Agility training

There is a lot of stuff you can do - everything thinks agility is just about the obstacles - but it really is much more than that!  To be successful you need to really work on  your body language and handling!
 
Directional work is key and you can practice this by teaching your dog how to target.  If your dog can target on object then teaching them "back", "cross" (with hand signal showing them which way to cross) is easy. 
You need to be able to send your dog out away from you and towards certain obstacles.  They need to work at a distance from you...At first,  hold you arm out to the side (with a treat in your hand if necessary at first only).  The object is to teach your dog that its okay to have some space (but they should still follow your hand) and when they see yout hand come in close to your side, they should also come closer to you. 
They need to work equally well on both sides of your body- which can also take time to teach.
To work on the idea of contact obstacles,  you can use a staircase.  As they come down the stairs, make sure they wait - with their front paws on the floor and their hind end on on the last step.  
There is an endless amount of possibilities! 
Good luck!! 
 

There's a lot you can do: work on your dog's stay with lots of distractions, get him comfortable walking and running with you on either side of you, teach him to touch a target with his nose or paw and then send him away to you to touch the target, you can teach front and rear crosses without any equipment, teach a "go on" and a "get out" which are both important to have when running a course, teach directionals (left and right), use stairs to teach a 2on 2 off contact behavior, teach your dog to run on a plank of wood (like a dog walk) by just having the plank on the ground and then elevated a bit on cinder blocks.  You can also get some good videos or dvd's to help you.  Others might have some good suggestions but I'd suggest the 1st Greg Derrett video (can't remember the name right now but you can get it a [linkhttp://www.cleanrun.com]www.cleanrun.com[/link] in their store) because he talks a lot about shadow handling and teaching directionals.  Also, even if you get just 1 or 2 jumps and a cheap tunnel you can do a lot.  It wouldn't take up much space and you can get them pretty cheaply on ebay. 
 
Feel free to ask specifics about anything I suggested above.  This post would be waaay too long if I tried to explain everything!

You guys have some great ideas!  We had started the "touch" when we were in the first class, we had to go through beginner agility 2x because Sydney isn't exactly one of the most trusting dogs.  It took her a long time to be able to do the tunnel because she had to go through something.....very slow to investigate new things, lots of encouragement, Nigel on the other hand will do ANYTHING for a treat.  So, I will use the training for both of them, Sydney because I think she could actually be pretty good and Nigel for the mental stimulation.  So, basically we are still at square one, got "touch" but not much else.  Where should we really start from here?  Didn't get to the part about "cross" "back", etc yet in our old class.  So don't know what that is or how to teach it.  I have the book Agility Training the Fun Sport for all Dogs by Jane Simmons-Moake, has anyone used this one?  In my old class we were just really introducing the sport and getting dogs accustomed to the equipment.  She did not like the buja-board (is that spelled correctly?) 
 
Can't really buy any tools because they will be packed up when the movers come in May and I won't see that stuff until I get my stuff out of storage sometime around November....so that's pretty much useless to do.
 
"Thanks for the help for our Mom, we're excited to have fun" Nigel & Sydney

I'm not sure what the other poster meant by "cross" and "back" either but it could be that she uses those as directionals.  Maybe she can explain further?
 
If you understand "touch" and your dog's do too you can expand on it.  Do they "touch" a target?  If so, where do you have it?  Can you put it 5 feet away and then tell your dog target and they'll run to it and touch it?  10 feet away?  Are you using a clicker or marking the touch with a specific word?
 
I haven't read that book but I think it's good.  Buja-board is correct!  Can you build something like it?

ORIGINAL: agilebcs
I'm not sure what the other poster meant by "cross" and "back" either but it could be that she uses those as directionals.  Maybe she can explain further?

 
 
Yes, I use them as directional commands...I have so much fun with them...even without using the names of agility obstacles, I can just say "back" or "cross" and get Dodger to the obstacle without moving or saying anthing eles (he can also do it silently with hand signals). 
I used a target to teach "back' and "cross"...For "back" all you do is place the target (you can use treats at first) a couple of feet behind your dog; my hand signal is both hands above my head, motioning towards the target.  For "cross", put your dog in a sit-stay and place the target about 5-10 feet away from him (to his left or right) - you move about 10 feet away from him so you are standing in front of him.  Then say "Cross" (if your dog knows how to target he should go straight to it without needing a prompt like "Cross....Touch")  The hand signal for cross is moving your arm directly out to your side (do not point to the target)...

