haleigh Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 I am making a persuasive essay for school, and the topic I chose was 'Choose one thing (object, event...etc) you would really like, and try to persuade a parent or other relevant adult into purchasing it'. I chose to persuade my dad into buying materials to make more agility equipment. This is pretty easy, IMO, to persaude him, but for the school part of the essay I need research to back it up. For everyone who votes in this poll, I need you to fill out the following sample forms: THIS FORM FOR STORE BOUGHT- Obstacle name/s: jump, tunnel Price bought for, place bought from: tunnel-$90, jump-$10, tunnel from cleanrun.com and jump from affordableagility.com How many dogs using it: 1 Condition after 6 months: jump-brand new condition, tunnel-one velcro strap broke off, otherwise usable Pros: Jump easily portable, and tunnel easily portable. Easy to wash, and jump came with electrical tape for striping. Cons: [iJump, no matter how tightly put together, comes apart after being knocked over around 5 times[/i] THIS FORM FOR DIY- Obstacle name/s: weave poles Price to make: 25 dollars, excluding tools How many dogs using it: approx. 15 at our agility club Condition after 6 months: great condition! If you don't use PVC glue, you can take them apart with ease, and pack them up for a day at the park. Pros: Like mentioned above, they can be taken apart with ease. With a few simple adjustments, you can convert them from WAM style to channel style. The poles slant easily, and put up through the dogs who plow thru. Cons: Took a couple hours to build, and I had to transfer them to the training center, but they cost less then buying them directly from a place. This mainly applies to agility people, but flyball/SAR (or anyone who uses SAR/police k9 training equipment) are encouraged to take part. This will be cross posted to other forums, so if you come across multiple of these, please only respond to one. I would prefer to keep my facts and true as possible. Thanks! Oh, and for those DIY people-don't be afraid to send me plans for your equipment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 THIS FORM FOR STORE BOUGHT- Obstacle name/s: tunnel, contact trainer Price bought for, place bought from: tunnel- gift from parents (i think they spent about $80), contact trainer - gift from parents (they spent about $250 I think) How many dogs using it: 2 Condition after 6 months: tunnel was a bit dirty, but otherwise fine, contact trainer is pretty much good as new because it's used exclusively indoors Pros: Tunnel is portable and next to impossible to build myself, contact trainer is compact and allows lots of contact reps w/o the hassle of full size equipment Cons: none for tunnel, contact trainer only allows practicing 2o2o contacts. not running. THIS FORM FOR DIY- Obstacle name/s: weave poles, jump Price to make: poles: about $15 for 12 garden stakes, jump: about $20-25 for PVC, adhesive, and tape for bars How many dogs using it: 2 Condition after 6 months: stakes are just a bit dirty since they are pounded into the ground, jump has weathered a bit, but still works fine Pros: Less cost than buying premade, no shipping, can make as many or as few as I need. Cons: Can only use weaves upright, so no angling and they can only be used outside. Jump is great but I accidentally got CPVC so jump cups didn't work out and my replacement idea won't hold bars as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 THIS FORM FOR STORE BOUGHT- Note: My prices are approximate; some are more than 5 yr old so they may have gone up, and my memory isn't that great! Obstacle name/s: tunnels, A-frame, teeter, dogwalk, double jump, chute (fabric only); channel weaves. Price bought for, place bought from: tunnels-$100-150 (?) - Tunnel Man (Canada) and NTI; contacts all from J&J (see footnote); around $400, $200 & $400 respetively; chute - really don't remember! Weaves - I don't remember! Probably around $200. How many dogs using it: up to 5 over the years Condition after 6 months: all in excellent condition. Tunnel man tunnels disintegrate in bright desert sun after a few years unless put away or covered regularly; contacts all eventually need to be repainted; I replaced wood part of dogwalk and teeter after about 7 or 8 years; chute - slightly faded, otherwise like new. Weaves - the allen screws that allow them to become channel weaves do rust, but they are easily loosened with an automotive loosener (PB Blaster is the brand name). Otherwise, excellent. Pros: Tunnels - much sturdier than the 'play tunnel' I started with! Good lengths (15 & 20 feet). Contacts: solid, sturdy, meet agility org standards. Chute: sturdy! Weaves - once screws are loose, easy to move into channels or back to straight lines. Nothing to break. Cons: Tunnels, as mentioned, from Tunnel Man do disintegrate/break down in the hot desert sun. Others are pretty good, but haven't been left out as much. NTI tunnels are much lighter to move around. Contacts: all are heavy. I can move dogwalk and teeter (in pieces) by myself; I can 'walk' the A-frame around to change angles, but it really takes two people to move