How to Build a Backyard Agility Course

By Eric Letendre

Agility has been described as the closet thing to an amusement park for dogs. A lot of dogs and their owners love to do agility; some dogs like border collies, labs, Jack Russell Terriers and Shetland Sheepdogs were made for agility.

The problem for most dog owners is that they can only do agility when they are someplace that has agility equipment. In this article I have provided instructions on how you can make a backyard agility course using stuff you can find in your garage.

Basically an agility course is made up of jumps, weave poles, tire jump, tunnel, see-saw, cat-walk and pause table. We are going to focus on jumps, weave poles, pause table and a short cat-walk.

Jumps can be made up by using the cinder blocks and pieces of plywood. The plywood can be cut to different heights and can be propped up using the cinder blocks making a decent jump for your dog.

The cinder blocks can also be used to make the cat-walk (or dog-walk whichever you prefer to call it). Cutting a strip of plywood 12 feet long you can place it on some cinder blocks. It won't be very high but your dog can practice walking across it.

The weave poles are very popular in agility. Ski poles are a great way to make simple weave poles. You can place them in the ground and teach your dog to go through them. Most flea markets and yard sales have ski poles that you can get cheap.

You can also find a good, sturdy, wooden coffee table at yard sales. Find one that is fairly low to the ground and you can use it as a pause table. An old bike tire hung from a tree can be used for the tire jump. Make sure you hold the tire as you teach your dog to go through it.

A tunnel can be purchased for very little at Wal-Mart or Target. They sell kids tunnels that are fine for a backyard agility course. Now you have some jumps, weave poles, tire jump, dog-walk, tunnel and a pause table. Set them up in your backyard and you and your dog are ready to go.

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