How To Tire A Dog In Ten Minutes (Training Lines 5 Piece Agility Combo Set)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Training Lines 5 Piece Agility Combo Set
Date:	19/05/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very sturdy, weather proof, good selection of equipment, strong and well made

Disadvantages: A little expensive

*What is the Training Lines Agility Combo Set?*
This dog agility training set is produced by the Training Lines website who produce and stock a wide variety of items for your dog such as toys, training aids, gundog equipment, dog sport items, dog coats and much more.

*The product itself*
When I brought Benson home as 7 week old puppy nearly 4 years ago, and then later Grace at 9 weeks, I expected them to become active dogs as they grew older as it was a trait of both of their breeds, but nothing and I mean nothing, could have ever prepared me for the seemingly endless supply of energy that they have both grown up to have! I have never known two dogs with quite as much energy as these two, I'm sure they could quite easily power the entire country off of it, they do not sit still for the moment they wake up in the morning until the moment they are practically dropping down with exhaustion at the end of the day.

Of course they've always had plenty of walks throughout the day to help burn some of it off, but when they were both old enough, I decided to give agility a whirl with them. For those who unfamiliar with the term, dog agility is basically an obstacle course for dogs and it can be done purely for fun and exercise or with a lot of practise, you and your dog can work to competing in various shows and competitions. It has quickly become a favourite pastime with all three of us, so much so that I decided to purchase some agility equipment of my own so we could practise and have some fun at home aswell as at agility classes!

I had a browse online and initially ordered a Clix Agility Set which, much to my disappointment, proved to be very flimsy and absolutely rubbish, so in the bin that went and I took the plunge and decided to order some good, solid equipment and settled on this set from Training Lines.

The Training Lines 5 Piece Agility Combo Set is, well, exactly that! A set of 5 dog agility equipment pieces, produced to comply with all official Kennel Club regulations designed for domestic use at home so you can extend the training of your agility classes or simply use to have a bit of fun and exercise your dog. It is all made from solid wooden and steel construction and has been painted in vibrant, long lasting weather proof colours which also met the rules of the Kennel Club where contact points are concerned- for the non agility folk out there, contact points are the painted sections that you will see on any agility equipment that a dog walks on, in this set, the seesaw. In official competitions, dogs must not leave the equipment without all four paws having touched the contact point.

As mentioned earlier, the set consists of 5 pieces:

1) Hurdle (or Jump). This can be adjusted in terms of height to meet any dogs needs or to increase difficulty as your dog improves his performance. The pole that runs across the middle is also designed to fall off if knocked, so the less agile of jumpers won't hurt themselves if they hit the middle pole.
2) Weave Poles x 12. These come with metal spikes to set insert into the ground and can be placed as far apart or as close together as you wish, depending on the size of your dog or how agile he is.
3) Tyre Jump. Just like the hurdle, the tyre jump is height adjustable, meaning it can be altered to cater for any size of dog and also enables you to increase difficulty.
4) Seesaw. The seesaw is suitable for dogs up to 80kg and has contact points covered in tough carpet material to ensure a good grip and all moving mechanisms are well covered to help prevent injury to dog and handler.
5) Tunnel. When ordering you have a choice of 3 tunnels to choose from. Firstly is the Small Regular Tunnel, measuring 40cm wide by 2m long as is suitable for small breed dogs only, secondly is the Large Regular Tunnel which is 60cm wide and 5m long and lastly is the Chute Tunnel, which is 60cm wide by 5m long and consists of a wooden opening and then a cloth tunnel which they dog must run through. You may only choose one tunnel option.

All the equipment is portable and claims to be easy to put together meaning you can change the layout and design of your own back garden course as often as you like, increasing difficult as your dog improves. The equipment has been weatherproofed although it is recommended to store inside when it isn't going to be in use for some time and it is recommended that you have an area which is at least 20 ft x 20 ft available to set the equipment up on, which is free of obstructions and preferably grass.

*Packaging*
The equipment comes delivered in large brown cardboard boxes with each piece packaged separately and full instructions on how to assemble to equipment is printed on them, as are contact details for Training Lines. The boxes can be recycled once empty.

*Price & Availability*
This agility set is only available online from the Training Lines website and the price depends on the size of the tunnel you select. I purchased the set with the large tunnel option for £219.

