Agility equipment

eddieh · Agility equipment

I’m sure people can find other sites, but thought that these links might be helpful for anybody looking for agility equipment.

The first

http://www.scot-petshop.com/shop/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=39

I think is relatively inexpensive.

The second

http://www.agilitybits.co.uk/Equipment/equip_index.html

Not only gives DIY instructions, but, much of the equipment is a little more garden friendly and portable than commercially produced stuff.

Hope this is useful to somebody.

Eddie

Annie as admin

They're on ebay too - http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Jump-4-Joy-Agility

Junps are easy - upturned flower pots of different sizes and garden canes. That's how I 'trained' my Granda's gundog Springer, Major. (I think he actually trained me - I didn't know at four years old that gundogs jumped fences when they were out working)
Weave poles can be made using garden canes stuck in the ground. I haven't set my circuit up yet as I'm presently accumulating the rubber doormats for a base first. Real stuff costs £30 per sq metre, Morrisons doormats ar £2 each and 3 make a sq metre. But they look at you a bit sideways if you try to get out of the shop with 100 of them Rolling Eyes

eddieh

They're probably wondering where there's a mansion locally with so many external doors.

Can you buy stock bones from the meat counter at your Morrisons?

Annie as admin

Don't know, have never looked, but will this afternoon. Why?

eddieh

eddieh

The bones would be for the dogs btw.

Annie as admin

Had a look - none there so tried ASDA - none there either, but I didn't ask I just looked.

Mugi

You can get stock bones at Morrisons in Evesham - not that it is much help but there you go Laughing

.

Annie as admin

Wonder why they do in some stores but not in others.
Does this have anything to do with Agility btw? All this stuff about bones made me forget to get some more rubber mats Twisted Evil

guy

have i missed something - what's with all the rubber mats?

Annie as admin

guy

how do you cope with all the joins?
is sand not enough?

I was thinking of knocking up a bit of agility stuff for Ellie - but did not have on my radar the need for rubber mats.

Annie as admin

Well I reckoned sand over the gravel I have wouldn't be enough - it's pretty big stuff, plus the sand would shift as they ran or rather galloped over it. So I thought of what was down on kids play areas and bingo, the black rubber matting came to mind. I've seen chipped rubber in a menage but it moves around too, so I still think the rubber mats are best - if they are pegged down the joins won't separate.
But all suggestions welcome before I go ahead. As you can see there is a large expanse of grass too - the whole back garden is a very flat half acre, roughly half grass/half gravel. So the idea for the grass is trees (Rowan, Maple, Silver birch, 3 apples, one plum, one pear) with circles (about 8 feet diameter) of unmown grass around them and wildflower seeds scattered through. Just to give the dogs a bit of interest and for somewhere to hide dummies. My ride on mower makes short work of the rest. Too dark to photograph now and the grass is only a few inches high as yet.
Annie

eddieh

I thought the tunnel on the Scot petshop website wasn't too much although I noticed it was only 2 metres (If that's what they mean by meters), unless anybody knows of a way to make a tunnel.

I like the pictures of your new place Annie. Was it particularly cold the day the one of the front garden was taken?

Annie as admin

You can just see the hills - so it was pretty dull, but it is consistently 4 degrees warmer down here than it was in Aberdeenshire. There's a half acre at the front as well, and a little stream down the side with about 10 foot of shrubbery at the other side - great for retrieves OVER water, although now that himself has decided he likes it he runs up and down the stream for fun. There's also a 20 foot slope at the end also full of mature shrubs. I've planted four more fruit trees out there but I'm not sure if they'll take as I left them in the packaging a bit long. I scraped the bark and it's still green so here's hoping. We have a lot of magpies - the cats like catching them, and Candy had a pigeon last time she stayed out all night. It all sounds lovely and I'm very happy here, but the downside is the goods rail line along one side and a bypass on the other - but 40 foot high leylandii hedge on both sides to muffle the sound. Nothing's perfect is it? Advantages are near kids, shows, trials , trainers
Annie
This photo is from the end shrubbery looking towards the front of the house

Click to see full size image

Liz

Eddieh, You don't need fancy equipment to start training with the tunnel. If you have a doorway, a coffee table and a blanket you can improvise. Once they get the idea of the "tunnel" or "through" command they will go through any length.

We have the problem that we have a very very small garden so no room for anything more than one jump and a line of weave poles.

Annie, You don't need to worry about them galloping round at the early stages, and it's best to start with very low jumps. You need to get accuracy and direction control first, which is best done at slow speeds.

Brits are fine on speed and jumping, so that's not a problem, but you don't want a Sherry-style bat out of hell and hope they're heading in the right direction scenario Shocked

Tara and Amber

Annie what about wood chippings?

I think I might try and find out if they have classes round here for Amber (I know she can not do much till she is a year but sounds fun!)

I spoke to Maxine, lovely lady with great tips! She does agility too Very Happy

Victoria

Annie, what a lovely house and grounds...are the ducks doing agility as well Laughing

Naomi

We went to Hatton Country farm a few years back and the dog shepherded the ducks around ... maybe you could teach yours to do that lol

Naomi

Annie as admin