Help with planning a new building dog agility

[johnems]

My Wife shows dogs in agility and we are going to be building that will be in an L shape. Her section will be 120 feet long by 80 wide with 16 feet wells.

Help advice needed

1) We are planning to heat in in the winter (Central NY climate) with a dirt floors. I am planning on insulating it but with a dirt/sand floor what type of environmental issues and I am going to have? Am I going to have condensation issues as an example. I would imagination putting down a good vapor barrier would help. If so any sugestions

2) I have found a company who does dirt construction for horse rings but I was wondering if anyone has heard of people doing dog agility arenas.

Any and all help you can give would be great. Thanks John

 

[Playwme]

You're doing a heated, insulated building that size for dogs to run an obstacle course in?

Excuse me while I go cry.........

 

[Tronyadorable]

Man. BIG MOFO.
You need to talk to some more equestrians.You aren't going to find dog people with those types of facilities.
Cattleman or chicken breeders.......yeah. chicken-turkey breeders may steer you in the right direction. Don't be shy about calling big companies. They'll help you out and steer you right.
Seriously. Call and ask for help.What you want to do is an outhouse in comparison
http://www.tyson.com/
Here. Dial this number on monday
800-233-6332

 

[nehog]

... Her section will be 120 feet long by 80 wide with 16 feet wells.
...

Her section? HER SECTION? and how friggin' big will your section be?

Seriously, find some horse farms near you, all have similar setups (dirt floors, some heat, etc., and get their ideas. I know the maker of my building has standard designs for what you are doing, too (Rockford) and contacting a building maker would be very helpful. I think insulated frost walls might be the best shot at keeping moisture to a minimum, and keeping the heat in.

 

[Voi]

2) I have found a company who does dirt construction for horse rings but I was wondering if anyone has heard of people doing dog agility arenas.

This is going to be your best bet but I would urge you to design the area with less passive ventilation that the typical indoor riding arena has. Most riding arena have at least some area set aside for boarding and need to deal with the strong ammonia smells horses can produce. If a future owner wants to put in horse stalls they can add that ventilation in the future.

The arenas I rode or worked in as a kid all had overhead radiant heat tubes. I assume they were gas. This was in northeast Ohio and I don't recall ever being too cold. Of course I don't know what their gas bill was either.

 

[Xicaque]

OP,
I can come over and clean the dog sheet if you let me use half of your side

I envy you. With a building that big, you could do a motocross indoor track for the kids.

 

[JonBoehman]

A concrete floor with turf grass would be fine. You may want to pre establish a course and put pipe sleeves into the floor for jump bars and walls. Platforms and balance walks should be able to set level on the floor. If you do any tunneling agility runs then you could try prefab units or welded barrels. jjdog.com and Carsonagility.com are some good sites for equipment. preferably carson.

 

[readhead]

I have done a few arenas and one dog training facility almost the size you are describing. None off the buildings was heated. We installed operable ridge vents to cool the building down in the summer.

 

[johnems]

Thanks all for the reply's I will check with the equestrians in the area and see what they have done. Thanks John

 

[kbs2244]

You are talking a classic overhead IR use.

 

[brycez28]

I've done dog agility in horse barns. The challenge is the sand it hard to run in because it is so soft (like running on beach sand). There is a pet resort a couple hours from me that has a heated building with sand floor and rubber mats covering it. Might consider doing this with rubber roofing for the mats, more economical than commercial training mats. I've also run agility in buildings with saw dust floors. It is easy to run on, but tends to stick to the dogs hair more and to the equipment.

80'x120' isn't that big for an agility area, that will just leave enough room for a regulation ring and space to store unused equipment.

 

[johnems]

Yes I am thinking IR heat. Thanks John