Training for the Obedience Jumps
Many people think that dogs can jump naturally and there is no need to train them in the basics of jumping. Susan Salo, a well know hunter-jumper horse trainer, has for many years presented seminars, written about and has become a highly respected expert in teaching dogs to jump. As with horse jumping dogs need to learn how to jump correctly. Jumping correctly involves teaching a dog weight transfer, how to use their hind legs correctly to take off for the jump, how to choose the correct path to the jump and most importantly to become confident, have an understanding of the jump task being asked and to jump with a relaxed body.
When we think of dogs jumping we usually think of agility. Since there are only 3 different types of obedience jumps many trainers think it is easy to just get their dogs to go over the jump. There are no special challenges to the jump as there is in agility with tight turns, wraps and speed. However, jumping does not come naturally to a dog and dogs need to learn this process of flight and how to become smooth, balanced and efficient.
"Repetition of jump work done correctly creates understanding for the dog and therefore body relaxation"
Susan Salo
So much of a dogs skill in jumping comes from their conformation and how well they are built for weight transfer and balance. So many times at obedience shows I see dogs studder step when they are doing the Utility high and bar jumps. Not only do they studder step but often they come to a complete stop and hop over the jump. Some dogs come down on top of the jump risking injury. This is obviously not a pretty picture and shows the lack of confidence and jumping skill. Not only is this not a pretty picture but the judge can choose to take off points for bad jumping. A bar knocked down is marked as "non qualifying." A bar that is hit or ticked gets heavy points off.
Susan Salo introduces puppies and dogs to jumping with the use of what has been called the Susan Salo Spider or a V-shaped bounce jump. This V-shaped bounce jump used before the jump (bar, high, broad) helps to teach the dog weight transfer and where to put his hind feed (set point). The two jumps placed together teach the dog where and how to accomplish the jumping task. There are fancy diagrams from Susan Salo and Susan Garrett on how to make a spider jump but I just use jump bars as you will see in the video.
The dog needs to be placed close to the first or V-shaped jump (approximately 12 feet from it) to enable the dog to jump into the space between the 2 jumps and be correct in the place where they will take off for the jump. The distance I use between my 2 jumps is 5 feet - or a bounce over the spider jump and then over the second jump (bar, high, broad jump board).
I introduced Beckett at about 11 months to Susan Salo's spider jump (see video's below).
Now that Beckett is one year old I am beginning to teach him to jump a jump with a little height such as the high jump which is only 10-12 inches high. I then introduced him to the bar jump but since it looks different the first few times he did the bar jump there was a jump bump underneath it (see video below). Then for the first time I introduced him to one board of the broad jump, which to me is the most difficult for dogs to do since there does not require the usual elevation of the jump but to miss touching the boards and do a tight turn into the hander.
What I like to do is video tape all our jumping and look at it to see if the distances seem correct and if Beckett's jumping is smooth and confident and his head is down which is why we use a treat on a target or a toy 10 feet away from the last jump. I also like to run the actual jump in slow motion so I can see his jumping style. Of course he is so young and the jumps are so low there will not be collection or rounding over the jump. While I just introduced this to him this past week, we will not be doing a lot of jumping due to the heat of this summer and he is not old enough to add another broad jump or height to his jump. Now all I am trying to do is build his confidence, understanding and love for jumping. What I see in his first video I really like: his form, head down, confidence and style. When he finishes he keeps coming back to get set-up to jump again.
NOTE; Jump training and jumping grids should only be done 5 or 6 times in a training session and only a few times a week.
Video 1: Showing Beckett being introduced to jumping at 11 months. In this video you can easily see the V-shaped first spider jump. I was looking for the correct distance for jump take off, the dog's form, rounding over jump, landing softly and looking forward with head down.
Video 2: Shows Beckett's jumping progression at age 1. Jumps are 6 feet apart; target 10 feet out from last jump to keep head down and looking forward.
Video 3: Shows Beckett being introduced to the 3 obedience jumps using the V placement jump: high, bar and one board of the broad jump.
