Happy Holidays, Everyone!

  • Posted by Allie
  • November 24, 2008

Just wanted to say a Happy Holidays to everyone.

Roger has been swamped with work and has not been able to work on agility stuff for us lately. I am trying to encourage him to do a dogwalk or an a-frame next.

I think he is considering the dogwalk closely but is having trouble coming up with a design that would eliminate any gaps in the areas where the boards would meet. I have insisted that there be no gaps, because my dogs manage to find any flaw and stick their toes into it. Then we have a Sports Injury and must go to the Veterinarian for an Examination and Medication. Then, the worst part, the Injured Party must *Rest* for at least a week. Needless to say, this resting stuff does not go over well with my border collies.

This same issue with gaps will also come up with the a-frame, at the top where the boards meet. I was thinking that there could be little pieces that you set into place in these gap areas when the obstacle is set up, and then you could remove these when you go to take it down to move it or whatever. But how to secure them?? Perhaps a little T shape, and the top of the T has paint or nonskid stuff on it like the rest of the walking surface. They might be something you have to secure with a screw and bolt on the other side.  If anyone has any ideas for this, please share them here. The obstacle needs to be safe, with no gaps for dog toes to get stuck. The nature of the PVC pipes and boards is such that the boards will not meet up exactly and touch each other, and that is the main problem here.

Meanwhile, I will try to bribe Roger with chocolate to get him working on more obstacles for us. :)

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November 24th, 2008
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Comment Number:
1
Written by:
Melissa Vines
Posted on:
November 25, 2008 at 12:11 pm

Hi, I have been thinking of the gap problem myself. What about covering it with a half round piece of flexible tubing Then tack/nail it in place on one side? That way it can still be taken apart and moved, but safe for our pups.

-Melissa and Felon

Comment Number:
2
Written by:
Allie
Posted on:
November 25, 2008 at 1:09 pm

I like the idea of using flexible tubing. That’s clever. You could probably just tap it into place with a small hammer or something, and then take it out when you need to. If you got the right size, it would take just a little effort to get it into place to block the gap. And that tubing is very cheap at the hardware store. Thanks! I’ll give this idea to Roger. It would mean he would not need to do anything with the design… this is something that could be done after the thing is built.

Comment Number:
3
Written by:
Melissa Vines
Posted on:
November 27, 2008 at 1:44 am

Glad you like it Allie! Felon is hoping Roger puts something up for contact obstacles, he would really like for his mom to build him some too :)

Melissa

Comment Number:
4
Written by:
Jennifer Newhouse
Posted on:
April 6, 2009 at 12:29 am

Thanks so much for your great directions. My 12 year old 4H agility kid is building three jumps as I write this. The directions are clear and very easy to follow. Thanks for the help, you were a life saver to this mom!

Comment Number:
5
Written by:
Jennifer Newhouse
Posted on:
April 6, 2009 at 12:36 am

We are building a dog walk and were concerned about the gaps as well. We are considering some heavy duty velcro strips and some light weight carpet or heavy canvas fabric strips to streatch accross the gaps. Do you think this is viable or would it freak the doggies out?? Mine are pretty unconcerned about small texture changes underfoot. What do you think?

Comment Number:
6
Written by:
Allie
Posted on:
April 6, 2009 at 12:37 am

How fabulous! I’m so glad your 4-H kid is having a good time! :) I was in 4-H for a long time but only did horse stuff.

Comment Number:
7
Written by:
Allie
Posted on:
April 6, 2009 at 12:54 am

I like that idea of fabric or something (perhaps something nonslip and waterproof? an old welcome mat or the like?) going across the gaps. I don’t think the dogs will really even notice unless they had learned to judge the location of the contact from the texture change. If that was a concern, it might be worth it to do the entire surface in whatever it is you are using.

Roger is working on a dogwalk plan now, and we are thinking about using plastic tubing pushed into the gaps, as someone else suggested in another comment somewhere. We also thought about making some kind of T-shaped thing to fit into the space and then be fastened somehow on the underside.

I will write down your idea along with the others that have been suggested, and then when we go to do it, we can offer alternatives to whatever we end up using in our own plan.

Comment Number:
8
Written by:
Jancee
Posted on:
April 14, 2009 at 7:13 pm

Whenever the A-frame issue has been solved please continue posting on this site, im only a teenager and trying to begin in agility, and so far this site has been my lifesaver on funds! Please try to cover all of the obstacles.

Comment Number:
9
Written by:
Allie
Posted on:
April 14, 2009 at 7:44 pm

Hi! I’m glad you’re finding the instructions useful. :) We do plan to do all the obstacles, but Roger has been busy with work and has not had time to work on them lately. We think the next obstacle will the dogwalk, though.

Comment Number:
10
Written by:
Callie
Posted on:
February 7, 2010 at 9:48 pm

How about those silicone tings that fill the gap between the stove and the counter? I don’t know how big a gap you need to rill, but those are already T shaped. I purchased one at Wal-Mart recently.