it any distance. I got wheels for it - but they too broke down in the sun (wasn't smart enough to store them inside!). J&J uses some kind of weird wood for the contacts (they call them 'skins'), which isn't exactly particle board, but isn't solid plywood either. Next time I refinish them, I'm going to use (very expensive) marine plywood. Weaves - as mentioned, screws can rust into place, but can eventually be loosened. THIS FORM FOR DIY- Obstacle name/s: jumps, wings, tire Price to make: probably about $10-15 each for jumps, and $12-20 for wings; $25 for tire. How many dogs using it: 5 over the years Condition after 6 months: very good. Occasionally a jump cup will break (I used end caps, cut into quarters, screwed into the uprights), but they're easy to replace. Eventually the PVC looks yellowed - but dogs don't care! I tried painting some PVC with a special spray paint - it only lasts about a year in the sun. I won't paint them anymore! Tire gets re-taped every year or so. Otherwise, good condition. Pros: Jumps are easy to make, last a long time, and aren't very expensive. I found someone to cut the end caps into quarters for me, for the bar holders; that made a huge difference! Otherwise, I don't know how I could have done that. Wings are of various PVC designs. I'm remodeling my first jumps (you don't want to know how those were made...) into wings - using old T-shirts pulled over them for the actual wing part! Tire is light and inexpensive. Cons: Took a couple hours to build things, but not hard and not that time consuming. PVC doesn't last forever - but especially when training without an instructor, and the dog hits the uprights (which they shouldn't, but...) - it's light enough to just fall over, and won't hurt the dog! PVC discolors eventually - who cares? Tire is made of irrigation pipe, which I had a hard time finding at the time, but now seems to be readily available many places. The PVC frame is VERY lightweight (a pro, for moving but a con, for blowing over in the wind - but I've never had a dog knock it over). I'm not very handy, but was pretty easily able to make these things. Check out dogpatch.org for some construction ideas. Best of luck! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in2adventure Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 DIY Obstacle name/s: weave poles (stick in the ground type) Price to make: $9 How many dogs using it: 1 Condition after 6 months: I've only had them 2 months, but they are still 100% Pros: Easy to store, very durable, easy to make Cons: I got tired of measuring the spaces every time I moved them so I bought a piece of nylon with preset grommets in to measure the distance. It makes it a ton easier to move the poles around, but still not as easy if they had a base. Also, they tend to fall over or tip if the dog hits them too hard I would recommend making a base (soon to come ) Obstacle name/s: Jumps Price to make: 4 jumps/$16(+-) How many dogs using it: 1 Condition after 6 months: Only had them 2 months. Great condition! Pros: Very portable, easy to make, easy to take apart and transport, very durable Cons: Can't think of any Tools: hack saw to cut PVC $5.99 Rubber mallet $1.99 Measuring tape - already had one I have plans that I made up for 2 jumps and 2 weave poles. It's very cost effective because they use up every bit of PVC with no leftover pieces. I made the first 6 weave poles before I actually figured this out, so I actually have 10 weaves and 4 jumps. I need to make 2 more jumps to finish up making my 12 weave set Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berocca Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 THIS FORM FOR STORE BOUGHT- Obstacle name/s: tunnel Price bought for, place bought from: tunnel 1 (kids play tunnel from toy store, $20) tunnel 2 (agility tunnel from ebay, $160) How many dogs using it: 2-4 Condition after 6 months: both are newer than 6 months. My old one lasted years until I left it out and became a tug toy Pros: tunnels are too hard to make yourself when you are lazy tunnel 1 is very lightweight, tunnel 2 can be shaped as desired. Cons: tunnel 1 not long enough or shapeable, tunnel 2 is expensive. THIS FORM FOR DIY- Obstacle name/s: weave poles (garden stakes with pvc pipes over the top) Price to make: $20 How many dogs using it: 2-4 Condition after 6 months: Good as new Pros: Portable; can be used for channel, V-pole, 2 x 2, or shaping a pole at a time. Can use smaller pvc pipes (eg 40cm in length) to teach a dog to keep its head down. Cons: With fast moving dogs they need to be straightened regularly. Obstacle name/s: jumps with wings (corner shelves from hardware store, coat rack screwed on the side to hold jumps at various heights) Price to make: $20 How many dogs using it: 2-4 Condition after 6 months: Good as new Pros: Portable, look professional. Cons: Need to be painted or kept inside. Im too lazy to paint... Obstacle name/s: Jumps without wings (made with pvc pipes) Price to make: $10 How many dogs using it: 2-4 Condition after 6 months: Good as new Pros: Portable; can be changed from agility jumps to flyball jumps by changing the length of pvc pipe, cheap and easy to make