Contact Frost Warning!
As the weather turns colder here in the Midwest we are seeing temperatures dropping below freezing overnight. I was at agility class bright and early this morning and the contacts all had a coating of frost on them. In spite of warnings by the instructor and myself some over eager students were still taking their dogs over the contacts before the sun had melted the frost. Luckily there were no injuries but a few dogs couldn't get up the A Frame...
I've been through rehab twice with Milo and the last thing I'm going to do is risk injuring a dog from a slip off a contact when it can be easily avoided. So when it was Meeker's turn I just took him around the contacts. It was good practice to have him focus on me and not take the obstacles unless I asked him to. By the end of class the ice was melted and I could send him on the contacts safely.
So use your common sense this time of year and don't risk injuring your dog on an icy contact.
Comments
We use "Contact Cozies" to prevent the frost from building up on the contacts. I just bought some bulk fleece and cut it to size. They are especially useful at trials when you cannot wait for it to melt.
Steve
Steve,
Great idea! I imagine almost any type cover material would do. I really like the idea of fleece keeping the contacts nice and warm too :^) I could use them to keep the tree sap off my contacts when I park them under the pines in the snowy months too.
Thanks!
Steve
Funny! I was just thinking about this the other day!
I went down to train at 7:30 AM and sent my BC over the seesaw... as she skidded to the end I quickly figured out the contacts were completely frosted over!
Someone should come up with a contact cozie in the US - I would totally invest in some!
For those of us in the working world who leave at 7:00 and don't get home till 6:00 they would be great!
As someone who trains in the early morning before work, I have found an easy way to prevent frost on the contacts is to put tarps over the contact equipment when they are not being used. I use the blue plastic construction tarps and they work really well.
PS: I agree that running dogs on frosty contacts is just asking for injury trouble.
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