DIY project: dog agility teeter

I built a teeter to help Jean master one of the most difficult agility obstacles.

The completed obstacle.

Jean, the little bean of a dog, has been having some difficulties mastering one of the more challenging agility obstacles: the teeter. This obstacle (along with the weave poles) tends to be one of the harder ones, and for good reason! It moves, it makes noise, and from the dog's point of view, it looks like a road to nowhere.

My agility coach suggested I make a wobble board for practicing at home, but after reading the instructions on how to create my very own full-sized teeter, I knew that was the way to go. I deviated from the instructions very little, and the end result turned out great! I took plenty of progress photos along the way, and I wanted to share those as well as the final product.

1. The 2x12x12 plank. 2. Measurements. 3. Marking for contact areas. 4. Should have done the yellow paint first (oops). 5. Bright blue paint! 6 & 7. Measuring the cuts for the base. 8. Awesome saw provided by my partner, Corey. 9. Contact area painted yellow.

1. Made a small oops while painting. 2. Adding sand for traction. 3. Part one of the base assembly. 4. Part two of the base assembly. 5. Doubling the base. 6. Base structure complete. 7. Adding a few levels for training. 8. More sand for traction. 9. All finished!

While I'm really happy with the way this turned out, there are a few things I would have done differently:

Paint the yellow parts first, sand and all.
Add the sand more quickly (dropped the ball on this in the middle, so I may have to go back and add another coat with more sand later).

I practiced a bit tonight, and Jean is already more confident! The cheese at the end is definitely making it easier for her.

She's still working on getting all the way to the end before she stops. ;)