My name is Gary Shipley and when I started training my first agility dog back in 1999 I discovered that agility equipment was very expensive, so I made my own.  I have always been quite handy and have over 32 years experience in the Engineering and Construction fields.  My experience covers all the major construction trades including carpentry, electrical, plumbing, doors and windows, welding, fencing, excavation and grading, etc.  Over the years I have built a lot of agility equipment for close friends in my spare time while I continued to work a full time job.

After semi-retiring from the corporate world in late 2007, I opened Circle S Agility to keep myself busy.  Circle S allows me to spend more time doing what I love most, fixing and building things.  I now build custom dog agility equipment, compete with my dogs regularly, am an agility judge and judge all over the world, and still do a little consulting in the Engineering field if the project sounds fun.  My goal for Circle S Agility is to provide top quality products at reasonable prices, and to cater to the entire agility community whether you are a world team competitor or someone who just likes to have fun with your pet in your own backyard.  I have the ability to build any piece of agility equipment you desire but as of late 2018 I have cut back on building contact equipment because the large volume of orders I was getting was overwhelming and it became a full time job.  If you are local to central Colorado and are willing to either meet me somewhere or come pick up your equipment at the shop, then I might be able to build contact equipment for you, send me an email if you are interested.

Every piece of equipment that comes out of my shop is made entirely by hand and by me.  I do not have any employees nor do I intend to ever have any employees.  Nobody but me can build things to my strict standards, and relying on others to do things my way would ultimately compromise those standards.  When you place an order and I give you a delivery date, you can be sure that you will get it by that date or sooner.  I use only top quality materials and do all the estimating, material procurement, fabricating, painting, and assembly myself, as well as book keeping, answering phones, website maintenance, etc.  The only piece of the process I don't do is the powder coating, and I have a great guy who does that for me. 

Lastly, a little about my pups. Wiley Coyote Dog, the beautiful Aussie in my logo, passed away on Feb 7, 2011.  Wiley was my first agility dog and together we learned this wonderful sport.  He loved to run and if physically able he would have still been competing up to the day he left us, running fast and often beating the Border Collies.  When I think back on all the memories, good, bad, or indifferent, I still get teary eyed.  Wiley was truly a one of a kind dog and I feel blessed that I was able to own and train him. 

Wiley left some very big paw prints to fill, but my little girl Tigger did her darndest to fill them during her highly decorated career.  I had to say goodbye to Tigger on September 29, 2019 and that was one of the hardest days in my life, ever. Tigger was also a special dog and a blessing to own and train, and was quite a bit faster than her mentor Wiley.  Together we won the ASCA National Finals in 2014 and then came in 2nd in 2018 when Tigger was 11 years old!  Tigger had her first (and only) litter of 6 gorgeous pups on Christmas Day 2012 and I kept her one and only daughter, Gidget. 

Photo courtesy of K. DeLong Photography

Photo courtesy of K. DeLong Photography

Photo courtesy of Tien Tran Photography

Gidget is trialing regularly now and is even faster than her mom so this should be a fun ride.  In November 2018 Gidget had her first litter of one pup only, a beautiful red-tri girl who I named Xena the Warrior Princess.  I think we may have been a couple days late breeding her is why she only had one pup.  Gidget has now been spayed since I did not plan to breed her again, so we no longer have to worry about heats affecting her trialing career.

Photo courtesy of Barry Rosen Photography

Photo courtesy of Barry Rosen Photography

Photo courtesy of Barry Rosen Photography

Little Xena is not so little anymore!  She is growing up fast and her foundation agility training has been completed.  I have not started any serious agility training with her yet, right now I am just letting her be a goofy, happy-go-lucky dog.  She is very good at catching bunnies, squirrels, and chipmunks too!

Xena napping with mom at 3 days old

Waving at 10 weeks old