List of instructions available here
A quick list of the instructions for obstacles we have here:
Pause table
Broad jump
Weave poles (channel, adjustable)
Ladder
Bar jump – more jump cups information here and here
Octagon hoop jump
Trick Dog Titles
I just thought I’d share this. I’m sure many of you already know about it, but just in case you don’t…
We have mailed off our forms for our Expert Trick Dog titles. Who knew all the border collie brain games would come with TITLES! I didn’t know it was possible to get titles for shy dogs who can’t handle crowds! How awesome. And WOW! We know over 40 tricks!
My parents were hugely impressed when we demonstrated about 35 tricks for them. They had no idea what all they knew. Even Roger was impressed with the double hoop trick, and he sees them do crazy stuff all day. I highly recommend these books by Kyra Sundance. I’m merely a fan and we get nothing in exchange for mentioning these books or this program here.
What I love best about Kyra Sundance is how she just wants you and your dog to do fun stuff together – whatever fun stuff YOU want to do. The best advice I’ve ever received was about how to make use of advice you get from other people — take what you can use, and throw the rest away. This is really what she teaches in her books. What is fun for YOU and YOUR DOG is what is important – not what other people think you need to do.
Even with my dogs’ limitations (mostly mine – we don’t want our dogs getting into the fridge or turning on all the lights 
), we have learned a bunch of cool things over the years. And all this with lure/reward training. 
Go lure/reward! Fun training without that awful clicker noise!
I’ m a huge fan of trick training for dogs to keep their brains in shape (and to wear them out!). To us, everything is a trick. And some of the tricks we used for these titles are agility things – the teeter, weave poles, directed jumping, hoop jump, stay/wait, recall, and the tunnel.
Go forth and trick train!
Teeter, A-Frame, or Dogwalk?
UPDATE on 01/21/2011: Comments form should be fixed now. If you were having trouble leaving a comment, it was probably because of our anti-spam thing. We’ve changed it to a more typical kind of anti-spam form, so that should help. We get a lot of spam here, so we had to do something.
UPDATE on 01/19/2011: Roger’s shop is almost finished! Our yard is fenced. We even have a semi-flat area for agility, though we kind of spread it all along an old driveway. Spring is only a couple months away, though, so he will probably work on garden stuff for me first, then an agility obstacle. I’ll take a final tally here soon and see if I can’t get him to build the thing with the most votes. Anyone with course ideas for a narrow strip instead of a big square area, please share!
UPDATE ON 10/11/2010: We have moved into the new house but the yard is not yet fenced. This is a big project, and requires Roger to build several gates. Once he is done building the gates, he will be starting on agility obstacles again in his shiny new shop building. Please bear with us while we settle in here.
UPDATE ON 09/24/2010: We are moving pretty soon! Roger will need time to sort out all this stuff, but then he will be working on building new stuff! He also needs to fix my table, which was damaged in a windstorm and he may do a post on that, too.
Let’s have a vote: Which would you like to see next? I think Roger has worked quite a bit on dogwalk plans on paper. There is no guarantee that what you vote for will guide the next set of instructions, but we are curious to know which has the most demand.
UPDATE on 01/21/2011: Comments form should be fixed now. If you were having trouble leaving a comment, it was probably because of our anti-spam thing. We’ve changed it to a more typical kind of anti-spam form, so that should help. We get a lot of spam here, so we had to do something.
UPDATE on 01/19/2011: Roger’s shop is almost finished! Our yard is fenced. We even have a semi-flat area for agility, though we kind of spread it all along an old driveway. Spring is only a couple months away, though, so he will probably work on garden stuff for me first, then an agility obstacle. I’ll take a final tally here soon and see if I can’t get him to build the thing with the most votes. Anyone with course ideas for a narrow strip instead of a big square area, please share!
UPDATE ON 10/11/2010: We have moved into the new house but the yard is not yet fenced. This is a big project, and requires Roger to build several gates. Once he is done building the gates, he will be starting on agility obstacles again in his shiny new shop building. Please bear with us while we settle in here.
UPDATE ON 09/24/2010: We are moving pretty soon! Roger will need time to sort out all this stuff, but then he will be working on building new stuff! He also needs to fix my table, which was damaged in a windstorm and he may do a post on that, too.
Let’s have a vote: Which would you like to see next? I think Roger has worked quite a bit on dogwalk plans on paper. There is no guarantee that what you vote for will guide the next set of instructions, but we are curious to know which has the most demand.
Alternatives for Jump Cups
Related posts: Bar Jump or Hurdle; Adjustable Jump Cups.
PAPER BINDER CLIPS: (Pam) One of my favorite ‘jump cups’ for home use are paper binder clips. Just go into an office supply store and purchase binder clips for paper. I put the plastic part around the pvc upright and the metal part straight in front to hold the bar. What size clips you use will depend upon the size of your pvc.
VELCRO: (Pam) I’ve also seen people put the loop part of sticky Velcro (use craft or industrial strength) on the pvc uprights. The hook side is on the bar. This is worth it for a dog who needs to move to height in very slow increments.
Dura 3/4″ Snap Clamp: (Mike) Save yourself a lot of time. Just google “Dura 3/4″ Snap Clamp” the actual part number you can google as well. That is 463-007. It is the same part number with Dura and Spears. Just cut it in half and snap it on you pvc pipe. One snap clamp makes 2 cups ready to use in about 10 seconds. Cost is about .60 cents for two!
TEE CONNECTOR AND RUBBER BAND: (Andrew Geffert) Try this: Cut a Tee connector in half, and use a rubber band to keep it in place. The Tee connector should be the next size up from your verticle pipe size. If you are working with 1/2″ PVC, us a 3/4″ Tee connector. The next bigger size will slip over uprights. To get it to stay, first put a rubber band around the upright so the half tee rests around the rubber band. The half round will then hold the cross bar.
BUY ONLINE: (Carol) Try this site for the saddle clips: http://www.flexpvc.com
SHOWER CURTAIN ROD HOLDER: (Suzanne) I went to Lowes, Valu and Home Depot looking for something that could reasonably substitute for them. A really helpful Home Depot worker helped me discover that 1/2 of a shower curtain rod holder holds 1″ pipe perfectly. I had to purchase 2 for each jump because the other end is a complete circle and I wanted the bar to easily fall away if she hit it while going over.
MYSTERY ITEMS (photo below): (Wendy) I was still able to make the jump cups, but I had to improvise by adding another piece. I’m not sure what it is called, but here is a picture. The piece is threaded on one end, which I screwed into the saddle. The other end fits 1″ pipe, so I inserted the “cup” piece of pvc into this end. It works well, but I ended up having to cut my jump bar a little shorter, so it would fit on the improvised jump cups.
If you have something you used not listed above, please leave a comment!
Happy New Year, everyone.
Roger hopes to do a dogwalk next, but it is very miserable with rain, etc. outside on the porch and in the yard where he builds stuff just now. We will be moving — soon, we hope — to a place with some kind of shop building and garage.
In the meantime, please continue to enjoy the instructions for jumps, weave poles, and pause table.
Previous Articles
Welcome to Instant Agility
Learn how to build inexpensive but sturdy agility equipment that will give you and your dog hours of fun--and then learn how to put the equipment to use.
We hope to put up a new obstacle or training piece fairly frequently.
