Hand-held Extreme Vertical Arm

Kestrel has finally shown more interest in the bumper used for Speed Retrieve and Extreme Vertical, so I'm planning on starting formal training for both soon.  He entered his first SR competition at the Cherokee Dock Warriors event two weekends ago, and while he didn't make the finals, he did well for having never practiced this format before. Now that I know he can do SR, I have my eye on EV and Iron Dog - Kestrel is entered in EV at the Lee County Fair event in about a month, so we need to start working!

The Menapodes and I practice at a local marina.  We're incredibly lucky to have our choice of docks with boat ramps for easy exits, but because it's a marina and not our own dock, affixing an arm for EV practice is not possible.  This means that we have to be a bit creative when it comes to tools for practice.

Enter the EV rig build project!

Needs:

• low initial cost
• light enough to hold in one hand
• ability to adjust height as the dogs progress
• as similar to the regular EV setup as possible

Supplies:

• 4'-8' extendable painter's handle
• 5' wooden broom handle with threaded end (cut to 3')
• threaded pvc elbow
• duct tape
• earth magnets
• d-rings
• EV bumper from Dokken

Assembly:

1. Assemble supplies

2. Screw handles together with elbow

3. Stick magnets to duct tape (keep dogs away - magnets are dangerous if swallowed!)

4. Tape magnets to fixed length handle; space them so that the tape is the same distance apart as the EV bumper is long.

Bumper ready!

Total cost was about $30, excluding the cost of the bumpers.  All of our build materials are from the local Lowe's home improvement store.

I'm waiting on my bumpers to arrive - more pictures and hopefully a demo video to come once they arrive!