Bar Jump or Hurdle
This is the most basic of agility obstacles. It’s easy to make, will only take you about an hour and will cost about $12 in materials. You will need two adjustable jump cups in addition to the materials listed below for every jump bar on your hurdle.
Tools
You will need a PVC cutting tool, measuring tape, and a Sharpie or similar marking tool. In addition, you will need paper towels for cleaning glue joints.
Materials
Below are the pre-cut pieces, ready to be assembled. The straight pieces of 1″ pipe are less than 14 feet in total length, which means you’ll need two 10 foot pieces of pipe to construct one jump, or three pieces to construct two jumps (in which case you need to double the connectors shown below). In addition, you will need a 4′ section of ¾” pipe for every jump bar.
The parts you’ll need (all 1″ diameter pipe and appropriate connectors except as noted):
1 slip end caps (6)
2 slip “T” connectors (4)
3 12″ pipe feet (4)
4 30″ pipe uprights (2)
5 1¾” pipe stubs to join “T” connectors (2)
6 50″ pipe lower cross bar (1)
7 48″ pipe jump bar, ¾” diameter (1)
Note: You can have as many jump bars as you like, of course, just clip them on.
Assembly
Please see the tips page for general hints on cutting and assembling PVC pipe. Look for the red glue symbols in the photos to show the freshly glued joints in each step.
Start by gluing four end caps 1 to the four feet 3.
Glue the feet into two of the “T” connectors 2.
Glue the stubs 5 into the foot assemblies.
Set aside the feet and glue the two remaining “T” connectors 2 to the 50″ cross bar 6. It is important that these two connectors be coplanar. Glue one first and let it set, then glue the other in place ensuring that both connectors are flat on your work surface as shown.
Glue one foot to the cross-bar. You can eyeball this pretty easily, let the corners of your work surface guide you as you twist the foot into place.
Repeat the process for the other foot.
Glue the two remaining end caps 1 to the two uprights 4.
Finally, glue the uprights into the base assembly. Assuming you’ve made your adjustable jump cups, you’re done!
You can see that the jump cups just clip right onto the upright.
The finished jump. I used an old cross bar salvaged from a previous adventure which was stored in such a way that it has a slight warp to it, in case you notice a bend in it. Use colored electrical tape to provide contrasting stripes on the jump bar to help your dog see it; this bar would benefit from another stripe in the center. You can also use the tape on your uprights to help them stand out.
Alternative Designs
You can make the jump bar height permanent by cutting the uprights and inserting modified “T” connectors to hold the jump bar, as described in the “jump cup” post. You can leave pieces unglued to aid storage, though I would always glue the “T” connectors to the cross bar, that is where most of the strength of this obstacle resides.
You could use your Sharpie to add reference marks to the uprights for easily setting the jump bar at particular height(s).
To make a jump with more than one jump bar, just add a couple of clips and another bar.
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