7 At-Home Agility Props (How to Make a Safe Obstacle Course for Your Dog)

If you have a high energy dog, sometimes going for a walk can get a little boring. Or maybe it’s raining, or you’re tired, and you’d rather play a game with your dog at home. Here are 7 agility (or “faux-gility”) props that you can use to make an obstacle course for your dog at home – maybe for free!

Disclaimer 1: Always have your dog run, jump, and play on non-slip flooring. If the floor is slippery, even if your dog manages to not fall, slipping and sliding can cause serious muscle strain injuries. 

Disclaimer 2: For young dogs whose growth plates are not fully developed, check with your vet and/or a sports trainer about what exercise and agility moves are age-appropriate for your dog – particularly repeated jumping. 

1. Jump: Hula Hoop

A dog trainer’s dream is sometimes the dollar store! You can potentially get all kinds of creative with a hula hoop, but the classic trick is to teach your dog to jump through the hoop.

2. Jump: A Broom (Or Mop, Or Other Long Stick) 

Held in your hand or stuck between two chairs.

If your dog doesn’t recognize the stick as a jump, try draping a blanket over it. 

3. Go Around: Laundry Basket or Recycling Bin 

“Go around” means the dog runs out to a prop and goes around it. In dog sports, you may hear this skill called a “send out,” “send away,” or “go out.” This is one of Cupid’s favorite skills! 

If your dog is anticipating jumping up on a prop and sometimes gets confused when you ask them to instead go around, it can be helpful to use a prop that they cannot step up onto. This is why a laundry basket or recycling bin can be a good option. 

4. Front Foot Target: Step Stool or Large Cook Book

Teaching your dog to step up onto a prop with just their front feet is a fun body awareness challenge. Once they get good at this, you can send them to the target from a distance, which is another version of a “send out.” 

4b. Rear End Pivoting: Also a Step Stool or Large Cook Book

The classic dog trainer tool for this exercise is a rubber feed bowl, purchased at a “farm and feed” store. But a large book does just as well, as long as it isn’t slippery. 

An advanced body awareness exercise is teaching a dog to keep their front feet on a target while pivoting their back legs. This is not only a great fitness drill but is also used to teach rear end awareness for competition heelwork.

5. Back Foot Target: Large Pillow or Suitcase

Did you think that front foot targeting sounds hard? Well, back foot targeting is even harder! Dogs are not used to thinking about their back feet, so this skill is a super mental and physical challenge. We use a bigger target to teach this skill so that the dog has a larger margin of error while learning. 

Back foot targeting can also be used to teach the trick “back up” and even “handstand.” Additionally, back foot targeting is often used to teach "contacts" in "real agility training" – meaning the dog learns to touch the blue part of the competition equipment with their feet in a certain way so that they don't lose points.

Here's a link to an example video of introducing a back foot target.

6. Balance on an Unstable Surface: Inflatable Physical Therapy Equipment

Unstable physical therapy equipment is what keeps me checking every neighborhood garage sale. If you can find one that is the right size for dogs, this is an awesome prop to add some challenge to your at-home obstacle course.

7. Tunnel: Chair

If your dog can fit under your desk or dining room chair, you can use that as a tunnel. Stack several chairs in a row to get extra fancy. To teach this skill, simply lure your dog through.  

Now Put It All Together, and Your Dog Can Run Their At-Home Agility/Obstacle Course

Try having your dog do a jump, followed by a “go around,” followed by some foot targeting. Combining tricks is called “sequencing” or “chaining,” and if you mix up the order of these tricks, you have an even more challenging and engaging training session for your dog. 

Need more exercise or enrichment ideas for your dog? Check out my Ultimate Enrichment Guide.

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Venus and Mars K9 provides in-home private dog training and group class for basic obedience, puppy socialization, trick training, dog sport foundations, leash reactivity training, and other canine behavior problems. We travel most frequently to neighborhoods such as Humboldt Park, Hermosa, Logan Square, Avondale, West Town, South Loop, Downtown Chicago, Ukrainian Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park, East Garfield Park, Fulton Market, North Center, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Irving Park, Portage Park, Oak Park, River Forest, Forest Park, Pilsen, and Bridgeport.