As the sport of agility develops, and the speed of the dogs increases, safety issues become more and more important. We asked the OneMind Dogs Coaches around the world, what in their opinion is the number 1 safety issue in agility that they would like to have fixed.
According to the OneMind Dogs Coaches, the lack of understanding the dogs' lines in course design is one of the biggest safety issues in agility. Another big problem are dangerous materials in obstacles. Some of the coaches mentioned materials or obstacles that in their opinion should be completely banned. These included for example:
- Metal jump cups unless they are adjustable for each height
- Multiple cups on wings
- Metal / solid tunnel holders. If there are too heavy or too many tunnel holders, the tunnel will not move at all. This causes injuries to toes, especially in the front paws.
- The chute, as the dogs can get stuck, no matter which approach. If we still use the chute, the entrance of the obstacle should be of the same material as the tunnels, which would save many dogs from knee injuries. The fabric of the chute should be heavier on the floor of the chute than it is on the top: this way the fabric doesn’t turn around as easily if a dog turns or makes a stride change inside the chute. Having the top fabric from a lighter material also causes less neck injuries to dogs who hold their head high when exiting the chute.
- Weaving poles that are made of wood or aluminium. Dogs that learn to weave with flexible poles will hit the inflexible poles very badly. This causes injuries in the shoulders, for example.
- Weaving poles with a support in the base of an obstacle placed so that it is on the dogs path of weaving.
- A double jump where the second bar is longer than the first bar. This causes the dogs an optical illusion: the bars seem to be on the same level. When the second bar is longer, you can see many dogs crashing straight onto it both in competitions and in training.
- Metal wall, metal long jump, metal entrance to the flat tunnel, metal supports for the tunnels.
- Tire jumps that are not collapsible.
- Slippery materials in tunnels. Having even just one dog fall over in a tunnel because it’s slippery, is too much.
Some of the obstacles can become dangerous if they are placed in an unsafe way on a course, or if the weather conditions change them. One of these obstacles is the chute:
"Here in the US course design often includes a turn at the exit and an off course jump straight ahead of the chute. Cueing the turn as the dog enters the chute often causes the dog to come out of the chute sideways and tangled. Most of our shows are outside and with wind etc the obstacle is not the same for every dog."
The materials of the obstacles can cause injuries when something unexpected happens. One of the OneMind Dogs Coaches had some personal experiences of running into obstacles:
"Well, as far as obstacles are concerned I think that the taboo topic are metal and aluminium jumps. I know that people prefer them because you don't have to paint them but they are SOOOO unsafe. I have had the misfortune of testing what it is like if you run into a wooden jump or a metal jump myself. With a wooden jump all I got was a slight bruise and if I ran hard into the jump, I simply broke it. Whereas when I ran into some metal obstacles it was always really bad bruises, cuts or lumps that took months to disappear. Another thing that is dangerous about them are the legs that support the wing or the top of the obstacle - when standing it is easy for the dog to hit its paw on them, if the wing falls they are a spear waiting for its victim to land on it. This kind of obstacle doesn't break if you run into it. Another factor that contributes to these jumps being so dangerous is that the dog doesn't see them well and therefore is more likely to crash into them. "
Do you agree with OneMind Dogs Coaches about the safety of certain types of obstacles? Have you had any bad experiences regarding obstacle safety? Or have you seen some awesome, safe obstacle innovations? Leave a comment on the comment field below!
