As its name implies, this piece of equipment is for training purposes only. It is a combination of an A-frame and a dog walk. The A-frame portion is 3' wide and 4' long and weighs 23 pounds. The dog walk portion is 12" wide and 6' long and weighs 16 pounds. The construction of both pieces is identical to the plank for the seesaw. The A-frame and dog walk have both slats and sand in the paint; the underside is stabilized with 2 X 2's. The dog walk portion narrows from the 36 inch width to the 12 inch width for the typical dog walk. The contact zones are 24 inches on the A-frame side and 26 inches on the dog walk side. Since the contact areas are less than the regulation contact area of 42 inches, you want to encourage the dog to "hit" the contact, hence its name. The contact trainer is NOT designed for speed; it is designed for accuracy. The intent of this piece of equipment is to train the dog to hit the contact area.

As you can see from these two pictures, the A-frame and the dog walk portions of the contact trainer closely approximate the actual angles that the dog will encounter on the real obstacle.

The contact trainer is adjustable for a range of heights of 15 inches to 30 inches. I do not recommend anything greater than 30 inches. Do the geometry: 4 feet up on a regulation 9 foot A-frame with the peak at 5 feet 6 inches, is 29.3 inches. 4 feet up on a regulation 8 foot A-frame with the peak at 4 feet 11 inches, is 29.5 inches.

The dog walk portion of the contact trainer, necks down from the 36" width to the 12" width of the ramp. The A-frame and walk are supported with PVC A-support that can be expanded to create higher angles. One inch PVC fits very comfortably inside 1 ¼ PVC. These dimensions allow one to create an accordion type of support. Quarter inch bolts inserted through holes in the pipes hold them firmly in place for the height setting. A chain at the base prevents the slider assembly from totally collapsing. This support at the center of the trainer makes for a very stable training device. There is no need for a piece of chain between each section like the regulation A-frame.

I also make a contact trainer where the A-frame section is 5 foot long and the dog walk section is 7 foot long. The slider support base is also larger to allow for greater heights. The pictures give you an idea of the differences between the Little Sister [original contact trainer - left] and the Bit Brother trainer - right.

The maximum height at the peak of the Big Brother contact trainer should be no greater than 32 inches. At this height, the A-frame section is at the same angle as the 8 foot A-frame.

The dog walk section is at the same angle as an 8 foot dog walk which is 22 degrees. The 12 foot dog walk angle is only 19.5 degrees.





Our youngest pup considers the contact trainer to be an observation platform. She can see around the back yard much better on the trainer than on the ground.


The A-frame and the dog walk sections are connected with ordinary door hinges. A ¼ inch steel rod is used in place of the separate hinge pins. You can see it on the left side of the peak point of the trainer in the picture above.

The trainer is easily assembled:
You first set the height of the PVC A-support using the chain and bolts.
Next, place the A-frame section on the PVC and align it so that the 2 X 2's are NOT sitting on the pipe.

Next align the hinges on the dogwalk portion with the A-frame.
With a little support from one arm, hold the dog walk in place while inserting the steel rod through the hinges.

A note on shipping. I did ship a 4 foot contact trainer [A-frame was 4 feet long and the dog walk section was 6 feet long] to Idaho in November 2002. The cost was fairly expensive. To give one an example of shipping costs for the contact trainer:

• the package is 40 inches wide, 74 inches high, and 6 inches thick
• weight of the package, including the contact trainer, is about 65-70 pounds
• shipping companies consider this an oversize package and charge extra
• some shipping costs for the contact trainer as of June 2003
  1. Denver to Oakland, CA - $70.60
  2. Denver to Warren, OH - $75.76
  3. Denver to Frederick, MD - $80.89
  4. Denver to Los Angeles, CA, - $71.00
  5. Denver to Lake Bluff, IL [suburb of Chicago], - $82.00 [This was a Big Brother trainer - Dec 2003.]
  6. Denver to Richmond, IN - $54.57 [I do not understand this cost !!]

Because the contact trainer is shipped in a non-standard container, add $15.00 for handling charges.