Video 4: Progression of jump training. This video features Myst who is an advanced obedience dog, now working on her UDX (she has 7 out of 10 legs). Since these jumps are so important and Myst tends to jump too far back I often go back to using the stride regulator (in this case a bar jump) to help her remember her distance to the jump at speed (this girlie is always in full speed). This video shows the progression after the last video to the full demonstration of the Utility GO OUT with the high jump and the Open directed retrieve to the dumbbell.
When we think of dogs jumping we usually think of agility. Since there are only 3 different types of obedience jumps many trainers think it is easy to just get their dogs to go over the jump. There are no special challenges to the jump as there is in agility with tight turns, wraps and speed. However, jumping does not come naturally to a dog and dogs need to learn this process of flight and how to become smooth, balanced and efficient.
"Repetition of jump work done correctly creates understanding for the dog and therefore body relaxation"
Susan Salo
So much of a dogs skill in jumping comes from their conformation and how well they are built for weight transfer and balance. So many times at obedience shows I see dogs studder step when they are doing the Utility high and bar jumps. Not only do they studder step but often they come to a complete stop and hop over the jump. Some dogs come down on top of the jump risking injury. This is obviously not a pretty picture and shows the lack of confidence and jumping skill. Not only is this not a pretty picture but the judge can choose to take off points for bad jumping. A bar knocked down is marked as "non qualifying." A bar that is hit or ticked gets heavy points off.
Susan Salo introduces puppies and dogs to jumping with the use of what has been called the Susan Salo Spider or a V-shaped bounce jump. This V-shaped bounce jump used before the jump (bar, high, broad) helps to teach the dog weight transfer and where to put his hind feed (set point). The two jumps placed together teach the dog where and how to accomplish the jumping task. There are fancy diagrams from Susan Salo and Susan Garrett on how to make a spider jump but I just use jump bars as you will see in the video.
The dog needs to be placed close to the first or V-shaped jump (approximately 12 feet from it) to enable the dog to jump into the space between the 2 jumps and be correct in the place where they will take off for the jump. The distance I use between my 2 jumps is 5 feet - or a bounce over the spider jump and then over the second jump (bar, high, broad jump board).
I introduced Beckett at about 11 months to Susan Salo's spider jump (see video's below).
Now that Beckett is one year old I am beginning to teach him to jump a jump with a little height such as the high jump which is only 10-12 inches high. I then introduced him to the bar jump but since it looks different the first few times he did the bar jump there was a jump bump underneath it (see video below). Then for the first time I introduced him to one board of the broad jump, which to me is the most difficult for dogs to do since there does not require the usual elevation of the jump but to miss touching the boards and do a tight turn into the hander.
What I like to do is video tape all our jumping and look at it to see if the distances seem correct and if Beckett's jumping is smooth and confident and his head is down which is why we use a treat on a target or a toy 10 feet away from the last jump. I also like to run the actual jump in slow motion so I can see his jumping style. Of course he is so young and the jumps are so low there will not be collection or rounding over the jump. While I just introduced this to him this past week, we will not be doing a lot of jumping due to the heat of this summer and he is not old enough to add another broad jump or height to his jump. Now all I am trying to do is build his confidence, understanding and love for jumping. What I see in his first video I really like: his form, head down, confidence and style. When he finishes he keeps coming back to get set-up to jump again.
NOTE; Jump training and jumping grids should only be done 5 or 6 times in a training session and only a few times a week.
Video 1: Showing Beckett being introduced to jumping at 11 months. In this video you can easily see the V-shaped first spider jump. I was looking for the correct distance for jump take off, the dog's form, rounding over jump, landing softly and looking forward with head down.
Video 2: Shows Beckett's jumping progression at age 1. Jumps are 6 feet apart; target 10 feet out from last jump to keep head down and looking forward.
Video 3: Shows Beckett being introduced to the 3 obedience jumps using the V placement jump: high, bar and one board of the broad jump.
Video 4: Progression of jump training. This video features Myst who is an advanced obedience dog, now working on her UDX (she has 7 out of 10 legs). Since these jumps are so important and Myst tends to jump too far back I often go back to using the stride regulator (in this case a bar jump) to help her remember her distance to the jump at speed (this girlie is always in full speed). This video shows the progression after the last video to the full demonstration of the Utility GO OUT with the high jump and the Open directed retrieve to the dumbbell.
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