22/04/2023
With our show rapidly approaching it’s great to read this lovely post from Indigo Equipment Hire.
NADTC are really looking forward to working with them for the first time 😊
I’d like to introduce Panda, short for Pandemonium, as she is the driving force behind our equipment hire business…Panda LOVES agility, she lives to run and she loves to get around an agility course as fast as she can…but she doesn’t particularly like thinking about self preservation. Like lots of agility dogs, Panda totally trusts that anything I ask her to do will be fun and most importantly safe, so she does it without question.
If you have a dog like Panda, you will know how important it is to make sure that we make agility as safe as possible for our dogs…and even if you have a more sensible dog, I’m sure you will also be able to appreciate that it only takes a slight misjudgement or distraction for an injury to occur. Whilst we can’t remove all risk from agility, we can make sure that our equipment is as safe as it can be and I’d love to take 5 minutes to explain why I believe our equipment is the best on the market 😁
Jumps
- Our jumps are all make from plastic, which is the softest material currently available to the UK market, to reduce any injuries caused by dogs hitting a jump wing.
- From June, all of our jumps will have only rounded edges, so no sharp corners to bump into either.
- All of our jumps carry their weight in the foot of the jump for stability, but this means that the jumps will move very easily if hit whilst the dog is in the air.
- From June, all of our jump cups will be easily dislodged from the wing when the pole is taken down, so dogs can’t get caught on the cup or be injured by the cup.
- All of our jump poles are 5ft in width, meaning that larger dogs have more space to safely slice a jump without hitting a wing.
Contacts
- All of our A Frames are part of the Galican Soft Line of equipment - This means that any impact from hitting the A Frames will largely be absorbed by the rubber, removing some of the risk for musculoskeletal impact injuries.
- From June, our dog walks and seesaws will also be from the Galican Soft Line.
- Our contacts are manufactured by Galican, offering some of the most stable and secure equipment for our dogs, removing a lot of the ‘bounce’ from the up and down planks as the dogs run over at speed.
- Our Galican seesaws have a sealed bearing unit inside the base, meaning that they will never tip unpredictably or wobble as the dogs reach the tipping point. This also stops the seesaw from ‘slamming’ and therefore removing some of the impact for our dogs, as it hits the ground.
- From June, all of our contacts will utilise the new Galican rubber surface, which has been improved to maximise the grip for outdoor conditions.
Tunnels
- All of our tunnels are fully anti-slip to help the dogs to keep traction through the tunnels, even in adverse weather.
- All of our 5m and 6m tunnels are light colours, to assist with visibility when the tunnels are curved.
- After testing a number of suppliers, we have chosen to use tunnel straps supplied by Adams Agility, as we have found them to offer the most security, whilst still allowing some flex in the tunnels as the dogs pass through them. These tunnel straps are wide, meaning that they cover more of the tunnel and the bar at the bottom helps to hold them in position for the whole day. They also cannot be ‘over-pegged’ so do not compromise the shape of the tunnel.
- We use long coach screws to secure our tunnels, which hold onto the ground better than traditional pegs and greatly reduce the risk of the tunnels being dislodged if a dog ‘banks’ the tunnel.
Long Jumps, Walls and Tyres
- Our long jumps, walls and breakaway tyres are also part of the Galican Soft Line of equipment, meaning that they are made from foam and therefore removing a lot of the risk of injury from dogs hitting this equipment.
- Base plates are used for stability on this equipment, meaning that it can withstand windy conditions, but will still move easily if a dog hits it.
Weaves
- From July, we will be using longer weave poles from Galican, which will mean less risk to larger dogs catching their face on the top of weave poles as they enter the weaves.
- Our weave poles will always be plastic, so that the poles offer some flex as dogs pass through them.
Timing
- We only use wireless timing with our equipment, eliminating any risk of tripping over wires in the ring.
Practice Rings
Whilst we are confident that our equipment is the best available to the UK market, we do understand that change can be confusing for the dogs who haven’t seen this equipment in training….if any show organisers have space for an additional ring, we are happy to discuss providing a practice ring for your show at a reduced rate this year.
We will always monitor the equipment available to us in the UK and we will continually update and improve our equipment to make sure that we always offer the very top spec equipment to our shows. If anybody has any suggestions for improvements we can make, we will always be happy to hear from you 🙂
