Our mini dogwalk has served us well over

the years but there comes a time when you

have to stop replacing bits and making
running repairs. We decided to put it out to
grass and make a new one.
The new design is quite a posh affair. Here
it is in the raw before it's been painted. It's
about 28" to 29" high. The ramps are 6ft
long and the central section is 4ft long so
it's quite compact and is fairly easy to
make.

For this design I decided to make the

trestles from timber. Mine taper inwards
towards the top. The legs are made from
50mm X 75mm timber and the cross
pieces are made from bits that I had handy.
The trestle legs are hinged at the top using
strap hinges.
When the dog walk is painted and it's ready
to set up I'll adjust the height of the trestles
so that the whole thing is about 28 to 30"
high. I can then use chain to string
between the legs of each the trestles so that
they open up to exactly the right width.
If you don't want to go to the trouble of
making trestles you can buy builders
trestles or get a pair of saw horses from
somewhere like B&Q or Homebase. I
wanted mine to be fairly heavy as we live
in a windy county where normal equipment
can get blown over.

For the top of the dog walk and the ramps I

bought two sheets of 4' X 2' 19mm exterior
ply. I asked the DIY man to cut these
sheets into 12" wide strips so that I had
four bits of ply measuring 4' X 1'. The man
was very nice about it considering it was
Sunday afternoon and he wanted to pack up
and go home.
The ramps are 6 feet long and the top of the
dog walk is four feet long. This meant
attaching two pieces of ply to frames made
up from 25mm X 50mm timber. The slats
are just cut from a length of moulding. The
top was built on a similar framework and
this is shown below. I have also made a
second central section which is eight feet
long so that I can have a longer dog walk if
needed. More details and photos are
shown further down the page.

The ramps and the top were joined together

using loose pin hinges. These are strong
hinges meant for hanging doors and they
have a steel pin that can be withdrawn from
the hinge so that it comes apart. I thought
this idea was good for making dog walks
and it has been used by other people.
Shown right is one end of the top of the
dog walk. I used a couple of bolts on each
side of each half of the hinge to strengthen
the arrangement. The hinges aren't really
meant to be jumped on by big hairy dogs.
Below left is a top view of the ramp joined
to the top of the dog walk. I had to make
an insert to fill the gap! To join up the
hinges I discarded the steel pins and used a
metre of steel rod cut in half. I bent the
ends to make handles.
We used this arrangement for a few months
but it was quite fiddly getting the rod to
slip into the hinges.
Further down the page you'll find the
modification I used to join the ramp to the
central section.

Here's the hinge

handle pushed
through the slots in
the loose pin hinge.
This has made a firm
joint between the
ramp and the top and
it has the advantage
that the dogwalk can
easily be dismantled
and moved or stored
in the shed. Now all
I have to do is to
paint it.

The whole operation was closely

supervised by Jamie and Sasha but they did
have a few diversions.

Sasha has been keeping a close watch on

activities on the other side of the gate. If
she watches just long enough she might
catch a passing postman or an unwary cat
may venture into the garden. Jamie has
been working on an escape tunnel. This is
located beside the garden shed and is
veering towards the stone hedge at the back

of the garden. Did he really think I

wouldn't notice the enormous hole that he's
dug in the compost heap?

Having made the dog walk it then had to

painted. This was quite a big job. I used
gloss for the trestles, undersides and the
sides. The top had to be painted with non
slip paint and there are several things you
can use for this.
I used gloss undercoat with a bit of blue
gloss added to give it some colour. The
contacts I did in white. I mixed in a bit of
fine sand which I sieved with a fine sieve.
If you use the one from the kitchen which
is meant for sifting flour it works really
well. Mine had to have a good wash
afterwards and I didn't tell the OH. Other
things you can use are, deck paint coated
with anti-slip granules, CooVar Sure Grip
paint which is expensive but good, or use
non slip yacht or floor paint.
Before I put the dog walk together I put
one of the ramps in the garden to let Sasha

and Jamie test it out for grip.

