Penny and I have fun at home practising agility and the equipment hasn't cost me a cent. Most of it I've picked up on the street where neighbours have put stuff out for anyone to take. The first item I noticed was a short-legged table.
I collected it and it sat at home for months until one day I spotted this lamp, lying in a pile of bits and pieces on the side of the road. I didn't need the electrical part - I assume it had been thrown out because it didn't work properly, so I took only the bottom part and that became our first weaving pole.
Not long after, one of my own lamps stopped working, so the bottom of the stand became our second pole. The third one is an old stand for winding up a hose.
I had been searching the toy shops for one of the tunnels that small children play in but hadn't been able to find one, so I was pleased when I came across the striped tunnel pictured behind the weaving poles. It was outside a kindergarten and I guess they threw it out because it was so dirty. Not a problem! Penny doesn't care about a bit of dirt.
Some time later I found another tunnel and I wondered if perhaps I was becoming a bit obsessive when I collected it, because it was in bad shape, torn off the wire frame at one end. I also acquired a round thing that seemed to be a kind of doorway to the tunnel.But...suddenly I realised that if I cut the loose wire off the end I had a kind of chute. Here are a couple of a pictures of the two tunnel/chutes and Penny coming out as she navigates our strange agility course.
Penny loves jumping and her concentration shows in thesr photos of her leaping over the last items in the collection - the jumps made from garden stakes and empty plant pots - we've got plenty of the latter since the drought (or should I call it the change in the climate?) killed our pot plants.And, finally, here she is jumping through the round nameless thing that I found with the blue and yellow tunnel. (She looks as if she's got no legs because she's got them tucked up under her as she jumps.)
11 comments:
Wow - I love these action shots of Penny. She is such a cutie.
Maybe you could hire out your backyard by the hour as a doggy playground.
Stacey, that's a great idea... maybe I could become a dog-playground entrepreneur!!
Oh chute (BOL!) Your pics aren't loading, we'll come back and see them later. Mum got my first tunnel at a dollar store! Well, it was actually the kitties, but I stole it. Woofs, Johann
Johann, the pics aren't loading for me today, either. I'll have to read the 'help' page and see what the problem is.
Hahaha cool! Recycled junkies made into agility equipments, good idea! I only have 8 poles weaving poles & a three leveled hurdle. My mommy made them out of PVC poles & they cost quite a bit. I hardly use them nowadays coz the weaving poles are too flimsy...
Love licks,
Solid Gold Dancer
Amber-Mae, we've got one jump made out of PVC, also. I bought it through the internet and it cost a bit so I couldn't really afford to buy any more. We also bought a see-saw base but I've never got organised to buy the great big plank to go on it. I will one of these days!
Hi! We're just getting through our mail and saw that you asked about foundation work and tightening on jumps in agility.
Foundation work can be a lot of things, but basically it's working on all the skills necessary to have a good 'foundation' for agility. Sit, stay, (for the start line); turning right and left, come (come around), here (coming in tighter), easy (to take it easy on a certain part of the course or obstacle); commands and behaviors such as these. And we also work on tricks to help build bonding and to have fun working together. It can also mean adjusting to the environment. Like when Mum takes Gracie out at a trial and works with her on commands and the practice jump - to get her used to working with Mum at a trial.
Tightening on jumps is important to be as efficient on a course as possible to have the fastest time possible. There are different ways to teach tightening jumps and it's difficult to explain in words. But basically it means jumping at an angle and tight to the pole of the jump, or jumping straight on and turning tightest to the pole.
Clean Run magazine which you can get on my site - www.johannthedog.com - is an amazing resource for all things agility - training, etc.
Well - I've written a book - let me know if you have more questions, we are happy to help!
Woofs, Johann
dog agility equipment is really one the best things that you can have for your most loved pet. it will make your dog fast and make your relationship stronger while allowing your dog to perform his needed exercise. thanks for posting this, it is very informative and i learned a lot from it.
How cool! I hope I am half as creative when we start agility!
Hey I am a kid English and I love dog agility! Some great tips, I have 2 tunnels so I think I might do the same! Also for small dogs, cricket stumps make fab weave sticks. Dunno if you do cricket in the usa but hey!
thx xx
Hi, Claire!
Actually I'm in Australia, not the USA and I can certainly get hold of some cricket stumps. That's a great tip, so thanks.
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