Can you say great agility turf? Wow, this facility beats all. My dogs and I enjoyed another fun weekend at the AKC agility trial put on by the Tree Towns Boxer Club, and held at the Canine Sports Zone in Middleton, WI. While the premium indicated that the flooring was turf, all turf flooring is not alike when it comes to footing for both canine and handler. Here you’ll experience 2” of pro-turf, and there are huge barrels of pellets waiting to be added to the floor and maintain its great cushioning. And look, no white lines, circles, or anything else to distract your dog. There is quite a story behind its beginnings; fodder for another blog post!
This facility is a newer home for the Canine Sports Zone, who held their first trial here in February, 2016. Located 7 miles northwest of Madison just off US 12, the building offers an excellent environment for agility trials, dog training, seminars, and more. The temperature outside was in the 90’s and muggy on the first day I was there, but the air conditioning held up well even with the high-ceiling and large rooms.
The ring itself is in the back of the building. The lighting is not super bright, but certainly adequate. It has two viewing areas – one all along the east side, and the other in the southwest corner. 3 ft high wood rails with solid particle boards outline most sides of the ring, with just the SW corner being lattice fencing. Some dogs were distracted by people in that southwest corner, especially those very close to the fence. Equipment was mostly newer Max 200, and everything stood up well.
Crating space was generous – one room had turf flooring, the other padding. The “vendor” room, which also contained the two warm-up jumps, would have been large enough for overflow, but it was not needed.
RVer’s are welcome, and can either dry camp for $10 a night, or hook up to 60 AMP electric for $25 a night. While I’m often a dry camper, with the intense heat I wisely took the hook up!
The trial secretary was hired by Fulcer Events, which operated everything very smoothly. The club itself did a great job with worker wrangling, food for workers, and overall trial coordination. The people were friendly too, many of them making it a point to come up and talk to new faces they hadn’t seen at their trials before.
The Friday before the 2-day trial, a fun run was held there with only chutes and contacts. The proceeds went to Charge Against Cancer, an organization raising funds for an endowment fund for canine cancer research. My dogs enjoyed that pre-trial warmup in this facility, and what a heartwarming story behind this charity!
The Canine Sports Zone is a very nice trial location that you should definitely consider if you’re in the area. I’d like to return in a year to see how the place has changed, as I envision it to continually change and grow as the owners settle in to their new digs.
Sure is! Check out their events page for dates and times of agility trials, seminars, and more.
I certainly hope you return, and Cosmo and Finn as well! It is fun meeting agility friends from different places! Why wait a year? Come back sooner if you can.
Thanks Karen. It was great meeting you too! It’s the agility people that make going to trials so much fun. The boys and I will definitely will work on a return trip.