Dog training books
She is super smart and strong, is 6mths (but she is huge, a sheppard cross something{found her abandoned as a pup}) and is bored with the same old routine everyday, walk in the am, walk in the pm with a stop at the park is just not enough for her unfortunalty, I have seen the tube runner things and the stick things that they run through dodging at sears, but wouldnt know realy where to start.I dont even know what they are properly called, let alone trying to start doing this with out asking fr help soo….any help would be greatly appreciated. books or websites suggestions are of huge help too. I’m in a remote community, and there are no professionals in the area so that is sorta Xnay,
Thanks everyone in advance 
dog training books
Well the best would be to join a club, but if you really can’t, you can try it yourself. There are a few basic pieces of equipment you can buy or build. From the top of my head, they are (and the commands I use):
1. A-frame (FRAME)
2. Dog walk (BRIDGE)
3. Tunnel (TUNNEL)
4. Shoot (similar to the tunnel, but one end is loose fabric they have to push through) (PUSH)
5. Teeter-totter (TEETER)
6. Table (where the dog has to lay down for a long count of 5) (TABLE, DOWN)
7. Jumps (OVER)
8. Weave poles (WEAVE)
If you are handy, you could build everything except the tunnel, the shoot and the weave poles (and you could possibly do the poles). There are web sites that would give the correct sizes for everything if you are building them.
To start – target train. Get a small lid from a margerine container or like, put a soft treat on it, and give the command "go target" (I assume she already knows basic commands – sit, stay, down, etc. If not, start there!). Do this in small doses (say 5 – 10 minutes, 1-2 times per day), until she understands. Then place the target (with treat) on, or at the end of, the equipment and give the equipment command. As for the command, people use different words, so just make sure it’s a command that is short and doesn’t sound like anything else. I put the commands I use in brackets in the above list, but just use something you can remember, and be consistant! As you can see, my commands aren’t original, but I can remember them when we’re running around the course!
Start with only one piece of equipment at a time, again in short, very fun and positive training sessions. You can do 2-3 pieces of equipment per session, but don’t try them in a series until she really knows each piece. And don’t do the teeter, high jumps or the weave poles until she’s fully grown – she could have permenent injuries otherwise. With the a-frame and the dog walk (and eventually the teeter), hold on to the dog’s collar the first few times. It also helps to have someone at the other end of the longer pieces of equipment, to hold the treat, and only reward when she does it correctly (as my dog has learned the quickest way to the treat is outside the tunnel, by jumping off the dog walk, etc.).
Large dogs generally don’t like the dog walk and the teeter (too narrow), so it will take patience to learn these. Again, it helps to have a second person there, to be on the other side as the dog is going over the equipment to make her feel more secure.
The teeter, the a-frame and the dog walk have zones painted a different colour at the end – usually yellow. The dog has to learn to touch these zones on the way down/off as a safety precaution. We use a HOLD command, and first teach it by placing the back paws on the area, giving the command, and rewarding when the dog stays there. Eventually, the equipment command is followed by the hold command (i.e. FRAME (wait until the dog is on the way down), HOLD), and the treat is only given if the dog holds with the back paws on the equipment. This is very important, as it stops the dog from learning to jump off the equipment and hurting itself.
The weave poles we use are in two parts. This lets you start by seperating the poles so it’s really a straight path (no weving at all) to the target. The dog still has to go straight between the poles, without popping out early, to get the treat. This stage can be done at any age. Once she’s fully grown you can gradually move the two pieces closer together, until she’s weaving.
If you are just doing this for fun, and aren’t entering competitions, you may want to pass on the teeter. To me, it’s the scariest piece that comes with the highest probability of vet bills
. If you do want to learn it, start by placing the table on the "up" end (i.e. the end the dog is walking towards). This means a shorter drop when first learning this. Again, a second person on the "down" end who controls the rate of drop is helpful when starting.
Wow, this is really long, so I’ll stop by saying that learning agility also means YOU have to learn how to run a course, and this is best done by joining a good club. Anyway, have fun, stay positive and be safe!!
Here is a video "Beginning Agility"
A picture is worth a thousand words:
http://www.bestfriendsagility.net/index.html
This is a good tutorial:
http://www.agility-training.co.uk/beginning.html
do an online search, using the name of your nearest city, and ‘agility’. You may find a local club. Those make it such fun!
This is something you may want to look into, as well. It is a growing sport around the world:
http://www.canine-freestyle.org/
You will love to watch the videos: http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&rls=GGGL,GGGL:2006-18,GGGL:en&q=canine+freestyle&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv
Obedience is the first and foremost its really the foundation of everything. I would start looking for training clubs around your area or even at your local shelter. I drive 30 mins to get to my training club but its worth it for the dogs. Just look for something within at the most 45 mins, I know some people in the mostly bondocks that drive 1 1/2- 2 hours to get to the club. Also look for sites that sell equiptment or have guides to making it and start training from there.
tube: tunnel
tube with closed end: Chute
sticks: Weaves
Jumps
Hoop: Tire
A frame
A frame with flat board between 2 ends: Dog walk
teeter
And thats really every obstacle in AKC agility, the other agility organizations will sometimes have different obstacles and names.
You don’t want to start full blown agility until her bones have fully grown at about 1 year, especially with a bigger dog. You will need to start with basic obedience anyway and that will be easier on her bones until she is a little older. Call you local shelter and ask you vet if they know any obedience trainers nearby.
http://www.apdt.com/
You want to avoid the agility jumps and other joint pounding activities until at least 1 year. Can you find a beginning agility trainer not too far away at the link above? You many have to drive one day a week for the classes, or you may be surprised to find a group closer than you think. Again ask around your community.
I would also look in Yahoo Groups. Type"Agility + the name of your state" in the find a group field and I’ll be your state’s agility group will have some good ideas as well.