69 Posts Tagged With "equipment"
How to Build Dog Agility Courses - Video
28 Jul 2025
Ever have a course map and want to set up/build that agility course in your practice space? Want to help build courses at an agility trial? I'll go over the basics, starting from a course map/diagram to a finished course ready to run.
Using a Jump Wing as a Training Prop for Back Side/Threadle Slices - Video
21 Jan 2025
I demo adding a jump wing on the take off side of a threadle slice for Spark when he was having trouble finding his take off spot after I raised his jump height up to 24."
Short Tunnels are Great for Discriminations!
20 Jul 2024
3ft/1m tunnels are awesome for discrimination training! You don’t have haul out a full size tunnel and all of its sand bags.
Raise/Lower Your A Frame by Yourself
25 Jun 2024
It can be hard to raise or lower your A Frame by yourself when it is too low to the ground. Here's a simple solution.
Dog Walk Supports - Stabilizing My Dog Walk
15 Apr 2024
I wanted to reduce the flex of the planks in my older dog walk. I found some adjustable supports that work great.
Outdoor Jump Building Tips
14 Apr 2024
Learn from my mistakes with two tips for building outdoor jumps.
DIY - Dog Walk Mat Attachment
02 Jan 2024
Time to move Spark's running dog walk mat onto the plank. I used some grommets and a bungee cord to hold it in place.
Ultimate Guide to Filling Dog Agility Tunnel Bags
09 Jun 2022
After 10 years, I've updated my step by step instructions for filling up dog agility tunnel bags.
Leveling You Jumps
22 Aug 2021
A quick tip for leveling your jump uprights on uneven ground.
Hack for Organizing Your Dogs' Agility Entry Info
11 Jun 2021
I share a super simple hack for storing your dog's info for filling out trial entry forms.
PVC - Screw It Don't Glue It!
10 May 2021
Screwing together PVC and fittings holds the pieces together and gives you the ability to replace any cracked/broken pieces and the flexibility to redesign your obstacles in the future.
My Home Dog Agility iPhone Recording Setup
01 Sep 2020
Here are the inexpensive wide angle lens, mount, and tripod I use to record dog agility at home.
Save Your Grass From Your Weaves
18 Jun 2020
A simple tip to keep your weaves from killing your grass.
DIY Dog Agility Teeter Mover
14 Jun 2020
A dog agility teeter can be awkward to move by yourself. Here's a video showing how I move mine with a small, cheap hand truck and a bungee cord.
Backyard Agility LED Lighting
05 Apr 2020
I replaced two old halogen yard lights with modern outdoor waterproof LED lights to extend our training and playtime into the dark winter nights.
My Home Agility All Season Practice Area
15 Mar 2020
How I converted part of my yard into an all season agility practice area and what I'd do differently next time.
Tunnel and Tunnel Bag Cart/Mover
24 Jan 2020
Check out these clever homemade carts for moving and storing tunnels with their sandbags.
Sandbags for PVC Ring Dividers/Gates/Fencing
08 Dec 2019
My experience using my moveable PVC ring dividers/gates outdoors lead me to invest in photographer sandbags.
Weave Safety in One Photo
15 Nov 2019
Whitney Rupp of Chops Photography took this action shot of Snap! and I loved it because it showed three potential weave safety issues in one shot; can you spot them?
PVC Moveable Ring Dividers/Gates/Fencing
27 May 2019
How to build your own moveable ring dividers/gates from PVC with a spreadsheet calculator for materials and saw cuts.
Use Sight Lines to Accurately Setup/Build Agility Courses
01 Sep 2018
The "baseline" method of course building ( Daisy Peel how to video , 2004 Clean Run article by Dave Hanson ) is the most accurate way to…
Jump Bar Cavaletti
06 Apr 2018
A simple way to convert any PVC jump bars into dog training cavaletti.