Cons: Hard to find ways to hold the bars up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 I definitely use a mixture. Jumps are a piece of cake to make...but Tunnels I still have to buy. STORE BOUGHT Obstacle name/s: Tunnel, 12 Weaves, Teeter-Totter Price bought for, place bought from: Tunnel (15ft) - $150 - NTI Global Weaves (12) - $115 - MAD Agility Equipment Teeter (collapsible) - $500 - Agility For Less How many dogs using it: 2 (one shih tzu, one border collie. Equipment is either left outside or in the garage) Condition after 6 months: Tunnel in perfect condition. Weaves in great condition (a bit of wear and tear on the tape that is on the poles). Teeter was defective and had to be sent back, replaced with a new one and it is holding up fine. Pros: Teeter folds up and can be moved by one (strong) person. NTI is the place to go for tunnels. Metal based fixed weaves were cheapest at MAD Agility. Cons: Folding teeter probably feels different to the dog than a competition standard one. DIM (Did it Myself ) Obstacle name/s: Weave Poles (stick in the ground and PVC based), Jumps, Mini-aframe, mini-dogwalk, Teeter, Chute, Pause Table, Tire Jump Price to make: Honestly I have no idea because I made them quite awhile ago - but all were much cheaper than from a store! How many dogs using it: 3 (Shih Tzu, Border Collie, Aussie) Condition after 6 months: PVC Weaves I glued sections of them together and they are (after a couple years now and are still great. Jumps are in perfect condition (if a little dirty). mini-aframe/dogwalk is OK, starting to show the age though. Teeter did okay at first but didn't survive a moving truck. Chute is fine, pause table is perfect, and the tire is perfect. Pros: PVC Weave poles are very light weight and can be taken apart and modified into channels/angled poles. Cons: Time to build plus the price of the materials didn't make it worth it to build some pieces. We calculated what we thought our time was worth, then added on the price of the materials and a couple times it came out much higher than just buying the equipment (the Contacts mostly I think). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClickMeBC Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 STORE BOUGHT Obstacle name/s: Weave Poles (stick in the ground), Play Tunnel Price bought for, place bought from: $25 for six, from Arf!andRunning, play Tunnel $30 at Target How many dogs using it: 3 (Italian Greyound, Italian Greyhound, Border Collie) Condition after 6 months: Very Good condition, spikes slightly bent but easily repositioned; the play tunnel, even after being used by 5 seperate dogs(including my BC and a friend's Golden retriever cross), has no noticable damage and is 100% usable. We've had it for three years. Pros: Weave Poles hold are very affordable, distance can be adjusted according to venue. Play tunnel cost very little as well and is as effective in teaching the dog to perform a competition standard tunnel and very easy to store. Excellent in introducing puppies. Cons: Weave pole spikes will break if used heavily for a long period of time or handled carelessly after excessive use. They can freeze in the ground during the cold weather. They also require tape for accurate in-line weaves and spacing. The Play Tunnel is too lightweight for larger dogs and not as long as competition standard tunnels, nor as flexible. DIY: Obstacle name/s: Weave Poles(stick-in-the-ground), Jumps, A-frame, Pause Table, Chute(closed tunne) Tippy Board Price to make: Weave poles, $15 for six, Jumps $6 each, A-frame $75, Pause Table $7, Chute $6, Tippy Board $10 How many dogs using it: 3 (Italian greyhound, Italian Greyhound, Border Collie) Condition after 6 months: Weave poles: Great condition! Jumps: Like new, excellent condition. A-Frame: Held up well for two years, but is now needing some repairs. A little reinforcement and it will be 100% usable again. Pause Table: Like new still. Tippy board: Dirty, but in very good condition. Pros: Weave poles: see above pros. Jumps; incredibly cheap and easy to make and still look like store-bought equipment. A-frame: only $75 verses $1000 plus store bought a-frame, and is as effective in training. Pause Table: Cheap, simple to make, looks like store bought piece of equipment; Chute: Cheap, effective; Tippy Board: Great for introducing teeter work without having to pay a great deal, can be made to look like store-bought piece of equipment. Cons: Weave Poles: see above cons; Jumps: so far, the only cons are having to make the jump cups, but those can be bought for virtually nothing; A-frame: took a lot of time to make, involved a lot of work, and because it's made of wood, it's very heavy and not easy to move. If not carefully maintained, rain can damage it; Pause Table: So far, no cons that I can think of; Chute: the chute requires some knowledge of sewing to make, and can take some work, but once it's made and you have a proper barrel frame, no cons; Tippy board: depending on how you make it, it can be heavy to move around and ususally the height isn't adjustable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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