If you select the small or chute tunnel options, the price is reduced by around twenty pounds so not a massive saving really.

*My opinion*
I only started agility with Benson a couple of years ago purely for a bit of fun and something to help burn off some of his excess energy, however we both loved it so much and we have really got into it now, with Benson competing at quite a high level in competitions nowadays. So after ordering this set I literally could not wait to arrive.

When it did, I instantly took it out the back and began setting it up. I have to say the hardest thing about setting it up was opening the damn boxes, the equipment itself was very easy to put together and I managed to do it by myself within an hour or so and only a few tools are needed, the instructions provided are very clear and easy to follow and if I could assemble the set, then I'm sure anyone could! Once put together, it looked smashing, very professional and incredibly sturdy and I couldn't wait to test it out with Benson.

I brought him out and it was the hurdle he tested out first, I set it on the highest level as Benson is a very large dog and he has been competing in agility for a couple of years now so is somewhat of an expert and he sailed over it, the hurdle was very sturdy and even though it was quite a windy day, it didn't fall over at all. The height of the bar was reasonably easy to raise and lower, just a little stiff at first but it soon loosened up.

On he went to the tyre jump and I was very pleased with this too. Because Benson is so large, a lot of tyre jumps are quite small for him but this one gave him plenty of room to jump through the middle and just like the hurdle, it was extremely sturdy and barely swayed at all in the wind. The tyre isn't padded though, like the tyre jumps Benson uses at our agility classes, so he did give himself a bit of a knock when he clipped his back paws whilst jumping through but thankfully it didn't seem to hurt him too much.

I sent him through the tunnel next and again, this was more than large enough for him to comfortably fit through and I was very impressed at how strong and sturdy it was but also flexible so I could have it slightly curved to make it a little bit more challenging for him. It was reasonably wide, so suitable for pretty much all dogs, Benson did have to crouch down a little bit however, he couldn't run straight through so its worth bearing in mind it may not be suitable for tall dog breeds.

Next was the seesaw, unlike some dogs, Benson adores the seesaw and was more than happy to hop up onto it and it was wide enough for him to safely walk on without slipping off the edge and the carpeted contact points gave him good grip, it was also very smooth, when he walked past the middle, it didn't thud down the other slide, it just slowly lowered.

Lastly, he had a go at the weave poles, they were very easy for me to sink into the ground and I liked the fact I could set them at the distance apart that I wanted them, instead of them being fixed like other brands, this enabled me to give a large dog like Benson plenty of room to move between them. They were quite chunky, and very sturdy but had some give in them, so if Benson did knock himself on one, or forcefully wagged his tail and whacked one with it, they didn't hurt him at all.

So after our first round on it, I was absolutely delighted with it and so was Benson. The equipment was strong and sturdy and it really looked the part, I was instantly glad I decided to take the chance and fork out a little bit more money for a good set and I could tell me and the dogs would have a lot of fun with it.

Grace is only just old enough to start agility, as dogs shouldn't be started younger than 12 months for small dogs, and 18 months for large dogs because of the pressure and strain it puts on developing bones so she hasn't really had much practice at it, having only started proper agility classes the week before, but she was dying to have a go so I set the hurdle and tyre jump on the lowest level (which was very simple, quick and easy to do) and let her have a quick go round and she loved it too. She's not quite as agile as Benson yet though and some of the equipment did take a few knocks however it didn't hurt Grace whatsoever thankfully and the equipment didn't have a mark on it and the middle pole on the hurdle jump fell off as soon as she knocked it with her paw, meaning no injuries to the dog or the set!

All in all, I absolutely love the set and am so pleased with it. We've had it around 4 months now and it is still looking as good as new. I use it every day for just five minutes or so with Benson to have a quick train and practice and it keeps everything he learnt at his weekend agility class fresh in his mind and enables him to work on it and practise for any competitions we have coming up, it also gives him great exercise, he has so much fun and Grace loves having a mess around on it too so it is money extremely well spent and I can thoroughly recommended this set to anyone looking to purchase some good, sturdy agility equipment. The initial purchase price may be expensive but it is an excellent quality set made to an exceptionally high standard that will last you many years and provide you and your dog with hours of fun and exercise!

Summary: An excellent agility set, perfect for competition practice, or just a bit of fun.