If you are looking for a guide on how to train your dog to be a guard dog or just interested in teaching your pet simple tricks, this page is definitely for you.  Dog lovers nowadays always find a way in making dog and man interaction more fun and exciting.  A new and rising fun team sport is dog agility.  Dog agility involves equipments and obstacles that put your dog’s skills to test.

Starting Your Own Course

Dog agility equipment is designed to create an environment that would encourage a healthy and active lifestyle for you and especially for your pet dog.  In starting your own dog agility course, you must have sufficient space for your dog to move around.  Your backyard is an excellent area to set up your obstacle course. (Click here for the report.)

Once you have a space that can hold your dog agility course, you may now start choosing the equipments you need.  Several recognized bodies in dog agilities have designed their own obstacles for dog agility.  One of the most common obstacles you will see in dog agility courses are jumps.  Jumps are further classified into different heights which are determined by the dog’s height on its withers or shoulders.  Common jumps are standard jump, wing jump, long jump, and tire jump.

Another challenging equipment for your dog is the tunnel which is perfect for puppies.  Contact obstacles have yellow contact zones on each of the equipment.  In using this obstacle, it is needed for the pet dog to have at least one paw in each contact zones when they get on and get off the obstacle.  Lastly, weave poles are obstacles designed to be passed in zigzag manner.  The dog must not miss a pole to correctly surpass the obstacle.

The Course for Your Pet

Courses vary for each dog.  There are certain athletic requirements to be followed for each course.  Breeds that are naturally less agile are rarely seen in dog agility courses.  There are also requirements such as age and height that are to be fulfilled.

Why Participate?

Dogs are naturally able to wander around.  They hunt by running and chasing preys in their search for food.  They jump inside bushes and climb up steep slopes.  With domestication, they are deprived of this freedom in their crates and cages.  Dog agility courses allow them to run around freely following their natural instincts.  The courses mirror obstacles that are seen in nature.

Dogs are not the only one who benefits in this activity.  Dog owners will run alongside their pets.  They also instruct and assist their pets in passing tunnels and jumping obstacles.  With such strenuous activity, your body will surely get a decent cardiovascular exercise.

The course also promotes stronger bonds between the dog and its master.  The course is created in a way that the dog will need you to complete the course.  It relies on your instruction passing the obstacles.  This will exercise the trust of the dog to you.  Your communication will improve on the process.

Toy trains are fascinating pastime for many people.  But this activity is not only a simple pastime.  This requires variety of skill in order to have a successful railroad model running.  Railroad model enthusiast takes a step further by spending incredible amount of resources to make their models seem life-like.

Starting Your Own Railroad Model

There are several elements one must keep in mind before starting your railroad.  First is a good theme.  A theme creates the over-all feel for your layout.  A winter theme will feature pine trees, snowy plains and hills.  You may also capture the themes of famous railroads.  The Orient Express that runs from Paris to Istanbul and Indian Pacific that connects east and west coasts of Australia are good railroads to mirror.  Many more ideas can be added to your railroad to make it more alive. (Read this news about new trends on model trains.)

For beginners, smaller layout sizes are advisable.  A sufficient space to display the layout is enough.  As you gain more experience, you can aim for a much bigger project that will consume larger spaces.  Exhibitions of enthusiasts often occupy a large room.  As a beginner, a smaller scale will be used for your model.  To compensate for the smaller layout, you have to focus more on the sceneries and settings.

Next is to plan the track.  There are numbers of ways to design your track.  You can sketch several plans and carry out the plan you are most happy with.  Track plans include placing bridges, tunnels, forking roads, and other details.  The type of the tracks to be used can also be considered during the plan.  The tracks vary in sizes, designs, and other features.  You may also adapt your rails especially in curves of the track.

A display bench is also required.  You can estimate the size of the display bench you want by test running on the ground.  By doing this task, you would also have an idea on how much space to assign to the settings and sceneries.

Putting the Plan into Work

In creating the display bench, you need materials and little carpentry skills to accomplish the task.  The materials needed are available in the market.  If you lack carpentry skills, ready-to-use materials are advisable.

The trick in creating a toy train table is to make it strong.  A strong display bench will save you of troubles in the long run.  A good way to estimate the strength required for your table is by placing your own weight on the table.  Events such as fixing the model parts or rails will force you to put weights on your display bench.

With the display bench in stable condition, you will now place details to your railroad model.  You have to cover the track work with a masking tape and laying newspapers to cover the exposed areas of the board.  This step is done to ensure cleanliness of other model parts throughout the process. Each detail requires specific measures to take in order to have a decent railroad model.