Jumping!

Jackie took her first agility jump today! In introducing jump training to an agility novitiate, one starts low and slow.  At first you show Jackie the jump, then toss a treat across it onto the floor and she hops over and eats the cookie.  Then you gradually add distance while you point to the jump and toss the treat out in front of her after she jumps. Keep your arm up pointed at the jump line until the dog is across.

Keeping the bar low helps build confidence for jumping, and in Jackie’s case since she is a three year old adult her bone plates are fully fused, but when introducing puppies it’s best to keep it low and not do much jumping until their growth plates are closed, which can be up to 18 to 20 months in very large dogs, or usually about a year in average sized dogs.

It was suggested by our coach that for Jackie we keep the bar well under 16 inches. Basically we want it high enough for her to just have to jump it, to avoid her walking over it. As Jackie’s handler, it is going to be important for me to keep Jackie busy, so speeding up my own approach helped keep Jackie’s energy and focus.

Our homework this week also includes continuing to reinforce two on two off contact behavior “Feet!” with adding distance, and sending to front paws up on a perch “Go bucket!” with adding distance. 

It was good being back in the classroom after a week off while our coach competed both her puppy and her established dog at ASCA national championships last week. 

In anticipation of ongoing jump training, we’ve ordered this backyard quality agility jump from Dog Agility Jumps by Midlee: 

Interestingly, jump training for horses has been a focus of much thought and study, while jump training for agility dogs is relatively new.  The dog world is now awake to the idea that dogs have to collect onto the hindquarters as they approach and jump, and also have to extend to remove strides between jumps or collect to add strides, as with horses.  The other reminder this week is to never allow your dog(s) to play unattended with the agility equipment, as it becomes a potential hazard and we want to avoid any injury, large or small.

Pearls:

• Jumping is fun! Keep the jump low (well under 16”) to build confidence and keep things moving quickly so that Jackie stays busy
• Homework this week includes two-on-two-off contact behavior “Feet!” using a plank and nose target, and  sending to a perch “Go bucket!” with increasing distances
• Stay safe by allowing dogs to play with agility equipment only while supervised and with their handler paying attention

Jackie demonstrating “Go bucket!”

In the ongoing effort to find treats that are interesting and of value, I’ve been training my two black and white seals with minnows. Minnows are a healthy one-bite, if stinky, reinforcer:

Expectation (top) vs reality (bottom):