So What Is Dog Agility?

Dog agility From ">Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Agility field left side: A competition agility field showing (clockwise from lower left) a tunnel, the dogwalk, the judge standing in front of a winged jump, two additional winged jumps, dog executing the teeter-totter with his handler guiding, and the tire jump. Agility field right side: The right side of the same agility field showing (clockwise from foreground) the weave poles, the pause table, the A-frame, two winged jumps, the collapsed tunnel (or chute), and a wingless jump. Numbered orange plastic cones next to obstacles indicate the order in which the dog must perform them. Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles.[1][2][3][4][5] Consequently the handler's controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals, requiring exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the handler. In its simplest form, an agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles, laid out by an agility judge in a design of his or her own choosing on a roughly 100 by 100-foot (30 by 30 m) area that is made up of grass, dirt floors, or rubber mats, with numbers indicating the order in which the dog must complete the obstacles. Courses are complicated enough that a dog could not complete them correctly without human direction. In competition, the handler must assess the course, decide on handling strategies, and direct the dog through the course, with precision and speed equally important. Many strategies exist to compensate for the inherent difference in human and dog speeds and the strengths and weaknesses of the various dogs and handlers.

The Dog Walker's Handbook

Dognapping in Columbia Heights

A frantic woman stopped me on the street yesterday to ask about her dog that had been playing in her back yard on 11th street. She let the cocker spaniel play in the fenced back yard and someone broke the lock and took the dog.

We had a dog that was stolen out of our backyard, too. It was about five years ago. We had only had him for a few days when he had been taken.

It was devastating.

You'd like to think that life in Columbia Heights isn't as rough as it used to be. Certainly it looks better: no teenage drug dealers standing on every corner, all night long; the trash men actually pick up the trash; fewer abandoned buildings; no empty lots filled with trash and broken glass. When construction on the GIant grocery store started, that entire block was one field of tall grass. Upon cutting that grass, the builders discovered a man living in a hut in the middle of what would become the parking garage for the Giant. Ahh, those were the days. People used to slide under the broken chain link fences with their dogs to have them run around and catch balls.

But outward appearances are misleading. We feel so much better now that we can go to a decent grocery store and furnish our homes within a few blocks of where we live. Restaurants are here now. They didn't use to be.

It's so easy to be fooled.

This is still an urban, changing, neighborhood. And the old crime is still here. Like stealing people's dogs out of their backyards and selling them to people on the street. Or worse.

Dog Park Daze in DC

Washington, DC is a heavily dog-owning town. The city is finally recognizing this by installing dog parks that legitimize the practices of letting your dogs run in a public fenced-in area, which was happening already.

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There is an official dog park at 11th and Florida Avenues NW that is large with lots of room for bigger dogs to run. Another fenced-in area right next to it is reserved for small dogs only. What a great idea. The little ones can run and play with each other without being intimidated by the size of the other dogs, which is when they will often turn aggressive.

There are bags to pick up poop and trash cans to throw it out.

The only problem I have is the owners of the regular dogs there aren't very engaged with their pets. I say this because they seem to have more interest in talking to each other and drinking coffee than watching their dogs. And the play can get a bit rough, too.

The ultimate message here is you need to watch your dog in a dog park no matter what. It doesn't matter that your dog plays with the same dogs every day. One day it could be different and there could be a fight. It's just what happens sometimes. They are animals, not people. And frankly, even people do that, too.

The Dog Walker's Handbook

You don't need any money to start a dog walking business. This book tells you how for $5.99. The start up costs are literally zero. It would be helpful if you had a car and some sneakers, but neither are necessary.

A dog walking business is fun and athletic. A better cure for depression cannot be found anywhere. The sun and the exercise, not to mention the interaction with the dogs and cats, will pull you out of your funk in no time. It even helps with PTSD - trust me on that one.

The $5 book The Dog Walker's Handbook describes everything you need to know to run a profitable and fun dog walking business. It's perfect if you are totally broke, as I was when I started, since you don't need any money to start earning money right now.

Dog Walker Hell Week - Dog Walking Company - The Dog Walker's Handbook

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It's over. I had ten extra walks per day for the last week and a half. It has been a few decades since I have been bone-tired in a literal sense. Dog walking is manual labor. It may seem like unfettered fun to you cubicle-ites, but there's a lot to worry about.

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First, every single dog owner has a specific set of instructions that applies to their dog alone. You need to remember all of it. Then, the dog doesn't always WANT to go outside if it's raining or snowing. My dog Amber is like that. She just looks at me like I'm insane and pulls a sit-down strike.

Of course there's the fat, old, lazy dog that suddenly gets a burst of youth and makes a run for it. Always keep a firm grip on the leash.

Logistics is everything in dog walking. The clock rules your day. You need to be at certain places at certain times and have to map out your strategy for getting there.

( And yes, YouTube managed to freeze my face in a bizarre expression. But listen to it anyway. )



Of course as your business grows, you hire people. Then it really gets tough. Like the guy who sat in someone's house and ate a bucket of chicken and left some of the bones and biscuits lying around. The client was a vegetarian, by the way.

There was another guy who thought of himself as a kind of roaming Dick Cavett and would get to houses as the people were getting home from work - big no no - and then have in-depth conversations about country music or the economy. And I'll bet they were great conversations. But you need not to lose your focus: caring for the dog. No matter how much they smile and laugh, they will get angry and fire you if you fail to do this.

That brings up another issue. Your clients think of themselves as better than you. As a dog walker, you are in the servant class. No matter how jovial they are, or how they discuss books with you, they think of you as the maid. And neighbors delight in watching you and telling the client if you have done something like not pick up the poop.

The colder weather isn't so bad if you prepare by dressing appropriately. You warm up really quickly if you move.

You are always marketing as a dog walker. The barrier to entry in this business is virtually zero. So anyone could call themselves a dog walker and try to poach your customers. Advertising on Craigslist is great, as are line item mentions in the local paper. Put signs up in dog parks, or better yet, go to them in the mornings. That's a great place to get customers.

Remember, your clients are the humans, not the dogs. It's hard to remember this fact. You will often like the dog more than you like the owners.

But the upside is that you get into really good shape and the dogs are always so glad to see you. It really lifts the spirits. They are such sweet little beings and the weather in DC is very mild most of the time, making a nice walk with a dog such a pleasure. I would walk along Rock Creek and think of all the times when I was working inside how much I would love just a few minutes of walking around in that weather. And I did it every day. It was glorious.

Dog Walker, Hilary, Obama - The Dog Walker's Handbook

Econo-Girl has a dog walking business now and it is great. I'm outdoors all day long which I enjoy even in bad weather. It began in mid-January with one dog, and now there is 10. The dogs themselves are fun, too.

What this career shift has given me is NO DESIRE for following the Presidential race. The little tales of one-upmanship are too much for me to care about for the next two years.

Intellectually, I know that it is important who becomes President. But how can you get wrapped up in it this early in the game? Most of these guys are going to be gone in a year.

But really, when you snuggle those furry creatures every day, when you wipe their feet and feed them treats, it gives me a grounded and settled perspective on things.

Read about the dog walking business in The Dog Walker's Handbook.