I Need Agility Help

Ok so I am looking at getting some aglilty equipment and I have found a few things. Problem is I need help in deciding what equipment is best to get first. In other words what do dogs generally have issues with? Ok this is what I found.

$369.00 (with shipping) includes - 6 weave poles, jump, tire (its acutally just a hoop jump but...), pause box, shute

or

$260.97 (with shipping) includes - 6 weave poles, tire, teeter base

I know the first one comes with more equipment but is it all really needed. Im not sure what obsticals need more practice.

First question - how old is your dog - thats very important in terms of training any elements

Hes 8 months and has only started on little stuff but I have the money to get the equipment now and if I dont get it then I wont have another chance. LOL

i would say weave poles need most practice. at least from my experience....

Second question If you get equipment now, will you be able to resist using it for another 4 months - agility training should not start with dogs under 12 months, [ longer for larger breeds ].

Things which are ok for youngsters are Open tunnel, flat plank on the ground for teaching contacts and letting dog get used to keeping feet inline before its raised off the gound, [ see-saw/teeter, or dog-walk planks ], poles on the ground for working on direction, close and distance control, and letting a dog get used to going between the wings.

No`s include : jumping [ no matter how low unless pole on ground ], as it would be additional pressure on growing bones and joints above and beyond their day to day antics, no Table [ impact for landing when jumping off or sliding off while learning to pause ], and absolutely no to weaving - not good at all for young developing spines, ligments, muscles etc [ personally its the last thing I teach beginners at the end of course so their dogs are usually 14 months plus at that point ].

Flat tunnel [ shute ], ok at any age provided the fabric is held open for them, [ weight for pushing through is lot for small and young pups ], but held open is great for confidence building and teaching the entry.

*Try to use a different cue for each of the two types of tunnel so they have a better chance of distinguishing them if judge or instructor is rotten enough to place them parallel
** Weave entry using two poles only is ok as a youngster can get used to heading for them on cue and only using the first two poles for entry means no bending involved but the urge to add `just one more pole, it wont hurt` must be resisted and if you dont trust yourself not to, dont take any out of the packaging at all, good training at the right time is never rushed and you can spend plenty of time on the directional side in the meantime

A dog increasing jump height should also be done steadily over time to allow for gentle building of the relevent jumping muscles and stamina so given the height of the Pause table, its equivalent to a full height jump so that can be left til later as well.

Soooo, I`d honestly suggest putting the money away for the next four months as there is not a lot in either kit which would be particularly usable just yet, just the tyre/hoop if set to ground level really

I dont want to be a party pooper, I just would`nt forgive myself if I did`nt try to offer guidence and you end up with a lame / injured dog later on through not knowing about whats ok and whats not with a youngster

My wife's got a friend who had her husband make everything for her so she could train her BC to do agility.

I've just been told that the weave poles are broom handles painted yellow, the jump is just two frames where a bar can be raised, the shute is one of those childrens canvas shute you get from a toy shop and the tire is a hula hoop.

From what my misses tells me it has being very sucessfully and has lasted years.

The best bit is that the whole lot cost less than a £100.00.

I know about training him. Im working with a trainer. Right now hes learning to use his back feet by using the ladder. Hes learning to wait with his back feet on the contact. (hes not doing the whole A frame, he getting on the table and going down hlaf of one side and the teeter is on blocks.) The other thing that he is doing in class is the tunnel and very low jumps to get the hang of using his back feet to push off with instead of springing. I wont use the equipment till he has done it in class because I wont know how to teach him and I dont want to cause a fear in it or mess him up. Im not good at saving money. LOL So if I dont do it now then I wont have another chance.

The things that cause the most 'problems' with dogs at the agility group we go to are, the collapsed tunnel, the see-saw, the dog walk, and the tyre, we bought weave polls just for practice at home, as once a week simply wasn't enough!, but try to be patient, he's still growing and you'd hate yourself if he was injured in anyway, but every dog is different, so what one dog may have a problem with, yours may absolutly love, and vice versa, hope this helps
Christine

Make your own equiptment. The store bought stuff I find isn't always good quality and almost always much overpriced! It's not too expensive to make your own equiptment and not too difficult.

I find the hardest obstacles are: weaves, tire, (chute can be depending on your dog's personality), and the teeter.

Tire you can teach using just a hula hoop to start. Train him to walk through the hoop and say: tire. Then raise it a little higher each time so eventually he will have to jump the hoop.

Weaves are a bit more difficult to make. A long piece of metal with prongs sticking up, so you can put pieces of pipe on it... It's nice to have it in two pieces so you can put a hinge in the middle and fold it if nessasairy. Whatever you do, don't train weaves until the puppy is a mature dog. They can easily bring a dog's shoulders out of placement.

Teeter is more difficult to make. But for most dogs, they can learn the teeter just from weekly lessons. Maybe stay a few minutes after class and work on the teeter by its self.

Tunnels aren't normally a big problem for most dogs, but they can be purchased inexpensively at child's toy shops for a lot cheaper then from an agility specialist. A word to the wise if you get one from a specialist... get a lightwieght. Even though the others might be stronger, with full tunnels I find them impossible to move with one person. Our 20 foot tunnels take two people to move. ( If you are trying to move a 20 foot tunnel with two people, slide a bar from a jump through it and each pick up an end. That'll make it a lot easier.. haha )

Jumps are pretty easy to make. You'll want to make them with adjustable heights, so that if it's particularly hot or your dog is getting tired, you can lower them and still train. You should gradually work them up to their full jump height anyways...

Oh, and if you're having problems with contacts, for medium/ large dogs it's easiest to teach them to sit when they come to the bottom of a contact obstacle. When they're in the ring and going fast it will slow them down a bit, but it will guerantee you get your contact.

Best of luck!