I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to be able to get the agility equipment back out of the barn this year. Ever since I decided to let the boarding dogs run and play out where the agility field used to be, I’ve been trying to get another area cleared for us to move the equipment. It was a much bigger project than I expected!
Three acres might sound lovely, except that when a good portion of the acreage is growing weeds, it’s a bit discouraging. The area where we’ve moved the agility field now was covered in dead weeds from last fall that were nearly as tall as I am. Those had to be raked out and burned before I could even tell what kind of a mess I had growing underneath them. That took what seemed like forever!!! Then I tackled the new crop of weeds coming up this spring. I was beginning to lose heart when my husband suprised me last week by renting a tractor and tilling up the rest of what was left and leveling out the big bumpy areas. (What a great guy!) So, after a bit more leveling by hand this week, I now have a somewhat manageable, though not perfect new agility field again.
We got all the equipment out just in time to get a few runs in between the afternoon storms that we’ve been getting each day. It was perfect since our regular agility class was cancelled, once again. It felt so good to get back out and be running again, it’s been waay too long. Woohoo!
Here’s some pictures of the field.
Awesome! We’re so jealous of your agility field! Glad you got it cleaned up and set up!
Ricky,
You wouldn’t have been jealous of all the work that it took to get it weed free. LOL We love having the room to set up everything though, and the dogs were so excited to get out there and run it was great! I’d love to have it in grass someday, but I haven’t figured out if we could really afford to keep an area that big watered without going broke.
Wow! That looks wonderful! Maybe you could rent it out to people to use for an hourly rate (after they signed a waiver of course) to help offset the cost of maintaining it?
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Dawn,
That’s a good idea, I have considered it before, the only thing is that it’s a pretty rural area, and even though people are interested in bringing their kids by to watch my dogs, not many are interested in training their own dogs. LOL The person that got me started in agility still holds training classes, (although she’s in her 70′s now) I don’t know how well she’d take the idea of people coming to my place. She’s a little funny that way, and I’d sure hate to ruin my relationship with her.
Looks great. Dylan wants to come out and play for sure!!
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Good point Marie, don’t want to upset your agility trainer! But does she allow practice on her field when she’s not teaching? If not, perhaps your field could be that practice field. Working WITH her so to speak…when her field isn’t available. You could even refer people that ask about yours to her for classes.
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Christy,
If you’re ever down this way and Dylan wants to play on the agility equipment, he’s welcome!!!
Dawn,
True, maybe not as much of a conflict as I may be thinking.
yes, three acres sounds nice! I’m jealous! The agility equipment looks great!
It looks sooooo good! I want to come play on your field!
Lindsay,
I’m really grateful to be where we are. We have plenty of room for the dogs and exceptionally great neighbors. I always worry that as they start developing the fields around us, which they are….that we are going to have people move in that aren’t nearly so understanding of all the dogs, but for now, it’s a wonderful place!
Cynthia,
Come on down anytime, I’d love to have someone to train with! Just 4 more years, right? LOL