Sampo Kokkonen is a famous Finnish coach who has successfully worked on developing the speed of agility dogs. We are so happy to publish this speed test, that he has created, for all of you!
Quite many of us neglect speed training and just accept the speed that our dog offers along the way. Actually, there’s a lot you can do! This test is designed to be repeated once in a while so that you can see how your dog’s speed has developed, so save it to your AgiNotes. You can, of course, follow your progress from your competition graphs on Aginotes, but this test minimizes variables such as the quality of the surface, so you’ll get very exact information.
Speed test
This test is designed to measure an agility dog’s acceleration capacity and maximum speed at a short distance. In other words, the qualities that are important in sports performance.
The test has been simplified to minimize variables. For this reason, we didn’t use obstacles, but instead, we used simple posts that can be circled. The posts can be any objects that the dog can circle safely. Please note that you should use the same posts for each measurement so that you don’t change the length of the dog’s path.
You need a 20-metre long flat and non-slippery surface which allows the dog to run fast. Create a start line and place a post at both ends of the line, so that you can clearly see on the video when your dog crosses the line. Place the first post to be circled 7 metres from the start line.
Place another post 7 metres from the previous one (see image). If possible, use a measuring device to be able to do the same test again and get comparable results.
The performance starts when the dog crosses the start line. First the dog needs to run to the post that is placed furthest from him, circle it and run two figure eights between the posts. After that he runs back to the start line. In total, he will run 56 meters (14+7+7+7+7+14). See example on the video.
There are many things that affect the total time: the quality of the surface, the size of the posts that the dog circles, and the exactness of the distance between the posts. For this reason, tests done in different places are not comparable. To be able to compare your dog’s development, it is important that you can repeat the test every time without alteration.
In the test, you can and should encourage your dog to his maximum performance. Thus, test what motivates your dog and use the best tricks to get the most out of him.
The best ways to motivate a dog always depend on the individual dog, so it’s important to find the right methods for your team mate. This is also important in speed training in which we want the dog to run at full speed and this way develop his nervous system.
If the total time exceeds 20 seconds, you can reduce the distance between the posts. The optimum time for the performance is 10-20 seconds. This way the test time is long enough for measurement but, at the same time, short enough to measure speed and acceleration instead of endurance.
Have fun!
If you don’t have an AgiNotes account yet, register for free. No time limits for the free version.
If you are interested in speed coaching, Sampo has a nice video about this in Kiitorekku webstore. And it’s a good one ;) Unfortunatelly only in Finnish.