Beautiful Coordinate Numbers for Your Agility Ring
22 Nov 2017
Whether you call them "numbers", "coordinates", "wall numbers", "grid numbers", "yard lines", or something else, having coordinates posted…
Adjusting Dog Walk Height with Rotating Supports
19 Oct 2017
I love my dog walk (made by Iowan Mark Ries 10+ years ago) because it's easy to move on rough terrain, tunnels can be placed anywhere…
Contact Equipment Safety in Photos
20 Mar 2017
I'm always concerned about our dog's safety on course and I'm collecting photos of dog agility contact equipment and highlighting unsafe…
Seesaw or Teeter or ?
03 Apr 2016
I was at Canine Sports Zone for their awesome 2016 National Agility Championship fun match and we were watching the AKC event on the…
Contact Resurfacing - Part 2: Upgrading the Frame Structure
15 Sep 2014
In the first article of this series I showed how to remove the old surface of your A Frame, Teeter and Dog Walk. In this article I'll show…
Contact Resurfacing - Part 1: Removing the Old
25 Aug 2014
My dog walk, teeter and A frame all needed their original plywood surfaces replaced. As an example, I have an aluminum framed A Frame that…
Converting Weaves to 24 inch Spacing
16 Jun 2014
In the past couple years all the agility venues we compete in have converted to 24 inch weave spacing and I had two sets of weaves with…
Tagg Pet Tracker Review
12 Jun 2014
For some reason people think microchips are an alternative to tracking collars. They solve two very different problems. Microchips help…
USDAA Spread Jumps Made Easy!
14 Apr 2014
As of this writing these are the applicable equipment regulations . Dave's technique is to build a pair of jump uprights with four feet on…
Running A Frame - "Nerd Box"
07 May 2013
I'm using Rachel Sanders' running A Frame technique with Flyer and I thought I'd share my "Nerd Box" design with you. I came up with…
Are We Qualified for Nationals Yet?
22 Apr 2013
That is the question many competitors ask throughout the year in their agility venue(s) of choice and you can use Agility Record Book to…
Protect Your (Jump) Feet!
14 Apr 2013
I was looking over my jumps after the winter and saw that a couple had cracked and broken end caps. Water had collected in the based of the…
Add-On AKC Triple Jump
18 Mar 2013
I bought jump cup strips for building a triple jump over 5 years ago and never got around to building a frame to hold them. I was just too…
Cold/Wet Training Gloves
18 Jan 2013
I really want to continue training Flyer throughout the Winter. Here in Chicago it can get pretty cold and wet in the winter and my hands…
Ban Dangerous Steel Jumps Now!
28 Nov 2012
There is no reason to use dangerous steel jumps anymore! Period. There are just too many opportunities for injury. Eye injuries and…
Test Your Agility Age!
24 Aug 2012
You've been in agility as long as me if this was once common on a piece of standard agility equipment: here are some hints: Spoiler Alert: I…
My AKC Tire Safety Proposal
06 Aug 2012
Lately there have been many discussions on agility email lists and among competitors around the subject of tire safety; specifically with…
Mark's Agility Equipment Pause Table
31 Jul 2012
My old pause table delaminated and warped years ago and I kept putting off making a new one. So rather than DIY I came up with a list of…
Tunnel Bags - Filling 'Em
29 May 2012
My tips for filling up tunnel sand bags.
Unexpected Rubber Contact Danger
20 Apr 2012
In almost all regards rubber coated contacts are "a good thing" TM . The most common "danger" about them is to the people moving them…
Max 200 Break-Away Tire
20 Mar 2011
I've written in the past about the need for break-away tires in agility. Well I ordered one from Max200 after seeing one at a USDAA…
FarmTek Electronic Timer Sound Recordings
13 Jan 2011
Ever since electronic timers have been introduced to dog agility competitions there have been dogs that were startled and scared by the…
Sports Bras for Agility Competitors
05 Aug 2010
I was late to Dana Pike’s class this week, due to taking Meeker to TOPS , and as I walked in Dana said I needed to blog about the most…
iPhone Dog Agility Record Keeping Now Available!