Oops - didn't mean to do that!
 
Good luck with your training!

Jetty-
 
I'm confused...when running a course when would you use "back"?  It sounds from your explanation that it might be used in something like gamblers when you'd need to turn your dog around and do an obstacle back to back.  Any you put both hands above your head?  And "cross", when would you use that?  It sounds like you train it by sort of setting up a front cross situation? 
 
I'm not trying to be dense but I just can picture what these commands would really be used for!

Don't worry, I don't mind... I should tell you that Dodger and I haven't competed yet - we've just done fun matches because I want to feel like everything is "perfect" first!
 
It would definately be a huge benefit in a gamblers situation but I use them because Dodger works far away from me and I found that shouting out which obstacle I wanted him to go to wasn't enough (he is much more responsive to my body language). 
I use "back" if he misses an obstacle instead of having to actually lead him all the way back to it - I will say - "back" (this is especially useful at the weaves)... I find that hovering over him really doesn't work for him (not to mention I could never keep up) but he likes having his space. 
 
For "cross",  say we just went up and over the A-frame and there's a jump to Dodger's right but the obstacle after that is toward the left...I will give my hand signal for cross and say "jump" so it gives me time to get to the obstacle after that. 

what everyone said.. and
ATTENTION
ATTENTION
ATTENTION under distractions
ATTENTION when surrounded by kids/dogs/toys/treats.

did I mention

ATTENTION?

[]

Sounds like Jetty's "cross" is an "out" command, meaning move away from me to the side.

So:
out/cross = move away from me to the side or laterally
go on = move away from me to the front of me

And you can make a cheap and dirty jump from common PVC found at the hardware store.  PM me and I'll send you an excel spreadsheet with directions on how to build stuff.  The PVC can be any size.  For inside, I built one out of 3/4" PVC but for outside I used 1".  I also built a short set of weaves for inside.  The nice thing about these is they can be taken apart for storage but are easy to make!  The jump will cost about $12 and the weaves about $15. 

ORIGINAL: tashakota

Sounds like Jetty's "cross" is an "out" command, meaning move away from me to the side.
So:
out/cross = move away from me to the side or laterally
go on = move away from me to the front of me

 
I do use "cross" as your "out" command but it is mostly for distance.  As is "back"/"go out".
 
For instance, say the course starts on the left side with a jump, then dog walk and you are suppose to circle back to the tunnel but the next obstacle, say a jump is in the middle of the course...I will position myself  at the walk and as he is doing that, I move toward the jump at the middle of the course - as soon as Dodger hits the contact, I say "BACK, tunnel" so instead of running to me at the next obstacle he does the tunnel then comes to me.  So far, in fun matches its worked wonders and when we are ready for competition, I think it will save loads of time.  For Dodger, it was a major hindrance having me on top of him - he is just so much better at a distance.
 
I can stand at the beginning (or middle) of the course and get Dodger through it without moving by using directional commands like "Back" and "Cross".  I don't think their importance should be underestimated. 

I'm still not getting it...if back = go out and cross = out then how are they different?

ORIGINAL: agilebcs

I'm still not getting it...if back = go out and cross = out then how are they different?

 
Back = go directly behind you (whether I am right in front of you or 100 feet from you)
Cross = left/right  depending on which hand signal I give (whether your are in front, beside or 100 feet from me)
With me/This way/Here  = various degrees of closer
Go = "go out" from me in the direction I specify (by having him mark - the way you would on a retrieve)
 
I have probably confused you because Dodger generalizes - at first he was only taught to "cross" left or right from a distance when I stood in front of him.  But now that he knows what it means, I also give him the cross signal and say the name of the obstacle I want him to go to when he's beside me.  It is so much eaiser then having to lead him to an obstacle or the confusion that results when I slow him down.

I hope that makes it clear because I really don't know how else to explain it.  I think it is important to be able to work at any distance from your dog - which is why Dodger and I have spent a lot of time on directional commands.
 
 

I think I understand you now.  You're just using commands a bit differently than I do.  Thanks for patiently explaining it to me!
 
I too think distance training is really important and something I make sure all of my dogs can do well.  I think it's a pretty necessary skill!