Agility Equipment

[Erny]

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.

People will be pleased to know that it is NOT I who is the agility instructor, . I know a bit about it and have done some of it myself (with Kal, my avatar girl, bless her cotton socks) but that was years ago and so much in the training/teaching of agility has advanced since then.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Erny

[JulesP]

I know Were are you going to hold your agility? Are you going to be super serious or more a fun agility?

[Erny]

I know Were are you going to hold your agility? Are you going to be super serious or more a fun agility?

At PK9's training grounds in Lyndhurst (3klms north of KCC Park).

We're catering for those who wish to train for trialling and also for those who just want to do it for fun's sake. Will most likely also be opening it up for people who are already trialling and who are in the higher levels to be able to just practice their runs.

Edited April 22, 2010 by Erny

[J...]

Will most likely also be opening it up for people who are already trialling and who are in the higher levels to be able to just practice their runs.

Will that be for members only? Or as in hiring out to those outside the club who want access to equipment?

Edited May 7, 2010 by Jess.

[Erny]

Will most likely also be opening it up for people who are already trialling and who are in the higher levels to be able to just practice their runs.

Will that be for members only? Or as in hiring out to those outside the club who want access to equipment?

Can I just clarify what you mean by your question before I answer please Jess?

Are you asking whether one has to train with Pro-K9 Obedience to be able to participate in the Pro-K9 Agility component?

The answer to the above is no, you don't have to be a member of one to enjoy the other. There are conditions to this though, and they will relate to what agility experience you already have at a trialling level and that entry to the Pro-K9 Agility 'arm' without going through the Pro-K9 Obedience 'arm' may be subject to an assessment (for which there will be a stand-alone fee). In some instances, there will be a requirement for people to have completed at least the "Foundation Level Course" with the Pro-K9 Obedience component. All we want to do here is to try to make sure that people have sufficient control of their dogs (and the knowledge of handling and control of their dogs) to be able to as safely as can reasonably be expected negotiate the course and participate within the agility group.

Edited May 7, 2010 by Erny

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

there is a marine paint called "Deck Tread"? which makes decks non slip for sailors.

Ok maybe it's called "tech tread" but you might ask in a yacht supplies shop.

http://www.acrytech.com/store.asp?pid=14118&catid=19771

I read somewhere that dogs can see blue and white colours best, and somewhere else that they can see yellow too. Not sure if they can figure out for themselves where the colour change is.

I thought part of the agility challenge was dealing with every club having a different surface on their scramble or high walk. The stuff at the mock trial last weekend, was very slippery on the scramble A frame. Several dogs slid off backwards. The high walk at my club is made of metal checker plate, like used to make trays and steps around cars. It weighs a tonne. And some dogs find the cold feel unpleasant. And I saw one club had covered everything with something that looked like very short pile carpet.

Our club uses plain white cross bars - similar to electrical conduit pipe. The mock trial had black and yellow bars, which my dog had no problem with. My agility poles are bunnings green bamboo support poles, with white dots painted on them to catch the eye. I reckon the best colour would be blue and white stripes, from a dog's point of view.

[Erny]

Thank you, Mrs. Rusty Bucket - that information on the "Tech Tread" (or whatever it is - will look it up) is helpful. We're about at the stage of painting the non-slip surfaces now.

Dogs can see : red; yellow; green; - at one end of the spectrum, and blue; indigo; violet at the other. But they can't tell the colours within their same groups apart. They tend to show up as different shades of yellow variations (one end) and different shades of violet (other end). All the colours in between come up as different shades of grey.

Some of our cross/jump bars are already stripe coloured (left overs from a previous agility era via a past training group). The others, we are yet to colour. We too have used the PVC piping.

[J...]

Will most likely also be opening it up for people who are already trialling and who are in the higher levels to be able to just practice their runs.

Will that be for members only? Or as in hiring out to those outside the club who want access to equipment?

Can I just clarify what you mean by your question before I answer please Jess?

Sure - what I'm looking for is somewhere I can access contact equipment outside my occasional training club for proofing purposes.

