The part you thought was never coming! The sequel to How to Make Homemade Agility Jumps (Part One). It’s advisable to read that post first.

We added a second diagonal strut a week later, for both aesthetic and practical reasons. The original was sturdy but we thought it could be sturdier, which is what the second support offers. We also added a bar at the bottom as a foot to stop the jump falling over in a light breeze. The bar is 35cm long and is made of the same 3.5 x 2.5 wood as the base.

Check out the paintwork! We went with black and pink paint because a) they look fantastic together, b) it’s unique, no-one else has black and pink equipment, and c) black and bright pink were the colours most likely to freak the dogs out. And if they can handle black and pink, they can handle any other colour that crops up on the circuit (or so is the theory).

We used a gloss wood paint for the black and a special brew* for the pink. Only one coat was necessary for both colours, and both were applied directly to the wood without a primer. We painted every square inch of wood that was accessable. The jumps have been living outside since they were painted a few weeks ago and are showing no ill-effects. One and a half small 250ml pots of gloss black were used for 9 jumps (18 wings), and approx 250ml’s of pink for the same. We had one small hiccup in that the gloss paint took over 2 weeks to dry completely; it remained slightly tacky in the underside corners and joints between the wood. Although we painted on a warm and sunny day in late September, the following days and weeks were somewhat damp and cold which probably prevented the paint from drying as quickly as it could.

*The pink paint was mixed by a talented friend out of some colours she had at home. Unfortunately I don’t know exactly what went in the pot but it looks awesome.

The jump cups arrived and got screwed in a long time ago. I’d definitely recommend these jump cups to anyone attempting to make their own equipment, they’re relatively cheap and a lot easier than attempting to make the cups yourself. They’re also very easy to attach and very durable. They look quite shallow but our poles fit comfortably in them and none of our dogs have poles down any more than you would usually expect.

The cups are attached at the standard Kennel Club heights.

Our dogs always wear harnesses for flyball, and we’ve gone through a variety of styles before finding ones that suit both us and the dogs!

This isn’t so much of a review as a explanation of how and why we chose the different harnesses for our different dogs, and what the advantages and disadvantages are of each style. I’ve also listed where we buy them from.

Lupine Harnesses

Kim and Dylan both wear Lupine harnesses for flyball.

Kim is sporting the 3/4″ New Wave and Dylan has the 1″ Bling Bonz, both Adjustable Harnesses rather than the Step-In style.

I love these harnesses! They’re great for flyball as when the dog pulls, the pressure goes across the shoulders and not across the neck or the chest. They’re also easy to hold, which is important! I like the Puppia harnesses but don’t have them as they’re too hard to keep hold when your dog is revved up and racing (plus they come in small sizes, no chance of fitting Dyl!). Having said that the Lupine webbing material isn’t very forgiving on your skin when you’ve got cold and wet hands, but of course it’s always sunny and bright in the UK so that’s never a problem. (In all seriousness, this is one of my only criticisms, but I wear fingerless gloves when I run the dogs in the cold so the material doesn’t get chance to bite).

The material does stretch a little so you may find you have to readjust the straps after a couple of training sessions, but we’ve never had the buckles break or heard of them breaking.

Lupine leads, collars and harnesses also come with a lifetime guarentee even if chewed, which means we’ve had about 6 replacements without question from Dylan’s escapades as a puppy. They do discontinue slow-selling or old patterns however, which means that although you can have a very unique set it’s hard to get a replacement or matching collar/lead! They’re also easy to clean, we just stick them in the washer when they get dirty without a problem.

We tend to order direct from http://www.lupinepet.com/ as the postage isn’t much more than from the British retailer Collarways, but there is a wider choice of patterns and sizes. You can also get the Lupine range from eBay, sometimes cheaper, but it’s very hit-and-miss as to which patterns and sizes are available.

Fleece Harnesses

Mollie wears a fleece-lined harness, and as you can see she’s very pleased with it.

