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This is another question about building your own weave poles.... I have found out the specifications etc. by googling , but have a problem about buying the PVC. I understand that the PVC should be schedule 40. But I live in Japan and I need to understand what schedule 40 means 'cos I can't see anything like that when I go to look at PVC in the local home centre It all has letter codes. I went to the home centre today and they had all kinds of stuff........ I asked the guy what the difference was and he said it was in the thickness of the PVC itself ( not the diameter ). They only sell it in 2 or 4 metre lengths. I pulled out a 2 metre length of 25mm diameter PVC with a thickness of 3.5 mm.( I got the guy to measure it for me with his fancy equipment :rolleyes: ) It was pretty hard and not very flexible at all...... So I went home without buying anything :D Please help !!! Also it isn't the white stuff I see in all the books/magazines, but an ugly grey - don't suppose that matters though. Oh, and I don't have any chance of seeing any real weave poles in the near future and need to get some made soon or Dylan will get bored :D

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You want some give in the base not the poles. Flexibility in the poles will teach a dog to push through, not actually weave, and as soon as they hit the rigid poles of competition, they'll pop out b/c the pole didn't "give". I have two VERY enthusiastic weavers, and they can handle any poles out there, as long as they're staked down. You don't want a dog to slam into the poles. :eek:

 

-Laura

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OK, just looked up Schedule 40 specs and there's not much difference between Sch. 40 and Sch. 80. Since you're not using this pipe for any liquid flow, I doubt it would matter as to the wall thickness. I have several different kinds of homemade weave poles of varying widths and thicknesses - they all work the same. Whatever base (or nail, for stick in the ground) you use would probably determine what width you would need.

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Originally posted by diane allen:

Respectfully disagreeing here...some flexibility is a GOOD thing. Otherwise, over-enthusiastic dogs can injure themselves on un-moving poles

That's exactly why I don't want my dogs to learn on flexible poles. I like flexible poles, but in competition there is often no give anywhere pole or base. At least that's what I see in most competition poles. By training on rigid weaves, I want to avoid a host of possible problems when the dog later finds out that poles don't always move -- popping out, slowing way down, losing enthusiasm for weaving, even injury etc.
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Hi Zoe

Maybe I can help as I have made my own weaves (2 sets of 6) and I work around plastic alot. If your looking at PVC for potable water the 2 common types you will run across are scheduale 40 (White.) and scheduale 80 (Dark grey.) I'm in Canada and that is what we see for colors may be different where you are. Also available is PVC conduit (Electrical) which is also grey but a lighter color than the scheduale 80. The electrical conduit doesn't have as many fittings as your going to need......The difference bettween 40 and 80 is thickness as the 80 will withstand higher pressures and higher heat....Foer weaves 40 will work the best as it is mor flexable. Also you said you were looking at 25mm diameter. Thats bigger than you need. Get the 20mm plastic its cheaper and makes better weaves. I hope this helps.

Weave.jpg

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I too have made my own poles - as well as the rest of my Agility equipment out of PVC.

 

Here is a picture that should help:

346638%3B48%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3257%3E234%3E5%3A%3A%3EWSNRCG%3D32335%3A45%3A%3A%3C53nu0mrj

 

The one on the right is SCH 40 PVC.

The one on the left is something else (I don't remember what it was). Notice the wall thickness. They are both 3/4" PVC but the one on the left has a thinner wall. I think that is what you are asking.....

 

also, I hate my weave poles. They fall over like crazy so when you make them - glue them! Or else you will spend more time fixing the poles then training your pooch! Once they are glued they work fine though. I glued them is sections - each cross-support piece would have 2 poles on its section. Then when you put them together you only need to put in the long piece between each section.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. That has helped a lot. I'm going to go to a different home centre this weekend and see if I can get schedule 40 in 20mm width and some strong glue !! I'm probably gonna post again soon with a small training question. I have joined the clean run discussion group, but don't really feel comfortable posting there I know and trust you guys and gals so if you don't mind....

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Zoe, just a little hint. Make your weave poles up and put them together before you glue them. Make sure you work on a nice level surface so that every thing ends up straight. They are very easy to do but if you glue something wrong it will be ruined and you will be off for some more plastic. Good luck.

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If you want an easier way w/o glue, buy long nails, drive those in the ground and just slide the poles over top of them. I've found the PVC bases to be way too flimsy for my tastes, so I use the stick in the ground...may not be much better if you have soft/muddy ground, but they're MUCH easier to "make" and deal with... just cut the PVC and you're done.

 

-L

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I too have found them just not enough for Dazzle and now I an buying REAL weave poles. I still use mine though in sections (the glued parts) and make them channel weaves for training.

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Thanks again. I've been reading around and I think I'm going to start off with stick in the ground weaves. I have Simmons Moake book and liked the idea of offset weaves, but didn't like the idea of dragging/luring him through ( he'd hate it !!! ). I was thinking I'd clicker train him through little by little and then came across an article by Robert Loftus (? I think the name is right ?), and thought that would suit Dylan more. No doubt I'll be pestering you again

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Zoe,

 

The Robert Loftus article is good. Here is another explanation of how to clicker train weave poles:

 

Helix Fairweather

 

It's been said by many people that all methods of teaching weave poles work, especially as a foundation method. You might want to try one of the others to fine tune some aspect of performance once the dog gets the basics down, but no need to agonize endlessly about which method is best to start with.

 

Once you get the basic performance established (and don't rush this!), here is an article about proofing:

 

Weaves Without Worry (pdf)

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