# Indoor Training Room - Mirrors



## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

Do you have mirrors in your indoor training room? If so, what size did you get? I'm looking into hanging up some mirror. I can see the difference it makes in obedience training.


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

The last training facility I went to had them. Loved them. 

They were fairly big. Three to four
feet wide and five feet tall.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would get long door(cheap) ones and place them near the floor horizontally/even stacking would be ok. Some of the larger ones are distorting.

But I don't have an indoor training place so can only imagine! Video taping the session may be an alternative, so you can see your footwork and positioning? 
Where I train privately there are a couple mirrors in the corners and we do use them all the time when in the building.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm so glad this thread was started (thanks Mrs. K). We are in the process of making some changes to our indoor training room. We are putting down rubber horse mats to help with traction and sound. We were also discussing putting up some mirrors but weren't sure how useful or wanted they would be. Would those who have worked in rooms with mirrors mind elaborating what they got out of them? Also, we were just thinking of a few along one of the long walls. Is there any preferred size or spacing?


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

I was thinking about putting rubber mats as well. I plan on turning the garage into the training room since the hardwoodfloor in the house is not ideal and I don't want to ruin it. 

Mirrors are awesome. I had my obedience lesson today and we were working on the heal positioning. I could see exactly what I was doing wrong right there and then. For example, how I held the food-hand. If I was behind the dog, my body language, how the dog was positioned. 

It helps so much in terms of precision it's amazing. 

If you don't have the mirrors you can only go off of what feels right but with the mirror you can look straight ahead and see exactly what you do and how the dog responds to it.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

onyx'girl said:


> I would get long door(cheap) ones and place them near the floor horizontally/even stacking would be ok. Some of the larger ones are distorting.
> 
> But I don't have an indoor training place so can only imagine! Video taping the session may be an alternative, so you can see your footwork and positioning?
> Where I train privately there are a couple mirrors in the corners and we do use them all the time when in the building.


Video taping is what I usually do but you can't correct yourself on the spot. You always have to go back to watch the material.


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks. So do the mirrors go all the way to the floor or above it? 
We are getting the rubber mats from FarmTek.com. You can also get some really nice ones at Tractor Supply, but those have a pattern and we've discovered it is tough to clean the mats with a pattern.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

bocron said:


> Thanks. So do the mirrors go all the way to the floor or above it?
> We are getting the rubber mats from FarmTek.com. You can also get some really nice ones at Tractor Supply, but those have a pattern and we've discovered it is tough to clean the mats with a pattern.


this is what Debs indoor training facility with the mirrors looks like. 





The ones that are off the floor work just fine. You can still see yourself and the dog in the mirror. I have to measure my wall and see how many mirrors I'll have to put up and how I'm going to put them up there. 

I was thinking about getting mats from tractor supply since they are conveniently close. It's good to know that they are hard to clean. Thanks for the link


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

Bocron, are you getting the "Dyno Interlocking Rubber Stall Mats" 4x6 ?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I have mirrors in my indoor training room, though they are mounted pretty high. Probably not particularly useful for obedience training. The mirrors can be bought at Lowes for about $40 each and are 36" x 48"










You can see more pics of how I made my training room here: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/agility/168723-indoor-training-your-home.html


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

There is a place that has rolls of padding, but that runs about $40 sf unless you have an extensive amount of flooring. Subfloor underneath is necessary too. Contact Kevin for some info, he is just now putting a new training center together and may be of help: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Complete-K9/154121537981819?sk=wall&filter=12


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I can't train indoors anymore, my dogs are too big, but I usually train in my front yard if I train at home and use my front windows as "mirrors" where I can see our reflection for heeling and such.


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

Our obedience training buildings have mirrors along the walls. About three feet high and reaching to the floor. You can check dogs attention, straightness etc without having to distort your body position to check on it. Really miss mirrors when training without. Hogan tried to bite that big male dog in it though! My Sheltie admires himself!


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

Mrs.K said:


> Bocron, are you getting the "Dyno Interlocking Rubber Stall Mats" 4x6 ?


I'm doing the regular utility mats. My room is 20' x 54", so these bigger mats will actually save some money.

