Contact Obstacle Safety
I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all agility competitors to consider the surfaces used on contact obstacles. The days of dogs trotting across the contact obstacles is long gone. Today the speed with which our dogs traverse the planks almost matches their ground speed. Angled approaches at top speed onto obstacles without sufficient traction can result in dangerous situations for our dogs. The technology exists for contact obstacles to have exceptional traction. Over the years I have searched for the perfect surface for my own personal contact obstacles at my training center. After much experimentation, I finally found a material that I was satisfied with. I use granulated rubber that is colorized so that it does not have to be painted. My contact obstacles have fiberglass skins with molded slats which were easy to apply over. These are a close-up photos of the surface:
The granules are durable, have exceptional traction, and can be applied to just about any surface.
If you would like to have rubberized contacts on the equipment at your facility:
Contactacoat Sells kits for do-it-yourselfers to resurface their own equipment
Mark’s Agility Equipment Manufactures rubberized contact obstacles upon request
For bulk quantities of rubber granules:
http://www.totturf.com/
(write to “Contact Us” and ask for local distributor)
www.americanrecycling.com
Rochelle Bagwell email rochelle@americanrecycling.com
At this time granulated rubber contacts are acceptable in USDAA, AKC, NADAC and CPE. Please write to your club and encourage them to use rubberized contact equipment (it can also be used on the table, or inside collapsed tunnels, wherever traction is desirable) for the safety of our dogs.
Thank you.
