The Types of Dog Agility Equipment Used in Competition

Dog agility competitions are becoming an increasingly popular sport with people all over the world. Pet owners find that they love the company of other pet owners, and their dogs are healthy and happy with something constructive to do. Many very energetic dogs that might otherwise be sold or even euthanized can become easier to handle when their excessive energy is directed to dog agility training. There are several pieces of dog agility equipment that are regularly used in competitions, and they can be divided into three main categories, depending on their function. The first group consists of contact obstacles. These pieces of dog agility equipment require the animal to touch the structure at a specified location in order to complete the obstacle successfully.

An A-frame is two padded planks attached by a hinge in the middle and set up to look like a large ladder. The dog is required to make contact with the bottom third of each side of the frame with at least one paw while ascending and descending, or he will be required to do that portion of the course again. A dogwalk is similar to an A-frame except that the planks are narrower, and there is a long horizontal plank between the sides that the dog must successfully cross. Again, the ramps have contact zones to ensure the dogs don't jump past part of the obstacle. The last contact obstacle is generally the most difficult for dogs to learn to navigate--the see-saw. This piece of equipment is just like the see-saws that used to be on school programs, only it is smaller and lower to the ground.

The dog must mount the side of the see-saw plank that is on the ground and cross the plank, keeping his balance while his weight shifts the other end of the plank to the ground. The second group of dog agility equipment used in competitions are collectively called jumps. These can be suspended tires, planks set on their side, or poles balanced between two braces. The second two are considered safer for novices smaller dogs, as the poles can be easily knocked out of place or the light planks knocked over without injury if the dog can't quite make the jump. More experienced competitions will regularly use the tire jumps, which usually consist of a thin ring bent in a circular shape that the dog must jump through without touching any of the sides. Tunnels are the focus of the third group of agility pieces.

This group is fairly straightforward, as the dog must simply run through a small tunnel as part of the course. Beginners courses will only have very short tunnels that the dog can see through, but in more experienced courses the tunnel may be curved, or the end might actually be a tube of fabric, so the dog can't see out the other side. This kind of obstacle can prove slightly challenging for some animals, but by and large it is one that most are able to complete successfully. The final category of dog agility equipment is a catch-all for the obstacles that don't fit into one of the above groupings. One popular and extremely challenging piece is the set of weave poles.

Like a shortened slalom ski course, this obstacle requires that the dog weave in and out of some very closely spaced poles. Many dogs find the pattern extremely difficult to learn, so this obstacle can be the one that takes the longest to train for. Another important obstacle in this category is the pause box or table. This challenges the dog's excitement, as it requires the dog to stop and sit for a few seconds in a designated spot before continuing with the course. Just like humans, dogs can get very excited about the competition, so requiring them to pause their motion is an excellent test of their level of training.