Agility Equipment-Where to
Get It
Mike & Claudia Clifton
Semper Fi Boxers
Fayetteville, Georgia
So, you and Bubba attended a couple of agility trials and a hands-on agility clinic? You and Bubba had a great time, so you signed up for an eight-week beginners agility class? Good for you!!
Most classes, whether agility, obedience or conformation handling, are usually given only one day a week for a couple of hours. What are you to do if you want to practice agility on your own between classes? Agility equipment is expensive, isn’t it? It doesn’t have to be.
If you shop around a bit, the cost of the basic equipment such as jumps, practice weave poles, table, etc. can be quite reasonable. Shop and price equipment in catalogs, online or at the agility trials. Or, the other option. Build it yourself.
The main problem with buying equipment by catalog or online is that you don’t get to see the equipment with your own eyes. You have to use caution and common sense. Get referrals from more experienced agility people. Ask them where they buy their equipment and who has the best equipment at the best price.
Beware of purchasing agility equipment from the online auction services. Much of what you will find there is built and sold by people who don’t do agility with their dogs. This equipment is often built using lower quality materials with no regard for durability.
A good place to buy equipment might be at an agility trial from one of the vendors. In many cases, these vendors are also agility competitors themselves. They have learned the hard way what works and what doesn’t. Being agility competitors themselves, they don’t want to sell you junk. They KNOW that they WILL have to see you again at a trial somewhere.
The next equipment option is my favorite. Build it yourself! “Build it myself?” you ask. No, I’m not crazy. You CAN build much of it yourself very easily.
You can build your own jumps, practice weave poles and other pieces, out of PVC, plastic water pipe. The main tool that you will need, you may already have. A hacksaw. Or, for less that $10.00, you can buy a special PVC cutting tool at the local home improvement center.
I recently found an interesting item that will greatly assist you in building your jumps. Jump cup strips. They sell for $12.00 for a set of two, plus shipping from Northwest Agility Products (www.nwagility.com). These are metal strips with cups (bar holders) welded on at each jump height. You simply drill two holes into your uprights and attach the strips with two screws. I built a single bar jump from scratch using these strips in less than 45 minutes. The cost was less than $30.00!
To build a tire jump, simply take a piece of flexible drainpipe and tape the ends together to form a “tire” shape. You can then build a PVC frame from which to hang your “tire” or you can hang it from just about anywhere.
The last equipment option is to simply improvise. For example, you can make a jump by placing a mop or broom on top of a couple bricks or 2x4’s or chairs. You can simulate a collapsed tunnel by using a blanket or sheet suspended from a couple of chairs and having Bubba run under it.
These and many other ideas for Agility can be found in the magazine Training For Agility, just one of several books in Dog Fancy magazine’s Popular Dog Series.
Remember, the agility equipment that you use doesn’t have to be pretty. Bubba doesn’t care what it looks like. It just needs to be safe and functional.
Isn’t it time
you and your Boxer had some fun together? Try Agility!
Copyright
2003
Semper
Fi Boxers
Michael
& Claudia Clifton
All
Rights Reserved
Not
to be reprinted or copied in any format without express written approval.