Contactacoat

Terence Murphy Oriole Dog Training Club, Baltimore, MD

Contactacoat is the best product to come to dog agility since displaceable jump bars! The traction is phenomenal — it’s amazing watching dogs of all breeds and abilities able to walk up and down an A-frame without scrambling for grip. Several instructors have commented that beginner dogs appear more confident on the dog walk and teeter, and fast, experienced dogs appear to be even faster on the dog walk and A-frame.

Our club has had three trials with Contactacoat on all contacts (AKC, USDAA, and CPE), and it was extremely well received at all venues. One judge even felt that he called substantially fewer missed contacts than at other trials. Very few dogs (<2%) have been hesitant on the different surface, and almost all have adjusted quickly; the vast majority of dogs don’t give the surface a second thought, including on the teeter. The surface also appears to be quite durable, and our equipment has been showing very little shedding of rubber particles.

The rubber slats are also quite nice. Slats are largely unnecessary with the fantastic grip of the Contactacoat surface, except perhaps on a 5’10″ USDAA A-frame, but they’re still required by most organizations and the rubber seems likely to reduce potential injuries. We’ve used the rubber slats at two trials (one AKC, one USDAA), and they have worked great. Dogs don’t seem to notice the beige color and the slats provide good traction.

(Terence was the first to experiment with beveling the edges of our Contactacoat Rubber Slats to bring them in to alignment with AKC Agility Obstacle Specifications. To see how he did it, read our FAQ)

Toni Osojnicki, Stillwater, MN

“We purchased the rubber slats for the dogwalk and aframe - and we love them!  We have over 200 students using the equipment each week – and they are outside in all weather in the summer and in a horse arena in the winter. They have held up very well.   They have been used for many ASCA trials with no problems.  I would very much like to see them become acceptable for AKC.”