First Sasha has a go Then Jamie has a go

and Jamie gets
and Sasha watches to
jealous
make sure he gets
the contact.

....and finally we
Then they both want musn't forget the
sweeties for being most important bit of
good dogs
all. A plentiful
supply of tea.

Update:
After we'd used the dog walk few times I
got fed up with trying to thread the hinge
handle through the bolts to hold the ramps
in place. I decided to replace the hinges
and hinge handle with some right angled
brackets. I pushed some coach bolts into
the hinge slots on the top section of the
dog walk so that the brackets could just
slip over the top. I found this much easier
to set up but you do need to push down on
the ramps to make sure that everything is
stable.
This year (2011) I decided to extend the
garden dog walk and I've added some pics
below.

How to Build Your Own Agility Dog

Walk Equipment
By Jo Chester, eHow Contributor
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40 Found This Helpful
Consisting of two uprights and three long planks that form a 4-foot-tall runway, the dog
walk intimidates many dogs. Much to our dogs' good fortune, the average dog owner
can construct this practice dog walk in a single weekend. Although the metal supports
required for competition-style agility dog walks might require skilled cutting or
soldering, this PVC version of dog walk supports requires no specialized skills or tools.
Have a question? Get an answer from a veterinarian now!

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Things You'll Need

Four 1-1/4-inch PVC pipes, 10-foot lengths

32 1-1/4-inch PVC tees
PVC pipe cutter or hand saw
Ramps and walk planks
Two boards, 12 inches x 2 inches x 12 feet
1 piece of lumber,1 inch x 2 inches x 10 feet
3-inch hinges

Paint, two contrasting colors

Sandbox sand
Nails
Screws
Circular saw
Screwdriver

Hammer

Instructions
1.
o

1
Cut the PVC pipe into eight 20-inch lengths, eight 12-inch lengths, and
24 8-inch lengths. Cut one of the 12-foot boards into two 6-foot lengths.
The cut should be at a 45-degree angle to allow the board to rest evenly
on the floor or ground.

2
Assemble the supports. Make four support sides to form two support
units. Using a 20-inch piece of PVC, connect two tees at the center hole.
Make two of these units.

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3
Secure an 8-inch length of PVC in each opening of the tees on one unit.
You should have something that looks like a wide, short-legged capital
"H" in front of you.

4
Attach another tee to the free end of each of the 8-inch lengths. The tee
should be connected at the side opening, with the center opening rotated
upward.

5
Connect the second 20-inch unit to the "H" frame, using 8-inch sections
of PVC in both tees at one end.
You should have a unit that resembles a two-rung ladder, with four tee
openings facing what will be the inside of the structure.

Use four 12-inch lengths to connect two sides to form one support. Your
support should be a rectangle that stands roughly 30 inches tall. When
completed, the plank forming the horizontal portion of the walk will rest
on the 12-inch crosspieces.
o

7
Prepare the boards. Cut the 10-foot stud into 10 1-foot sections. Starting
at the angled end of the board, measure and mark a horizontal line 12
inches from the bottom. Nail or screw the first of the five sections to
each of the shorter boards at 9-inch intervals, ending 2 feet from the top
of the board. Make the top of each nail or screw either flush with the top
of the sections or slightly recessed.

8
Give the boards a first coat of paint. Paint the long board entirely with
the darker color. Measure an area 2 feet from the bottom of each shorter
board. Paint the 4-foot section of board in the darker color; use the
contrasting color to paint the two-foot section. Sprinkle the top of the
boards with sand to create a rough surface for traction. Paint the boards
with a second coat after the first coat has dried. As an alternative, sand
can be mixed directly into the paint.

9
After the boards have dried, turn all of the boards face down, using
sanded surfaces or those with slats attached as a guide. Nail or screw two
hinges at each of the ends of the long board. Attach both of the shorter
boards to the longer boards, leaving the angled ends free.

10
Put the dog walk supports approximately 8 to 9 feet apart on a level
surface. Place the top plank between the 12-inch sections of PVC,
angling the ramps at a gradual slope with the slats facing upward. You've
completed your dog walk.

2.

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