07 Mar 2010
Ever since the iPhone was released folks have been asking for an application that would record their agility scores on their phone; well one…
Building a Double Jump
22 Feb 2010
Even though the backyard was still covered with snow and ice, yesterday's temperatures in the 30s got me itching to do something agility…
24 inch Weave Pole Spacing Survey Results
26 Aug 2009
Last week Susan Garrett started a survey a weave pole spacing for USDAA and the results are now in. 2658 people completed the survey and…
24 inch Weave Pole Spacing
23 Aug 2009
There has been a lot of discussion on the USDAA email list trying to convince the board to change to 24" weave pole spacing. I chimed in…
Rubber Contacts and Training
21 Jul 2009
Rubber chip coated contacts are becoming more and more popular and are a "good thing" due to the excellent traction they provide, but they…
Weave Poles
31 May 2009
I really feel like I'm living up to the Nerd in AgilityNerd now; not an article on the Weaves themselves, only the poles! Here are a few…
Track Your Performance - Agility Record Book
22 Mar 2009
I use Dave Connet's Agility Record Book (ARB) software to track how Meeker and I do at our trials and wanted to share its features with…
Home Course Building
07 Nov 2008
I've been setting up more courses at home and I thought I'd share some steps I took to make that easier. I help build courses at every trial…
Replacing A Frame Slats
20 Oct 2008
With all the rain at the end of this summer my A Frame became too decrepit to put off repairing. It didn't need to be fully "re-skinned…
Honda Element "Dog Mobile"
02 Jun 2008
In response to a comment on my Window Film Application post here are my thoughts on the Honda Element as a dogmobile and how I store my…
Window Film For Cooler Cars
25 May 2008
Now that the heat of summer is coming I've started looking for ways to keep our dogs cooler and safer while traveling in the car. Like many…
Unattended Equipment Safety
09 May 2008
I saw a tragic story come through on a number of agility email lists a couple weeks ago that I thought I should share it with those of you…
Contact Cozies: Keeping Contacts Safe
07 Apr 2008
Here's my interpretation of the Contact Cozies Steve Stochaj wrote about in his comment on my article about the dangers of frost on…
Do We Need to Change the Tire?
20 Jan 2008
In the past month there has been a lot of discussion on the AgilityDogs and USDAA SoundingBoard email lists about serious injuries to…
A Frame Mover
14 Dec 2007
The best A-Frame mover I've ever used!
PVC Cutter
25 Nov 2007
I had never bothered using a PVC cutter before; I always used a hand saw or my powered miter saw if I had a lot of PVC to cut. The downside…
Outdoor Compact Fluorescent Floodlights
15 Oct 2007
The previous owner of my house had installed fixtures for three pairs of incandescent floodlights lights pointing out to the yard. This time…
DIY Chute
11 Apr 2007
Well I've had the parts for almost a year now and I finally made time to put together my own Chute. This isn't exactly a "how to" article…
Grass
23 Mar 2007
Grass as agility equipment you might ask? Sure. I want Milo and Meeker to have a comfortable and safe surface on which we can play and…
Contact Wicket
04 Mar 2007
Previously, I had made a Contact Hoop for helping Meeker hit his contacts; after working with Dana Pike on contacts she pointed out I…
Agility Matting For Indoor Training
21 Feb 2007
I've taken the plunge and put rubber matting down in My house has hardwood floors throughout and the sun room has a tile floor. The…
Contact Hoop
08 Dec 2006
It seems when I train with Rhonda Carter I not only learn to be a better handler and trainer but I find she has come up with an idea for a…
Seal Skinz Waterproof Socks
23 Aug 2006
Socks? you might ask. Yep socks. I was just miserable during a rain soaked three day agility seminar with squishy shoes and many changes of…
Bar Bells
01 Jul 2006
At Dana Pike's 2006 Spring Maintenance Camp Rhonda Carter mentioned temporarily attaching small bells to each end of a jump bar. If…