I'm currently fully retraining my 4 yo's contacts and I'd like to be able to proof the behaviour I want in as many places as possible before I put her back in the ring. Kepala would be ideal as they hire the area out with equipment but the contacts are not full size. Given I'm probably 3 hours from you joining is not really that feasible unfortunately.

[Erny]

Ahhh ... I get you.

All the details are not quite finalised yet, but we are entertaining the idea that there will those who are in the higher level competition agility sport who would want to just train their own dogs over certain runs/obstacles, to 'fine tune' so to speak. The only thing I haven't yet worked out (because we've been busy working on the class aspect) is how I can do this in a way that will provide agility 'goers' with what they want, but without me needing to pay for the privilege. You see, for each class I pay a ground hire fee and that applies regardless of how many are in the class, be it one or be it six. I also have the instructor's fee to take care of and even though you might be doing your own thing, someone in authority (ie a Pro-K9 representative) will need to be there - if only for insurance purposes. I believe the property owner would want this as well. So for one person, I'm not sure it would work out economical.

But these are the 'technicalities' and logistics we still need to work on. It is a service I would like to be able to provide and perhaps if enough people expressed strong interest in it, and gave me some idea of how long they would need on average for their individual 'runs', then I might be able to structure something to suit.

[Sayreovi]

Ahhh ... I get you.

All the details are not quite finalised yet, but we are entertaining the idea that there will those who are in the higher level competition agility sport who would want to just train their own dogs over certain runs/obstacles, to 'fine tune' so to speak. The only thing I haven't yet worked out (because we've been busy working on the class aspect) is how I can do this in a way that will provide agility 'goers' with what they want, but without me needing to pay for the privilege. You see, for each class I pay a ground hire fee and that applies regardless of how many are in the class, be it one or be it six. I also have the instructor's fee to take care of and even though you might be doing your own thing, someone in authority (ie a Pro-K9 representative) will need to be there - if only for insurance purposes. I believe the property owner would want this as well. So for one person, I'm not sure it would work out economical.

But these are the 'technicalities' and logistics we still need to work on. It is a service I would like to be able to provide and perhaps if enough people expressed strong interest in it, and gave me some idea of how long they would need on average for their individual 'runs', then I might be able to structure something to suit.

Maybe one day during the week have a DOL class for a couple of hours to make it worthwhile?

As with Jess, I am also looking for more places to train by myself (no instructor), so am looking forward to what you come up with!

[Erny]

Maybe one day during the week have a DOL class for a couple of hours to make it worthwhile?

Only if everyone wears their DOL names, otherwise I wouldn't have a clue who was who!!

As with Jess, I am also looking for more places to train by myself (no instructor), so am looking forward to what you come up with!

Please - tell me what you're after, what you want, what you need and for how long. (Be realistic, please ). Are each of you wanting the whole course to yourself for (eg) a whole hour? Or is it a shorter while? Or longer? Or is it only for part of a course (where another one might be able to share)?

I'm just not sure of expectations. Until I know them, I won't know if I can meet them.

Edited May 8, 2010 by Erny

[Sayreovi]

Maybe one day during the week have a DOL class for a couple of hours to make it worthwhile?

Only if everyone wears their DOL names, otherwise I wouldn't have a clue who was who!!

Done deal, I shall be the one with 2 Tollers!

Please - tell me what you're after, what you want, what you need and for how long. (Be realistic, please ). Are each of you wanting the whole course to yourself for (eg) a whole hour? Or is it a shorter while? Or longer? Or is it only for part of a course (where another one might be able to share)?

I'm just not sure of expectations. Until I know them, I won't know if I can meet them.

I am wanting to retrain my contacts pretty much and just work on general directing, I don't mind sharing with someone else if they have something they want to work on if it won't interfere. It's good to bounce ideas around as well.

Plus I know my dogs get bored quickly so can't do things reptitiously, so would book for at least an hour so I have a decent training time. My training usually goes, train 5 minutes, break/play 5 minutes etc etc. Half an hour would be pointless IMO