New dates to be announced soon!
Hoopers Level 2
Sundays, 10:30 am. January 5-February 23 (Skips Jan 26, Feb 16)
Sport Prep for Agility and Hoopers
Sundays, 9:30 am. January 5-February 23 (Skips Jan 26, Feb 16)
Wednesdays, 7:00 pm. January 8-February 19 (Skips Jan 29)
Level 1
Wednesdays, 8:00 pm. January 8-February 19 (Skips Jan 29)
Level 2
Fridays, 6:00 pm. January 10-February 21 (Skips Feb 14)
Agility 3, 4, 5
Level 3
Fridays, 7:00 pm. January 10-February 21 (Skips Feb 14)
Level 4
Fridays, 8:00 pm. January 10-February 21 (Skips Feb 14)
Agility Club
New dates to be announced soon!
Trained Elsewhere? Take a Challenge Evaluation
Took an equivalent to our Foundation Skills class elsewhere? Have solid engagement with your dog and great handling skills? Understand how to train with positive reinforcement and marker training, and do not use or rely on aversive tools in your training?
We invite you to Challenge our Evaluation Module, and if you and your dog passes, you’ll get access to our advanced classes.
Okay, I’m Ready to Go!
Prerequisites – Please See Above in Course Description
Trained Elsewhere? Challenge our Evaluation Module and pass to get access.
Login to our class calendar system and reserve your spot in a 6-week series.