Agility
It can be the simplest equipment. These required no modification whatever. They are step in fence posts designed for temporary electric fences. They are light weight and quick to set up.
This set is a bit more work, but has advantages. I use replacement fiberglass
tent poles (see your local camping supplies source) and then put the PVC poles
over them. The result is a set of weaves that will flex as the dog pushes
through.
In this picture you can see some black fiberglass poles already set up and
some lying on the ground. These are the poles that are usually strung together
with elastic cord for dome type tents. You can by them as replacement sets
from sports and camping supply stores. They are very flexible. In soft ground
I find it fastest to simply push the poles into the ground. I stand over the
pole wrap my hands around the pole with my thumbs pointing down, and push.
That usually works only on soft ground. If that is too difficult I may pound
them in with a plastic tent stake hammer. Don't use a metal headed hammer
because the poles may split or break. If they don't pound in easily
then I prefer to make a pilot hole using one of those giant nails. The longer
your fiberglass poles, the less the risk that a fast moving dog will shove
the PVC pipe up right over the top. I don't have a fast poles dog, so its
never happened to me, but I can see if the dog causes a lot of flex and is
pushing it might happen.
I use heavy plastic "caution" tape for my distance guides(purchased at the
hardware store). I fastened plastic tarp grommets through the tape to maintain
a consistent distance. In this picture the grommet is at the "C" in "CAUTION".
You can get these grommets in the camping sections of many stores. All you
need is a hammer, they make their own holes. You can have different tapes
with different poles distances according to the particular rules you will
be competing under. That helps avoid the situation in which you have been
training with weaves set at one distance apart only to encounter a different
distance in competition.
Stretch the tape out on the ground, and put the poles right through the grommet holes. The tape with grommet holes works well for both the step in poles shown above, and the fiberglass poles plus PVC system. In the picture above I removed the tape after installing the fiberglass poles just by sliding the grommets up over the tops of the fiberglass poles. Usually, however, I leave the tape in place. The dogs don't seem to mind and it partly simulates the weaves base of competition poles.
Once you have set up your fiberglass poles just drop PVC pipe over them. OH!
And these poles are yellow because they are not your standard PVC pipe. They
are the same outside diameter, but are fiberglass and very light. As colorful
as they are they are probably not something you will want to use because they
are way too expensive for this use. I just had them around from a kid's sports
equipment set. Regular PVC will work just as well. Striping the poles with
colored plastic electricians tape will make them look great.
The agility equipment page provides a variety of suppliers for making your own weave poles, more designs to support a variety of training methods, and even competition grade sets.
Agility Home - all the agility related pages on this site
DogPlay Agility Links - great off-site agility links
Agility Equipment Ideas
for folks with limited space and no power tools.
Great Dog Books and Videos at 4 M Dog Books
DogPlay's Agility Shops with fun dog agility related t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs and more.
DogPlay Home Page
Lost? PageList lists all the DogPlay pages.
Check the Help page. 
Learn more About DogPlay
New site! Cool Dog Lovers Gifts offers personalized agility title Items and customized rescued dog tees.
Dog agility T-Shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, buttons, stickers and more at the DogPlay Mall. Selected agility books and videos. Check it out .
Copyright © 1996-2003,
Diane Blackman
Created: September 13, 1996
Updated February 27, 2006
Help
with Contacting DogPlay
For information on linking and other uses of this material see the copyright
page.
Disclaimer and Privacy Policy
Help About Feedback Partners Listing Home