Training in Water

It’s a lovely sunny day, and you’re practicing in your yard for the trial this weekend. Your dog’s perfect, you’re perfect, and no matter what you send him over or through he gets it. You’re confident you’ll do great! Then Saturday morning comes, and it’s raining off and on despite the forecast showing a smiling sun! You look at your dog and he looks at you, and you wonder if he’s okay with running on a wet course in the rain. You’re nervous, and that makes him nervous, too.

While you can’t cure the rain, you can train in wet when it’s sunny, since training A-frames in thundershowers might be a bit dangerous! One of the things you can do is practice on “Water Obstacles” so your dog is used to running around dripping and working on wet surfaces. The best way to introduce your dog to a water obstacle is to not use any water at first. Then turn the hose on only a little for a small stream. If you do it gradually, and make it fun, soon your dog will be bravely charging over and through walls of water like this dog in the video.