Teaching your dog to Jump
When we first became interested
in doing agility with our dog we often said that she was a natural because she
was always jumping up on something or over something so of course we never
thought about teaching her to jump in an efficient manner. It wasn’t until our
2nd dog that a friend from the
The exercises are very simple and
I start them as soon as I start teaching them to jump.
These exercises can be done with young dogs at very low heights and
repeated all the way up to full height. They
are also great for experienced dogs.
LEGEND:
Oval =
Exercise
#1
Set
a bar jump at the height below your practice height.
Place your dog in front of the jump in the center approximately 1 foot
away from the bar. Stand beside the
dog just to the edge of the jump facing the same direction as the dog.
Using a treat or toy give the command to jump and at the same time step
forward and bend toward the ground offering the treat approximately 4 inches
above the ground. This action will
force the dog to jump in a nice arch with head down bringing the back feet up to
follow the arched back over the jump. At
the same time the dog is bending toward your outstretched hand causing the dog
to bend and jump at the same time. It may be necessary to repeat this action
several times before the dog jumps without knocking the bar.
When success is achieved reward with the treat or toy and verbal praise.
Repeat this exercise several times successfully.
Once you have completed it on one side move to the other side of the dog
and repeat the exercise. Once the
dog has mastered the technique raise the bar to normal jump height and continue
to practice. This exercise can be
used as a nice warm up to practice before competition.
With repetition the muscle memory of this jumping style will transfer to
jumps on course.
Exercise #2
Example
#2 shows only the dogs path as the handler is stationary.
Set a bar jump at the height below your practice height.
Set the dog approximately 1 foot from the bar facing the bar and just off
side to center. The handler
stands on the other side of the bar facing sideways approximately 2’ from the
bar. With the hand that is closest
to the bar give the jump command and with toy or treat in hand lure the dog into
the side or heel position. Notice
that as the dog jumps it must turn at the same time to fall into position at
your side. Again the dog
might knock the bar the first few times so let them know that is not correct and
do it again. When the exercise is
completed successfully, reward with toy or treat and lots of praise. Repeat this
exercise several times successfully and then repeat the exercise turned the
opposite direction.
You will notice that
with both of these exercises the dog must jump from very close and land very
close to the jump while turning their body in the direction of your hand.
This enables the dog to learn to jump without knocking bars and make
tight turns as well.
When the
dogs are very small puppies these exercises can be done with the bar on the
ground to build confidence and as a game for rewards, as they grow raise the bar
and the pattern is already set and the muscle memory is already beginning.
If you dedicate yourself to helping your dog
learn how to jump efficiently you’ll not only save yourself a few
knocked bars but will save wear and tear on those delicate shoulders as well.
If you
have agility topics you’d like to see addressed or suggestions for future
articles please email and let me know. Goldenpaws@qwest.net