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Your Canadian Distributor of Rubber Based Adhesive and Rubber Surfacing! |
Safe - Quiet - Long Lasting |
Rubber Coating for Agility Contact Equipment |
From the beginning that our Sheltie started agility, she always had trouble with the A-frame. On its regular surface, she gets up alright, but then scrabbles down uncertainly, veering to one edge and nearly falling off, very uncertain of her footing. Getting the contact has been a real challenge. However, with the new Agilegrip, her confidence has soared. She now tears up and down the middle of the frame, sure of her footing, hitting the contact accurately. The experience with the teeter is the same -- she feels she is in control with the firmness of the grip of her paws. The Agilegrip has surely improved her agility ability, and made it safer for her to tackle these obstacles. We have also noticed much more confidence in other dogs in our classes, when running on the Agilegrip. It's reassuring to us that our pup is safer with the Agilegrip surface, and can run as she loves with such sureness. Ross and Noni Kemball |
I have three very different dogs, at different stages of their careers, who all have benefitted from the switch to contacts with Agilegrip. My young dog, who is just about to begin trialing, has become much more confident on the teeter, and now willingly runs up it . No more ducking away from noisy recoils. My oldest dog, with chronic back issues, finds the climb up and descent from the A-Frame far easier now. The smallest member of my crew, who has running contacts, flies down safely and securely, and with no jammed toes. At a recent trial, there was a huge downpour, but the rubber contacts were as grippy as ever, and provided safe footing for the dogs. I know that whether or not a club has Agilegrip contacts will be a very important criteria for when I decide which trials to attend…Thanks for providing a great product, which makes agility that much safer and more enjoyable for our dogs! Carol Gordon |
I wanted to let you and Barry know how much we love the new Agilegrip on AVID's equipment. It is amazing - no more dangerous slipping/sliding for our dogs, and it is so quiet. You can tell from watching all the dogs using the equipment that they feel more confident in running up and down or over it. Dogs who hesitated going on pieces like the teeter or the A-frame, no longer seem to mind it. I believe that most dogs are going to have faster running times because of this surface. My dog Sara and I just love the fact that AVID has it on all their equipment. Thank you so much for using it. Cheers,Anne Smiley |
My first agility dog started training close to 4 years ago and she initially showed great promise with all the equipment, including the contacts. She never had a negative experience, never fell off of them or slipped. However, one day, she was reluctant to do the teeter and the dog-walk. Training was backed-up to regain her confidence but she was very inconsistent with performing these 2 pieces. Several months later, she refused to do the A-Frame. A lot of effort was put into re-training these pieces. There was no concern when the equipment was lowered to being flat on the ground, but the slightest incline generated a lot of fear. In addition, there was no medical reason as to why she could not do what was being asked of her. Even when she performed the piece "well", additional attempts reduced her confidence. She was unable to gain confidence in repeat performances. To make matters worse, she did understand that performing these pieces of equipment resulted in great rewards and each training session did result in her running off to seek out where the contacts were located in the ring. She would interact with each piece, placing her front feet on the contact zone, whine then run off to find the next one. After several years (close to 3yrs) all training on the contact pieces were put on hold and her agility career was assumed to be diminished to Jumpers class in the AAC. Gamblers and Snooker classes were also out of the picture, as she heard the other dogs running on the equipment (all the scratching of the nails on the paint) and knew they were out there! Once the thought of switching over to rubberized contacts became a reality, there was renewed hope as this was the final opportunity for her to maybe train on the contact equipment. After 3 and a half years of not doing contact equipment, she was introduced to rubberized equipment. As per usual, she went off in search of the equipment. The first piece she came across was the dog-walk. She placed her front paws on it and this time the texture was different, and she proceeded to walk up the ramp of the full-height dog-walk. She was a little cautious at first but for the first time (in a very, very long time) she became more confident with repeated attempts. She even performed the teeter and the A-Frame. Thanks to Agilegrip contacts, she is confident and eager to perform contact pieces again. Anybody who does not know what we have been through would have a hard time to believe that not that long ago she had not performed these pieces in years!! The only thing I can think of is that she is way ahead of her time and realized that the painted contacts are not nearly as safe as the traction provided by Agilegrip contacts in all weather conditions. She is just too smart for her own good! I am pleased to report that at her very first Steeplechase run she went out of her way to happily perform an additional A-frame (with a crappy angle - her choice!!) and I was so thrilled. I can't say enough about these contacts. Karen & Naomi (a very smart German Pinscher!) |
I'm almost done doing all the equipment. Just need to shake off the excess and pretty up the metal frames with new paint. The video was most helpful. In fact, I would have been a little more anxious starting it with just the written instructions which were a little wordy and repetitive. I found the paint brush worked best in spreading the goop. I found out that a VERY level surface is important. It was fairly hot when I put the goop on and therefore was a little more runny than may be normal. One of the tables ended up with a 8 inch puddle (I didn't notice at the time) on one corner and so the chips are a little overwhelmed by goop. It's fine though... just not as pretty. Question: can I reapply a thin layer of goop over that and then dust more chips on this? I really found that I didn't need the masking tape and found it more in the way than helpful. Careful cutting in with the goop leaves a lovely line. The number of measuring containers was great. I LOVED the way you packaged and marked the bags of chips. That way I was not inclined to overdo it and then not have enough, as might be the case if I had to measure it myself. Thanks again. Cheers, Leslie |
We just had a large trial here in Kamloops (B.C.) where we used our newly rubberized contacts for the first time. The rubberized equipment was wonderful - grippy and quiet. Once the dogs had been over it a couple of times, they were every bit as fast and ran with more confidence. There was a big difference with dogs that usually have trouble coming out of a tunnel under the a-frame and then taking the a-frame - no scrambling at all. Mary Zacharatos 5 Star Dog Training |
Thank you Barry and France for another fun weekend at Avid There were a lot of exciting moments and good courses with Brigette and Barry...This was our first exposure to rubberized Teeter and Dogwalk .I saw very few dogs actually look down to query the new surface and my dog went amazingly fast over the dog walk ( not always a good thing at my age ! ) due to her confidence with the footing...We will see a lot less slips and jump offs now... Daphne |
Rubber surface on contact equipment:- Recently I've been invited, along with about 4 others, to practice at a friends backyard agility location. They recently put rubber surface on the contact equipment. What a difference for our dogs. I could see my shelties more relaxed as they ran up the A-frame,teeder and dogwalk. If a dog is less apprehensive about the surface they are running on, I figure they are happier and having fun. I trialled this past weekend with one of the shelties and I saw her quickly recognize that she wasn't on rubber and tensed up a little to be careful (safe) as she ascended the dogwalk. While we complain about changes, remember is it SAFER for our dogs, is it more FUN! I would like to see no more slats and rubber contact surface on contact equipment. Have a Great Day and think sunny thoughts! Mary Louise |
Hi Barry, Just wanted to let you know that I got the agile grip on all my contacts this weekend. As promised it was a pretty slick system and fairly fool proof. There were four ladies working on it and we had them done in two days, probably about 7 hours total application time. I put new wood on my dog walk and teeter and left the existing wood on the a-frame but took off the slats. The slat kit for the frame is amazing! Will recommend it to anyone I talk to. We are now in the seven day curing process and anxiously awaiting the chance to use them. Anneli |