Staranais Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) So, after my girl's shoulder surgery & looong recovery, we've finally gotten the OK to do all the normal things that normal dogs do. I've just started jumping her a little bit - largely just to help tire her out, although it's also possible we may end up doing working trials at some point which require jumping. I am wondering if there's anything I can do at this early stage to improve her jumping style & teach her a good technique? I've taken a little video footage of her, and she seems (to me) to take off quite early. But since I've never taught jumping before, I could be wrong about that, & perhaps she knows exactly what she's doing! She seems to clear the jump easily most of the time, but occasionally will knock the bar. At the moment she's jumping half height (45cm), and I'm sending her over the jump towards a target. Here's the footage in case anyone knowledgeable cares to have a look, would appreciate any analysis, tips, or suggestions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFC_8ap15BA Edited March 12, 2011 by Staranais Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Star - my recommendation would be to follow the Susan Salo jumping programme - trouble is, it's a lot of DVDs - but Susan is a horse person, whos does agility as well. She is primarily concerned about the dogs learning correct functional jumping style - when to collect, when to extend, how to figur out take-off, how to jump with the body organised ....and incidentally, the ability to jump independently of handler - so in agility terms, once the dog has been given the line and the indication of which obstacle(s) to take next, it is the dog's responsibility (having been taught to jump correctly) to take the jumps. Clean Run has her DVDs - and you can see some examples in the list if you google Susan Salo.t A book which came out a while ago (before SS) written by a sports med vet/agility competitor, might also be useful and interesting to you. Here's a link to an article about the book and here's one to the book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions but I really can't buy any more DVDs (or attend an agility club) until I graduate next year and get money (and at least a little bit of time) back! Will request the book at my library via interloan though and see what they can turn up, it sounds really interesting so hopefully they can source it for me. Did she look like she's jumping too soon to you, or is it just me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 I am not an expert at jumping style (I haven't done any gridwork with my fella, as he seems to have a good natural jumping style and doesn't drop bars or having any jumping issues that I can tell) but she looks OK to me. I tried to watch the Susan Salo DVDs but found them rather boring and I couldn't stay engaged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 She doesn't look like she's jumping early. She is hitting the top of the arc over the jump which is what you want. Only problem is that it's not much of an arc. Personally I would jump her higher if she is up to it physically. She's jumping quite flat b/c the jump is too low for her. You can see that she is not really using her rear end to jump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Thanks Kavik & Vickie! That makes sense, Vickie. I thought I'd be better easing her into it gently since she's never really jumped before & I didn't want her to strain anything - didn't realise that having the jump set so low might be teaching her bad habits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) No worries. Lots of people would probably disagree with me, but I never start mine low. They don't jump till they're physically ready & start on competition height. I do some grids to teach them to use their rear end to jump & some to teach collection & extension. Others do heaps more. Just a personal thing I guess, but I've seen too many dogs with poor jumping styles who have done excessive foundation grids so have decided it's not for me or my dogs. And I guess it's a bit of the old "if it ain't broke..." Edited March 12, 2011 by Vickie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 Interesting, thanks Vickie. I guess everyone has different ideas how to do everything, like everything in dog training. It looks like she knows what she's doing at this height, so I will try her on higher jumps to see how she does - although not straight to the full 90cm in case she does tweak something. One thing I noticed from filming her is that she appears to always land first on her left leg - (interestingly, that's the one we operated on) - do you know if dogs typically have one leg they prefer to jump on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Interesting, thanks Vickie. I guess everyone has different ideas how to do everything, like everything in dog training. It looks like she knows what she's doing at this height, so I will try her on higher jumps to see how she does - although not straight to the full 90cm in case she does tweak something. One thing I noticed from filming her is that she appears to always land first on her left leg - (interestingly, that's the one we operated on) - do you know if dogs typically have one leg they prefer to jump on? Yes, there has been some research done as part of a guide dogs program for trainability. really interesting study actually. Here is a link to some info on it Study Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vickie Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Dogs land on their leading leg. If they are turning to their right, their front right should hit first, left, left will hit first. When dogs are going in a straight line, their leading leg will generally be the one on the same side as the handler. Generally, dogscan be left or right handed & lots of them can be quite one sided when they start agility, but this should be overidden by what I have written above Edited March 12, 2011 by Vickie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted March 12, 2011 Share Posted March 12, 2011 Yes, jump to low for her to be developing style I agree very much with others mentioning. Beautiful girl she looks, hoping she trial in the Schutzhund/IPO one day yes, leave the agility to the Border Collie and give her a real job that use her ability and drives 100%. Thank your for sharing video, watched them all, very nice working. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted March 12, 2011 Author Share Posted March 12, 2011 (edited) Nah, she's a working dog not a sport dog. I'm working towards qualifying her & myself as an operational SAR team. Although if we're unsuccessful, then IPO might be another good plan to keep her occupied. Thanks for the kind words Joe! ETA - also, thanks Aussielover, that's fascinating. And thanks again Vickie. Where are my manners this morning? Edited March 12, 2011 by Staranais Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 I don't follow a particular method for teaching my dogs jumping, but I do do exercises that teach them to jump well and get good height and a nice round shape to their jump. I do do grids and off set jumps etc and change distance between jumps, to even quite close to get them to bounce the jump so the learn to really sit back on their haunches and shorten their stride when required. Most of what I do come from my horse back ground though, I do what I can to make the dog an independent thinking jumper who can shorthen or lengthen their stride easily and quickly so they are not in danger of ever crashing or knocking their jumps. I also use ground rails from time to time which I have noticed SS does do, to help them to take off closer or further away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Just watched then vid. Theere is a beam of light going over the jump lol- was that intentional? She is a lovely looking dog! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staranais Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Haha, no, that was entirely incidental. I was just happy to get the entire dog in the shot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted March 13, 2011 Share Posted March 13, 2011 Nah, she's a working dog not a sport dog. I'm working towards qualifying her & myself as an operational SAR team. Although if we're unsuccessful, then IPO might be another good plan to keep her occupied. Thanks for the kind words Joe! ETA - also, thanks Aussielover, that's fascinating. And thanks again Vickie. Where are my manners this morning? Yes, she's beautiful girl, very nice size she looks is substantial bitch from my seeing with good reactions and focus, nice handler bond with the dog. My best wishes for your future, she looks to have the drives to do anything in working roles you put to her. The Malinios distinctive have what I say is the kick out on the back legs on the jumping when working in power and you see what I mean on a higher jump. She just stepping over, is too easy for her. Is best for the dog to teach a retrieve on the jump too, gives her more to think about, throw the tug over the jump, she jump, she pick up and jump back over to a front sit is good like the Schutzhund obedience is very good foundation in the working dog. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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