Agility Equipment

[Erny]

Pro-K9 is soon to open its Agility "arm". Our equipment is being built and construction is not far off completion. The next step will be painting it. I know we need to have good grip to the equipment surfaces and over the years I've heard some people say they include sand in the paint. But I'm not sure what the 'recipe' would be for that (ie how much sand to paint ratio) nor even if that's the best thing to do.

Is there special paint to get?

Any tips, help, advice, comments etc. appreciated .

Cheers

Erny

[J...]

You can get a special textured paint from Bunnings which is apparently expensive but makes it nice and easy.

I painted a travel plank recently just using matt outdoor paint and mixing it with kids sandpit sand. I just mixed it until it sort of looked right and then kind of dabbed it on. I think I added too much sand but it still gave an ok surface - just a bit fine I reckon. I gave the travel plank two coats and then put the paint/sand mix over the top. Some have sprinkled the sand onto it instead. Either way is a lot of work for big stuff.

My contact trainer (made by GSDs on here) has a better rougher texture but I didn't ask him how he did the surface on it.

You can also get the chipped rubber but I would imagine it is pricey. I found it really sharp on my hands, I wondered how a dog would go doing it repetitively in a training sense as opposed to maybe 3 runs at a trial.

If you decide to do it yourself mixing the sand and paint, grab a piece of scrap wood and experiment. Or start on something small like a travel plank. Better than stuffing up an A-frame. ;)

Good luck with the agility

[Erny]

Thanks Jess. Appreciate the info. I'll stop in at Bunnings and see what gives there. I'm all for 'easy' but sometimes putting in the ol' elbow grease (ie DIY) helps to save a good dollar or two.

I'd imagine you wouldn't be able to mix too much sand, or it would cause the paint to crumble and come away?

LOL .... I am sure I'll find out one way or the other by some experimentation.

I think I know what you mean by the "chipped rubber". Can't remember where I've seen/felt it, but I agree, it was a bit too much on the sharp side for my liking. That's if I'm thinking of the same stuff.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Erny

[poodlefan]

Our club has always used ordinary external paint laced liberally with builders sand. We all had a good laugh when our shed got broken into and they knocked off the paint - they got a little extra in those cans.

ANKC rules require equipment to be painted in light colours. Most contact gear is white with yellow contact areas, although for years our baby see saw's contacts bore an uncanny resemblance to the purple of my study walls.

My club wouldn't let me do it pink. ;)

You can get special rubber stuff to put on (looks a bit like rubber kitty litter) but it wears off.

Edited April 22, 2010 by poodlefan

[pie]

Yep our club uses the rubberised surface. There are DVDs on clean run demonstrating how to do it and there are a few places online that sell it. Here's a link to an Australian one: http://agilityaustralia.com/Contactrubber/index.htm

For my A frame at home, I painted with external paint (boards not attached - laying flat), then while it was wet I covered it with sand (pool filter sand) when it was dry I tipped it over and shook off the excess then went over it with another coat of paint. It made a really even grippy surface.

[pie]

My club wouldn't let me do it pink. ;)

What's the world coming to? :mad

[poodlefan]

My club wouldn't let me do it pink.

What's the world coming to? :mad

;)

I know. I'll have to win Tatts and start my own club with all pink and purple equipment.

It will match my gazebo.

[Erny]

Our club has always used ordinary external paint laced liberally with builders sand. We all had a good laugh when our shed got broken into and they knocked off the paint - they got a little extra in those cans.

ANKC rules require equipment to be painted in light colours. Most contact gear is white with yellow contact areas.

Thanks for that. I haven't decided yet regards to colours. I was going to make the 'contact' colour, red. I figured that when we're running at night times, the red contrast to a light colour would show up easier under the flood lights. I did visualise different pieces of equipment being painted in Pro-K9's colours (teal/green; gold; white ..... but not the black, of course), but whilst I think that'd look great, I hate painting and I think the idea might have been nice, but whether I could be bothered is another matter. Having to buy different coloured paints as well will probably work out more expensive.

Have ordered a tunnel in green and gold.

Just need to get a cloth tunnel (including the barrel/44 gallon drum) and some sand/weight bags to secure the flexi tunnel and we'll be about done. .... it's getting to that exciting stage (will be glad once the painting is behind me ..... need some nice weather for that).

My club wouldn't let me do it pink. ;)

..... no fair!! Some clubs are just sooooooo harsh!

You can get special rubber stuff to put on (looks a bit like rubber kitty litter) but it wears off.

Also, would be cheaper/easier to re-paint than replace the rubber I would expect.

[pie]

My club wouldn't let me do it pink.

