Making equipment for a dog agility course?
Posted: March 15th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Common Questions | Tags: Agility, Course, Equipment, Making | 5 Comments »So…. My dog is the kind of dog who loves to jump logs and tall grass while on her walks. Last summer I thought “Well, let’s try to get her to jump agility jumps” so I used lawn chairs and PVC pipe for jumps. Now she is really good at jumping (clears 3′ fences with ease) and I want to include more into our training, as well as create jumps where I have more options for height. So, I have a few questions:
1) How to make jump standards for an agility course?
2) How to make a weave set?
3) How to make/create a tunnel?
We don’t have money to spend on equipment so if you could help me that would be great!!!!
I already said NO MONEY!!!!!!!!!! Even though my dog is fairly medium sized (About 50 lbs), we don’t have the money to buy supplies, we have plenty of wood, tarps, etc….
There are plenty of “kids” tunnels sold at Toys R Us – is your dog small enough to use one of those?
You can’t really make theses things to the standards without spending money.
You can cut out some jumps, screw them together and use poles to jump over. There are probably some pictures on the internet for design ideas. You would have to measure for the jump heights.
Some poles stuck in the ground will make weave poles. Screwing some dowels into a long piece of wood and securing it to the ground can also work.
I don’t think you can really make a good tunnel. If you have an old barrel or tub, you can use it and attach a tarp to make a chute. You may be able to find a cheap child’s play tunnel at a garage sale or a used items site, try Freecycle if there is one in your area.
You can make weave poles using plungers for backed up sinks or toilets. Supposedly they can be gotten inexpensively at Walmart – try Dollar General, they may be cheaper. You will need at least three to start. Four or five would probably be better. Or you could probably build your own with your supply of wood. You simply want posts about 3 feet tall that will stand on their own.
A child’s see-saw probably could be gotten cheaply or free from http://www.Freecycle.com. Maybe a child’s tunnel could be gotten there, also.
The book Activities for Little Dogs has directions for making some other agility equipment as well as lots of other information that is usefu even for bigger dogs. I forget the author’s name, but I borrowed it from our local library. You could search for this and other books on this topic at Yahoo Shopping.
Beverly
I don’t know what you have around your house to use right now, but we used PVC pipes for most. I measured the standard jump heightt for my dog and cut/pieced them together for herheightt. I also used PVC for my weave poles and crimped tent stakes into one end to stick in the ground. I purchased my tunnel at IKEA. Hope that helps. Good luck.
okay,let’s see.You can take two straight back chairs,set them a little apart.and stick the broom or mop handle though them for a jump(turn
chairs on there sides and use the legs to hold the handle for a lower jump) For weave,maybe get a bunch of those plastic 3 liter soda bottles everybodyy throws away,fill with dirt add a stick and set up in a row.For the tunnel you could “duck” tape two flat sheets together(end to end) now,if you don’t have an old hula hoop,a couple of wire hangers,opened up and taped together in a circle and run through the
hem of one end of the sheet (so it forms kinda of an opening/making sure all ends are really,covered so no boo booss),that should suffice for your tunnel.The sit and stay is a given.build a little platform a little high so she has to jump up and sit.Or use a chair big enough.The teeter
totter you can use a 1×10 and a level log,and will need some help figuring out how best to make it safe.
Can’t think of anything else at the moment that may help.hope this does.