Cheap Dog Agility Equipment: Weave Poles

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Cheap Dog Agility Equipment:
Weave Poles

Like bar jumps, weave poles are another type of cheap dog agility equipment that are more affordable to make yourself. They're also very easy to assemble and take apart.

Make a fixed row of weave poles entirely out of PVC pipe. Or, if you plan to move them often, buy special stakes to fit into the bottom of your PVC poles.

Before purchasing materials for this cheap dog agility equipment, research the various training techniques.

Beardie Agility Diehards is an excellent site that discusses one basic training method.

Training Tips

If you plan to use the collar or short leash method, you may want to start with poles only 30 inches (76 cm) high
You can also train with two rows of poles, or have your poles lean out to the sides
There is another technique involving attaching wires between certain poles
We recommend 3 or 4 weave poles to start with (you can always add more later)
We used 20 inches (50 cm) for the spacing between poles, since that appears to be common in the U.S.
For competition training, get information from officials as to what distance they use and space your poles accordingly when making this cheap dog agility equipment
Weave poles are a timed event at agility trials. Teach your dog to do them fast from the get go
Vary the number of poles used in practice

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE WEAVE POLES

ESTIMATED TIME

To purchase pipe and connectors and cut pipe: 30 minutes
To assemble pipe: 5 to 10 minutes
Final touches: 5 minutes
TOTAL MAXIMUM TIME: 1 hour

MATERIALS

FOR 4 WEAVE POLES, 30 INCHES HIGH:

Colored tape
Six 1 inch (25mm) T connectors
A total of 21 1/4 feet (6m 55cm) of 1 inch (30 cm) PVC pipe cut as follows:*See below
Four Vertical Poles 30 inches (76 cm) long
Six End Poles 12 inches (30 cm) long
Three Base Poles 19 inches (48 cm) long

*Some things to note:

If you can only purchase your PVC in certain lengths, don't worry - you can use the extra later
If a store clerk cuts the pipe, ask if you can mark it to get the most accurate cuts, especially for your 19 inch Base Poles
The Base Poles are an inch (2.5 cm) shorter than 20 inches because you have to account for the fact that when you fit them in the connectors, they do not go all the way in
You can also use thinner 3/4 inch (19 mm) PVC pipe but it will be less sturdy and 1 inch is used in U.S. competitions

ESTIMATED COST

Under USD 20

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE BASE:

Working from the left:Take three End Poles and attach to T1
Attach one straight end of T2 to the perpendicular End Pole just assembled
Attach Base Pole 1 to T2 (straight end)
Add T3 to Base Pole 1
Attach Base Pole 2 to T3 (straight end)
Add T4 to Base Pole 2
Attach Base Pole 3 to T4 (straight end)
Add T5 to Base Pole 3
Take three End Poles and attach to T6
Attach the perpendicular End Pole to T5

FOR THE VERTICAL POLES:

Put colored tape around the pipe at intervals
Make sure connectors T2, T3, T4 and T5 have the open end pointing skyward
Insert each Vertical Pole

Good, your weave poles are up! Making affordable agility equipment is a snap, isn't it?

By the way, if you haven't built a bar jump yet, see cheap dog agility equipment: bar jumps