What's the world coming to? :mad

;)

I know. I'll have to win Tatts and start my own club with all pink and purple equipment.

It will match my gazebo.

My A frame is due for a recoat and now I'm really tempted to make it pink

[poodlefan]

Our club has always used ordinary external paint laced liberally with builders sand. We all had a good laugh when our shed got broken into and they knocked off the paint - they got a little extra in those cans. ;)

ANKC rules require equipment to be painted in light colours. Most contact gear is white with yellow contact areas.

Thanks for that. I haven't decided yet regards to colours. I was going to make the 'contact' colour, red. I figured that when we're running at night times, the red contrast to a light colour would show up easier under the flood lights.

I'd recommend against red Erny. Dogs are meant to be red/green colour blind and it wont' give a good contrast with grass, especially at night. Ditto darker oranges.

Pink would be better. Or mauve.

[poodlefan]

My club wouldn't let me do it pink.

What's the world coming to?

I know. I'll have to win Tatts and start my own club with all pink and purple equipment.

It will match my gazebo. ;)

My A frame is due for a recoat and now I'm really tempted to make it pink

Pale pink with hot pink contacts

[Kavik]

Most contact areas I have seen are white or yellow.

Here is a video posted on Clean Run's Facebook page comparing contact surfaces - sand vs rubberised.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1226148227342

[Erny]

I'd recommend against red Erny. Dogs are meant to be red/green colour blind and it wont' give a good contrast with grass, especially at night. Ditto darker oranges.

I thought about that. Do you think the dogs learn that it is about touching the colour, or do you think they learn it's about touching a certain spot (ie taking distance into account from their pov)?

Pink would be better. Or mauve. ;)

Actually, I was thinking about purple, but was informed the colour of the contact doesn't make that much of a difference to the dogs ..... that it was more for the humans.

Purple is close to pink, sort of .

[Erny]

Thanks for the link, Kavik. But some of the colouring of the equipment may well be white and I figured the yellow as a contact wouldn't stand out that much under flood lights.

I'm not sure ..... only surmising.

[poodlefan]

I'd recommend against red Erny. Dogs are meant to be red/green colour blind and it wont' give a good contrast with grass, especially at night. Ditto darker oranges.

I thought about that. Do you think the dogs learn that it is about touching the colour, or do you think they learn it's about touching a certain spot (ie taking distance into account from their pov)?

Definitely spot, not colour. However I'd be concerned about them seeing the edges of the contact against grass, rather than knowing where to position themselves.

[Erny]

My club wouldn't let me do it pink.

What's the world coming to?

I know. I'll have to win Tatts and start my own club with all pink and purple equipment.

It will match my gazebo. ;)

My A frame is due for a recoat and now I'm really tempted to make it pink

Pale pink with hot pink contacts

And with flower-power prints elsewhere. Noice :D .

[poodlefan]

Thanks for the link, Kavik. But some of the colouring of the equipment may well be white and I figured the yellow as a contact wouldn't stand out that much under flood lights.

I'm not sure ..... only surmising.

As long as you use a gold, it stands out fine. All our training is at night under lights and that's what we've got.

There's lots of pics on the net of turquoise and gold contact equipment - looks good!

Edited April 22, 2010 by poodlefan

[Kavik]

My clubs have a sand based finish on their equipment, as have the equipment I have competed on. I've used builders sand in paint on my contact board at home. Some of the newer equipment made for ANKC that I have not yet used I think is rubberised.

Probably not a concern for you at this stage, dogs may get thrown if they are used to one and then are suddenly faced with another type in competition. There was a dog on the weekend that slid into its contacts on the seesaw and A-Frame which wouldn't be able to do that on rubber. I also heard that some dogs baulked at the rubber on new equipment as they were used to sand.

I think the rubberised looks interesting and if it is as good as people say most equipment may move that way.

[JulesP]

I thought about that. Do you think the dogs learn that it is about touching the colour, or do you think they learn it's about touching a certain spot (ie taking distance into account from their pov)?

If you are teaching 2o2o then they learn to touch a spot, which is actually off the contact. You use a target plate to teach that, fade that so they touch the grass. Running contacts is also I think more about a spot then colour.

[Kavik]

I thought about that. Do you think the dogs learn that it is about touching the colour, or do you think they learn it's about touching a certain spot (ie taking distance into account from their pov)?

If you are teaching 2o2o then they learn to touch a spot, which is actually off the contact. You use a target plate to teach that, fade that so they touch the grass. Running contacts is also I think more about a spot then colour.

Definitely agree, they are learning to touch a certain spot. In the running contact DVDs I've seen it is all about generalising the behaviour and striding to a certain spot.