How to Select an Agility Tunnel

Okay, so you’ve decided that you want to do agility training with your dog. Brilliant! You’ve seen some competitions, you know you need dog agility equipment, and you decide to go to the pet store for some of the standard training items, like a tunnel. When he gets there, what he finds is that there are many options to choose from, but he really has no idea which one would suit you and Fido the best. Not very well.

Well, luckily, here’s some information that can help. This is the information you need to know how to select an agility tunnel.

Tunnels come in several different types. The basic selection for competition comes in 10-foot, 12-foot, 15-foot, and 20-foot lengths. They may have a 4-inch pitch or a 6-inch pitch. The pitch refers to the amount of space between the metal that structures the inside of the tunnel. It can be heat sealed or sewn. Sewn is best for a hot climate like Az. Industrial tear resistant fabric is highly durable. The sun can cause a heat seal to fall apart after a while.

Various Agility venues have different requirements for the course. AKC and USDAA, for example, require a 4-inch step. The court gives durability, stability and weight to a tunnel. The heavier weight may be required when hundreds of dogs run across one, but for your own home training needs for practice, a 6-inch step will usually work fine. It really depends on your level of competition and your trainer’s wishes for you and your dog.

All sizes of tunnels are used in an agility course. You need longer ones to tunnel into a U or L shape. You can also fold them under other pieces of contact gear like an A-frame or dog walker to teach him to discriminate between two obstacles. Most dogs find the tunnels really tempting, so it’s kind of a distraction.

There are also collapsed tunnels or they are also known as slides. These are attached to a barrel and clamped down to form a flat or collapsed tunnel which is generally more challenging for the dog and also takes longer to traverse. You should never leave a bin unattended in your backyard, as a dog can become entangled in one and dire results of injury or worse can result. It should only be used with the supervision of the handler. Most dogs like these with practice.

If a person is in a puppy class or has a young dog and wants to do some fun backyard training, a practice tunnel made of lightweight nylon-like material is available for this type of activity. It is less expensive and easy to transport or store.

To stabilize your tunnel, you should ideally have tunnel weights or strap-like fasteners at both ends and possibly the middle to keep it from shifting or tipping when a fast dog runs through it. Milk jugs filled with sand and a rope or string can have the same effect if you don’t want to immediately buy tunnel bags, but that’s what they’re designed for: to keep the tunnel stable.

Tunnels can be a multitude of colors. You can mix and match and have fun making your course colorful.

Now, a trip to the pet store to buy dog ​​agility training equipment won’t be as daunting since you know how to select an agility tunnel.