Dyno Rubber Utility Mats - FarmTek


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Mrs.K said:


> Do you have mirrors in your indoor training room? If so, what size did you get? I'm looking into hanging up some mirror. I can see the difference it makes in obedience training.


Only if they are fun house mirrors that make me look taller and skinny


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Samba said:


> Our obedience training buildings have mirrors along the walls. About three feet high and reaching to the floor. You can check dogs attention, straightness etc without having to distort your body position to check on it. Really miss mirrors when training without. Hogan tried to bite that big male dog in it though! My Sheltie admires himself!


We use to schutzhund train inside in Winter at the DogZone, and whenever some of the dogs won the sleeve they'd run over to the mirrors and show off! Hilarious!


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

The end of the building where I train is all mirrors from about 12 feet tall to the floor and all the way across, they're not one solid mirror but the cheaper type you would get to hang on a door, I like them not only can I check positioning, but it was a distraction for my Border collie to learn about to. 
A friend of mine has used the big stall mats you would put in a horse stall for her barn she's turned into a place to train her dogs.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

bocron said:


> I'm doing the regular utility mats. My room is 20' x 54", so these bigger mats will actually save some money.
> 
> Dyno Rubber Utility Mats - FarmTek


Those are significantly cheaper. :wild:


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

The mirror length would depend on how far away you can get. They dont need to go all the way to the floor, and are sometimes safer not to. Remember if you are also going to play in the area, you dont want toys hitting the mirror and breaking it. If you can mirror a corner or two, that is better than just one wall. Maybe do tow corners, and part of the the center of the wall between the corners, unless you do that one whole wall between the corners.

When we built the laundry room, I put a closet at one end. Put up the mirror closet doors. They help, but only for one direction. It is just small indoor area to train a bit. Oh, you saw it when you were here, duh.


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## FG167 (Sep 22, 2010)

bocron said:


> I'm so glad this thread was started (thanks Mrs. K). We are in the process of making some changes to our indoor training room. We are putting down rubber horse mats to help with traction and sound. We were also discussing putting up some mirrors but weren't sure how useful or wanted they would be. Would those who have worked in rooms with mirrors mind elaborating what they got out of them? Also, we were just thinking of a few along one of the long walls. Is there any preferred size or spacing?


I have trained in a vast majority of the facilities available in GR. I much prefer them with mirrors. If I am doing obedience or rally, they are a must. I need to see what I'm doing and adjust on the fly and it also allows for me to adjust a tiny amount, see the change, readjust etc. Instead of starting fresh after I've seen the video which isn't as smooth. At home I have a personal spotter that generally "sees" what I see and gives me verbal corrections to get where I want to be. Although, there have been past disaggreements over what is being "seen" LOL. I like them to cover one wall so I can walk along and one wall so I can walk straight into, with space to maneuver. The other two walls I don't care about. I also like them from waist (where the dog's head is on me), to floor, so I can see my feet/the dogs feet.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

dawnandjr said:


> The mirror length would depend on how far away you can get. They dont need to go all the way to the floor, and are sometimes safer not to. Remember if you are also going to play in the area, you dont want toys hitting the mirror and breaking it. If you can mirror a corner or two, that is better than just one wall. Maybe do tow corners, and part of the the center of the wall between the corners, unless you do that one whole wall between the corners.
> 
> When we built the laundry room, I put a closet at one end. Put up the mirror closet doors. They help, but only for one direction. It is just small indoor area to train a bit. Oh, you saw it when you were here, duh.


Yep, I saw it.  

What I really liked was the pen with the access to the outdoor run. Reminded me about our kennels back in Germany.


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## koda00 (Apr 27, 2009)

Dog boarding Massachusetts, obedience training Massachusetts, boarding camp school, dog training Massachusetts, New England | Auntie Dog Here are pics from the training facility i attend. Very helpful to have the mirrors.


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## Tim Connell (Nov 19, 2010)

One of the indoor places we train at has some low mounted mirrors, and they definitely come in handy for things like watching your dog when your back is turned to it, such as when working the long down.


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