Agility In South Australia

[Skitch]

Hello

I have an Italian Greyhound called Boomer who I'd like to try a bit of agility with! We've been practicing a bit with make shift hurdles, tunnels and hoops and he seems very good at it and enjoys the stimulation and exercise . I know iggies aren't always the most responsive sort of dogs in regards to training but he seems to have picked it up very well and is quite attentive to my commands.. so I'd love to take him along to an agility class just for fun! I dont think I quite have the dedication or know how to compete.. but a class would be fun for both of us I'm sure .

Questions..

1. Where are the agility classes in Adelaide? We live in Port Pirie but are in Adelaide all the time.. alternatively, does anyone know if there is an agility class up here anywhere?

2. How do I go about getting the standards and measurements for agility equipment? My boyfriend is a handy sort of bloke and is keen to build us some replica equipment to practice on. From what I can gather Boomer would be in the 'toy' class so I figure it would be best if we could have equipment that measures the same .

Here are some pictures so there's something to look at

[Tassie]

Hi skitch - I'm sure some South Australians will be along before too long - but in the meantime, you might get some info from here SA Agility website.

[GoldenGirl85]

Sorry Im not a SA person either, but the equipment will depend on which organisation your club will use, ADAA and ANKC use slightly different measurements for their equipment, some people have told me their dogs can change from one to the other no worries, others have said the different distance between the weave poles puts their dog off, Ive only just started my JRT in ADAA so I cant compare, but from what Ive noticed ANKC has lower obstacles and jumps, but ADAA has 2 divisions which you can run your dog in (one much lower than the other)

How tall is Boomer? if you look in my thread called "agility people" below it will give you an idea of how high he would be jumping in ADAA

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

http://www.agilitysa.com/

Has the rules which include what you need and spacings for setting up courses.

Para Districts at Salisbury creek? (Friday nights - I forget), Agility SA (west beach) Thursday nights, SAODC at South Parklands near Victoria Park - Wednesday nights, Dovar Gardens at Mitchell Park on Sunday morning - beware abandoned pot / dog poison.

Electrical conduit pipe is popular for making jumps - need to make sure the cross bars fall off if they're hit, And amateur cheap weave poles can be made out of bamboo put into holes made by giant tent peg, or making things out of conduit and / or broom poles with a spike for securing into the ground, or there are things that have flat metal base with places for pegging, and sockets for holding - electrical conduit. Might be best to visit some clubs and see what they've got. Most of it is "home" made. All of it looks slightly different from club to club so it's good to have a variety at home.

Agility SA have a list of clubs around the state. There's one at Whyalla and one at Gawler.

Para offer a discount for people who travel a long way to get there - country membership. Don't know if the other clubs offer this but wouldn't hurt to ask.

When you're beginning, start with everything at low heights and work on getting the handling and signals going.

Look up Susan Garrett on google and youtube.

[piper]

Gawler do agility on Wednesday evenings and Munno Para on Tuesday (I think). Agility Dog Club on Thirsday and Para Districts on Friday.

Then the other side of town there is Southern and Noarlunga. Or SAODC in the parklands in town. Not too sure on their training days and times.

1 club that may be an option is Burra. There used to be a few people from Burra that trained at Gawler and were getting agility going out there. I think it was only going to be a fun sort of thing. It is still a bit of a hike but might be easier than Gawler etc. Could be worth a phone call to find out if it is still on.

Whyalla is another option although I don't think that wuold be much closer to you than coming down to Gawler?

Club contact information for any of these can be found at www.dogssa.com.au

[Tay.]

Gawler do agility on Wednesday evenings and Munno Para on Tuesday (I think). Agility Dog Club on Thirsday and Para Districts on Friday.

Then the other side of town there is Southern and Noarlunga. Or SAODC in the parklands in town. Not too sure on their training days and times.

1 club that may be an option is Burra. There used to be a few people from Burra that trained at Gawler and were getting agility going out there. I think it was only going to be a fun sort of thing. It is still a bit of a hike but might be easier than Gawler etc. Could be worth a phone call to find out if it is still on.

Whyalla is another option although I don't think that wuold be much closer to you than coming down to Gawler?

Club contact information for any of these can be found at www.dogssa.com.au

I go to Noarlunga which is on Mondays nights from about 6:15. Southern has agility Sunday mornings at 11.00.

[Skitch]

Thankyou so much for the very helpful replies! I feel a bit silly that I missed the agilitySA site in my googling adventures, lol.

I think we're going to enquire about Gawler . Thought about Whyalla.. but Piper you're right when you say it's pretty much the same distance lol.

The boyfriend has had a look at the equipment guidelines and is already on the hunt for some appropriate materials.. yay .