Agility Equipment: Some Explanations & Information
If you are new to the world of dog agility, it will be helpful to learn about all of the different pieces of agility equipment that are used for competitions. While every dog agility group, from UKC to USDAA, has different rules and different course designs, there are a few pieces of agility equipment that you almost always find on the course. These include items such as the pause table, plenty of dog agility jumps, weave poles, a see-saw or teeter totter, a dog tunnel, a collapsible chute and an agility dog walk or A-frame or perhaps both.
Jumps are always going to have a big presence on the agility course, so for those in the market for agility equipment, jumps are a safe bet. In general, dogs love agility jumps and they learn these jumping skills quickly. Generally, there will be several pole jumps, including double or triple jumps that dogs must leap across as well as panel jumps, which range from just one panel to higher, multi-panel agility jumps. It's good to just start out with single jumps and gradually increase height and then continue to increase the difficulty.
Beyond the typical pole jumps and panel jumps, there are some pretty cool jumps used by a few agility organizations, such as the United Kennel Club or UKC. One jump you might find at a UKC-sanctioned event is a window agility jump. This is basically a panel jump with a rectangular hole that acts as the "window." In addition, UKC also adds interesting pieces of agility equipment such as a hoop tunnel, a sway bridge or a swing plank. A fewer other hurdles might include the rail fence hurdle or a picket fence hurdle.
Jumps are exciting and fun for dogs, which makes them fairly easy to teach, but there are other pieces of agility equipment that aren't too complicated to learn. While it's not as exciting as tire jumps or weaves, the pause table is an important piece of agility equipment that serves as both an agility training tool and an obedience tool. The pause table is simply a raised square structure that dogs must hop onto and "pause" for a certain number of seconds before continuing through an agility course. Your dog must learn how to stay, sit and lay down anyway, so the pause table provides you with an opportunity to teach these important skills.
Contact obstacles, such as the tunnel, collapsible chute and the dog walk, all can be fairly easy to teach, as well. Dogs can be somewhat intimidated by the tunnels and chutes at first, but with practice and praise, they tend to enjoy zipping through them pretty quickly. The height of the dog walk also can be scary at first, so introduce this item slowly and let them take their time getting used to the height. Obstacles such as the teeter also can be tricky at first, because of the movement and sometimes dogs are intimidated by the height of the A-frame, so just be patient and give them time to adjust.
You can purchase just about every piece of agility equipment that you might need from an online source. Carlson Agility, for instance, sells everything you could need for agility training. You can find contact equipment, all types of jumps, weaves, chutes, tunnels, teeters, K9 training equipment, specialty UKC equipment and much more. If you are training with a smaller breed of dog or perhaps a puppy, Carlson Agility also offers most agility equipment in miniature sizes.
Jumps are always going to have a big presence on the agility course, so for those in the market for agility equipment, jumps are a safe bet. In general, dogs love agility jumps and they learn these jumping skills quickly. Generally, there will be several pole jumps, including double or triple jumps that dogs must leap across as well as panel jumps, which range from just one panel to higher, multi-panel agility jumps. It's good to just start out with single jumps and gradually increase height and then continue to increase the difficulty.
Beyond the typical pole jumps and panel jumps, there are some pretty cool jumps used by a few agility organizations, such as the United Kennel Club or UKC. One jump you might find at a UKC-sanctioned event is a window agility jump. This is basically a panel jump with a rectangular hole that acts as the "window." In addition, UKC also adds interesting pieces of agility equipment such as a hoop tunnel, a sway bridge or a swing plank. A fewer other hurdles might include the rail fence hurdle or a picket fence hurdle.
Jumps are exciting and fun for dogs, which makes them fairly easy to teach, but there are other pieces of agility equipment that aren't too complicated to learn. While it's not as exciting as tire jumps or weaves, the pause table is an important piece of agility equipment that serves as both an agility training tool and an obedience tool. The pause table is simply a raised square structure that dogs must hop onto and "pause" for a certain number of seconds before continuing through an agility course. Your dog must learn how to stay, sit and lay down anyway, so the pause table provides you with an opportunity to teach these important skills.
Contact obstacles, such as the tunnel, collapsible chute and the dog walk, all can be fairly easy to teach, as well. Dogs can be somewhat intimidated by the tunnels and chutes at first, but with practice and praise, they tend to enjoy zipping through them pretty quickly. The height of the dog walk also can be scary at first, so introduce this item slowly and let them take their time getting used to the height. Obstacles such as the teeter also can be tricky at first, because of the movement and sometimes dogs are intimidated by the height of the A-frame, so just be patient and give them time to adjust.
You can purchase just about every piece of agility equipment that you might need from an online source. Carlson Agility, for instance, sells everything you could need for agility training. You can find contact equipment, all types of jumps, weaves, chutes, tunnels, teeters, K9 training equipment, specialty UKC equipment and much more. If you are training with a smaller breed of dog or perhaps a puppy, Carlson Agility also offers most agility equipment in miniature sizes.
About the Author:
Cheng Bernhardt loves dog agility training. To discover an agility equipment, or to find additional agility dog training equipment such as agility jumps, please check out the Carlson-Agility.com site now.