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Are you looking for a great way to bond with your pet and provide them some exercise and enrichment? Look no further than dog and cat agility. Agility is a sport in which your dog or cat navigates obstacle courses. It incorporates running and jumping into one fun-filled event for you and your pets.

Pet agility helps your dog or cat stay physically active. Your pet will enjoy this highly interactive and engaging form of playtime. The activity will also help you form a stronger bond with your pet as you teach them how to participate and flourish in the shared experience.

Springtime is the ideal time to enroll your pet in agility classes if you have not already started. In this article, you will discover more about this energy-packed companion animal pastime and learn the benefits of dog and cat agility.

Benefits of Dog and Cat Agility

Pet agility offers many benefits to you and your dog or cat. Once you see you’re your furry friend happy to perform agility, you will feel the same sense of joy they do when they are eagerly engrossed in the sport. The following include some benefits:

Agility Training Gives Them Physical and Mental Exercise

Your pet will love agility because they get to run through obstacles at full speed, unleashing their energy and inner wild child. It’s an excellent exercise for both of you. Your dog or cat will run through tunnels and jump through hoops as you strive to keep up with them. Weaving and bobbing through the poles requires supreme fitness and skill. Your canine or feline companion will have a blast.

Some physical benefits:

• 
  Strengthen joints
  
• Increase endurance
  
• Build lean muscles
  
• Boost heart health
  

Agility also improves balance, coordination, and body awareness. It will tire out rambunctious pups and help keep your feline sharp, and once they are finished, they can relax. Pets enjoy being present and active. It gives them a sense of structure and a place to expend energy. Agility also takes a lot of practice and concentration to stimulate their mind and give them serious physical and mental power.

Helps You Bond With Your Pet

Agility encourages bonding with your pet. You get to spend quality time training your canine or feline companion. It allows you and your pet to be one hundred percent with each other. You and your pet, determined to succeed, will be working towards achieving a goal.

Whether your dog or cat is in class or if you are teaching them at home, the two of you are a team, working together for a good cause. It will also demonstrate the sportier side of your pet, and the two of you can play together and delight in each other’s company.

Teaching and Training Your Pet is Priceless

Basic obedience is a part of training your dog to learn agility. The fundamental rules start at home and will keep your pet well-behaved should you take them to an agility class. A step beyond just being together, teaching your pet helps them learn and practice essential commands:

• 
  Sit/Stay
  
• Come
  
• Down
  
• Leave it
  

Remember, when your pet performs a behavior you want, reward them with a treat or their favorite toy. It may be easier for your cat to teach them with clicker training. You press the clicker to mark a behavior and, like their canine counterparts, reward your feisty feline with some treats or a beloved toy.

Lowers Anxiety

According to the American Kennel Club, Pet agility lowers anxiety in your dog or cat by helping them “manage their emotions” rather than act out or resort to destructive behavior. They also figure out how to conquer their fears while having new and exciting experiences on the agility course.

Agility is also an incredible tool for separation anxiety. It is all about your dog or cat being able to alleviate stress healthily and productively rather than acting on impulse. Even the mutual bonding that occurs when pets and their parents practice agility together helps lower their anxiety.

Socialization

Agility can help your pet with socialization, especially if they are in a class. Your dog or cat will be around other pets of their respective species. Agility class for dogs is like one big party for pups. The spirit of competition is not fierce but is fun. Some ways pet agility can be social:

• 
  Friendly competition
  
• Cooperation with leaders
  
• Builds the bond of teamwork
  
• Promotes same-species interaction
  

Agility has also helped shelter pets get adopted. Shy animals learn to open up and trust. In addition to agility classes, there are official competitions for dogs and cats. The Keystone Agility Club is for canines and was established in 1990. The Cat Fanciers Association started feline agility clubs in 2004. Cat agility is newer, but it has become more popular.

Conclusion

Pet agility is awesome for so many reasons. There is a wide array of benefits for your dog or cat. These benefits include adequate physical and mental exercise, encouraging bonding, valuable training, memory recall, lowered anxiety, and socialization skills. If you are thinking about getting your pet involved in something, agility is a wise choice.

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