My mum chose this for Mollie as it is much kinder on her hands. Unlike Kim and Dylan, Mollie doesn’t pull forward at a constant pressure, she likes to vary things by going backwards, twisting and bouncing on the spot and lunging forward to try and break your grip. With the webbing on the Lupine harnesses or similar, that means you usually have to let go because your fingers are being sawn off!

The webbing distributes the pressure across the same areas as the Lupine however, and you should note that the actual fleece on the edges doesn’t take the pressure itself, it’s the webbing inner that does. Therefore if you’re looking for a broader strap, don’t always presume fleece is the way to go.

Again, easy to wash and comes in a variety of pretty colours!

The fleece harnesses come to us direct from stalls at flyball competitions, so I can’t personally recommend a suitable online shop. http://www.dog-games.co.uk/newshop/Harnesses+-+Fleece+Lined/ is recommended by the ever-trustworthy guys on Ruffdogs, and eBay have a variety available too.

Note: Harnesses are designed to allow and encourage dogs to pull; the original design of a harness was intended for sled-dogs, tracking dogs, and now flyball dogs. If your dog pulls even a little on the lead, trying a harness will only amplify the problem. We only use harnesses on our dogs during flyball training and competition.

Jetpops (UK)
http://www.jetpops.co.uk/
Updates about once a week, with a range of post lengths. Following the progress of her younger dog Jet, particularly in flyball but also in agility. Powered by Wordpress.

Kai’s Blog (UK)
http://flyinkai.blogspot.com/
Updates every few weeks, training progress of her future agility dog Kai. Some photos, mid-length posts. Powered by Blogspot (G/B or OpenID only)

Disco Dogs Show Blog (UK)
http://discodogs.blogspot.com/
Updates with brief show reports and progress of her own dogs, usually every week, plenty of videos/photos. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

A Bailey Blog (UK)
http://bouncingbackbailey.blogspot.com/
Updates about once a week, mainly flyball related but also agility progress of her crossbreed Bailey. Powered by Blogspot (G/B or OpenID only)

Summerick (UK)
http://summerick.blogspot.com/
Updates once or twice a week, mid-length posts covering agility and obedience training and shows. Currently following the rehabilitation of her younger Border Collie Tia, as well as improving the fitness of her retired Border Collie Ricky. Powered by Blogspot (G/B or OpenID only)

Dog Blog (USA)
http://fjoiris.livejournal.com/
Daily blog of a professional dog trainer for dogs in media work as well as agility. Long posts with training discussion and video examples. Plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by LiveJournal, anonymous comments allowed.

Agility Nerd (USA)
http://www.agilitynerd.com/blog/
Updates every few weeks with topics for discussion, mainly relevent to the US agility community but also with training exercises and courses applicable everywhere.

Sure Shots Flyball Blog (USA)
http://www-s3.sunshinerain.com/SureShots/Sure_Shot_Flyball_Blog/Sure_Shot_Flyball_Blog.html
Updates infrequently with useful training articles and tips for flyballers. Mid-length posts.

Giruff (UK)
http://giruff.blogspot.com/
Updated frequently with progress reports on her 5 dogs, particularly on her crossbreed Pippa and Border Collie Inca who compete in agility, obedience and flyball. Also following the progress of her puppy Diesel’s training from 8 weeks onwards, with videos. Plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

Raven, Cypher and Spryte — an Agility Blog (Aus)
http://ravencypher.blogspot.com/
Updated infrequently, following the progress of her three agility dogs in Australia. Recently has been following the diagnosis, recovery and then relapse of her older Border Collie Raven’s Lymphoma. Long posts but well-written with lots of photos. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

Obay Shelties (UK)
http://obayshelties.blogspot.com/
Updated frequently, following the daily life of an American Shetland Sheepdog breeder in the UK. Varying post lengths on her own dogs’ successes (particularly in agility) with show reports, photos and videos as well as updates on her breeding plans and puppies. Well-written and articulate, with plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by Blogspot (Name/URL allowed)

Elite Forces of Fuzzy Destruction (USA)
http://brisbeethewhite.livejournal.com/
Updated frequently. Covers a lot of agility topics, plus runs a variety of dogs and has a lot of discussion of various training methods and competitive venues in the US. Plenty of comments and discussion. Powered by LiveJournal, anonymous comments allowed.

