Many trainers use specially designed pedestals to train their dogs, but why?
For reasons I’ll get to in a minute, I always had my students make their own personalized pedestals. Because I’m not very crafty and disinclined to spend money unnecessarily, I even made a video on how to make cheap and easy ones.
Then my students started pressuring me to do a bulk order of KLIMB tables, even the students who’d made their own and were proud of them. I agreed, reluctantly, to look into it–and balked at the price. A KLIMB dog training table retails for $189.95 ($159.00 + shipping)!
One day I was at a dog show and Blue-9 had a booth, where I met the inventor himself and an assistant. They told me Blue-9 makes it possible for resellers with low overhead to offer much lower prices. By then I had over 35 people pressuring me to put in a bulk order. I was with a friend who had a pickup truck, Blue-9 made me an official reseller, and I bought them out on the spot.
But let’s go back to why my students, who already had their own pedestals, wanted to invest in a professionally designed training table in the first place.
I. Dogs and other animals focus on training better when they have an elevated spot to work on that is all their own.
That’s why Siegfried & Roy and other live animal performers work with their lions, tigers, and elephants up on pedestals.
That’s why my students and I used to make our own out of inverted galvanized steel tubs. If you can’t afford or don’t want to buy a manufactured pedestal, I totally think you should make one of these–they’re quick, portable, personalizable, cute, and can be used to store and carry your training stuff. Making our own personalized tubs was fun, but it had drawbacks.
II. Unlike our steel tubs, KLIMB tables are lightweight, durable up to 150 pounds, portable, interlocking, and stackable. Since I got my KLIMBs, I’ve never used my beloved tubs again. The KLIMBs are just that safe, convenient, versatile, and portable.
III. The exclusive polymer is durable under extreme conditions and color-fast. The plastic doesn’t fade or degrade. Our steel tubs had to be re-painted and re-decorated, and, despite the galvanization, the bottoms rusted, making them dangerous.
IV. KLIMBs are manufactured in the US so they have a lifetime guarantee. If you lose or break a leg, Blue-9 will replace it free. Like I said, I met the inventor and his staff. It’s a small business with real, honest individuals behind it, nice people who love their dogs and love dog training. Frankly, that made a huge difference to me.
V. They have useful accessories, such as mats for extra traction and short legs for smaller or older dogs.
VI. They’re safe and versatile. Here’s a video of the many ways you can use and adapt the KLIMB tables. There are more uses that don’t appear here.
VI. Set up in your house, they can greatly improve the treatment of challenging behaviors such as overwhelming guests at the door or getting underfoot in the kitchen. Sending your dog to “a place” is a tried-and-true technique for handling problem behaviors at home.
VII. All KLIMBs can be cleaned with any pet safe cleaner. Pressure washing is kind of the magic wand to get them looking brand new.
VIII. Dogs absolutely love them! Once you start using them, you won’t believe how much your dog loves it. If you’re familiar with “tunnel suck” in agility, where your dog seems to get sucked into the tunnel whenever she sees it, you’ll know what I mean. There’s such a thing as “table suck” too.