Taj Mutthall (USA)
http://www.finchester.org/dogs/dog_diary/

Team Small Dog (USA)
http://www.teamsmalldog.com/blog/
Updates regularly with occurances from her daily life with her small agility dogs. Photos, show reports, satirical discussion. Witty, well-written posts with plenty of comments.

Jump Start Agility (USA)
http://cflyrun.livejournal.com/
Updates frequently, primarily following the progress of her Border Collie Solar’s training, particularly on his running contacts. Interesting training discussion and videos, varying posts lengths, generally lots of comments.

There are other blogs listed on my Links page. I can’t include everyone on the main page so I’ve tried to take either the blogs who update most recently or update with the most useful posts. Apologies if that doesn’t apply to you!

With pictures!

We bought our wood from B&Q yesterday, and it cost the princely sum of £11.47 (the nails cost the most, typically!) and we bought treated timber. Each peice is 2.4m long, and we bought three 5cm x 2.5cm, two 3.5 x 2.5, and two 10 x 2.5 planks. This easily made us 2 jumps (4 wings), and we didn’t need to use the second 10 x 2.5 of wood — although it came in useful later (see Part Two!).

The main upright post (5 x 2.5), which will have the jump cups on, is 90cm high.

The back post (5 x 2.5), the smaller upright, is 50cm high.

The two bottom horizontal peices (one on each side for stability, 3.5 x 2.5) are 45cm. This gives us a fairly sturdy base and a tent-peg in the gap will hold the jump upright if you’re on uneven ground or there’s a bit of a breeze. It would be very easy to add a peice across the front to create a stable cross peice if you live somewhere particularly subject to violent storms or just don’t have any tent-pegs.

The diagonal crosspeice (10 x 2.5) we measured against the frame of the first wing that we built. We found this was easier than trying to do maths and work out angles and so on. Once we’d measured and cut the first diagonal we just marked off the remaining three on the wood. (It ended up being 48.5cm).

We haven’t included the smaller uprights in the gap because they’re (as far as we can tell) purely decorative. They don’t add to the stability of the jump and it means we can save the wood for something more useful. It would be fairly easy to include them though, they’d slot in easily between the bottom two peices.

We debated about using glue as well as nails to secure all the peices, but in the end we decided against it. The jumps that Katie made a few months ago used glue and nails, but as the jumps live outside, it meant that the glue just didn’t hold.

We also debated about jump cups. We thought about making our own out of the wood that we had left, and in the end decided it was easier and less dangerous for us (we’re not great with a jigsaw) to buy 10 pairs of pre-made jump cups from Jump4Joy on ebay. That brought our total cost to £28.42, but even with 4 cups (35, 45, 55 and 65cm heights) on each wing we will have some spare cups for any future jump-making escapades.

The final thing we debated was paint, and we still haven’t decided on that. We want to keep costs down but these jumps have to live outdoors for the most part, but varnish is a bit boring and generally quite expensive, but the suitability of paint is currently a bit of an unknown. We’re looking into it.

You may notice Mollie is attempting to get in on some of the pictures. Mollie enjoys all kinds of DIY and gardening, and without her running off with bits of wood, throwing her toys at us, knocking over the freshly-made wings, and forcing someone to stand guard to make sure she didn’t attack the electric saw, we couldn’t have made these jumps. Thank you, Mollie.

Click here for How to Make Homemade Agility Jumps (Part Two).