Retrieve Over Jump

[wuffles]

We are currently competing in Open obedience. My girl jumps really early when going over the solid jump. She's making my instructors (and judges) cringe because she always looks like she's going to hit it. Sometimes she does, but it doesn't appear to bother her (but of course I am worried that she could hurt herself).

We also do agility and she jumps early then as well, but has been improving with some jump grids and knocks bars a lot less often than she used to. The consensus at agility is not that she has a mental problem working out the distance, it's that she seems to think that jumping earlier will get her over the jump faster ;) It appears this way with the dumbbell too.

Has anyone encountered this, or have any suggestions to help her jump at the right time for the retrieve? It makes no difference where I set her up in front of the jump.

[canine fun sports]

We are currently competing in Open obedience. My girl jumps really early when going over the solid jump. She's making my instructors (and judges) cringe because she always looks like she's going to hit it. Sometimes she does, but it doesn't appear to bother her (but of course I am worried that she could hurt herself).

We also do agility and she jumps early then as well, but has been improving with some jump grids and knocks bars a lot less often than she used to. The consensus at agility is not that she has a mental problem working out the distance, it's that she seems to think that jumping earlier will get her over the jump faster ;) It appears this way with the dumbbell too.

Has anyone encountered this, or have any suggestions to help her jump at the right time for the retrieve? It makes no difference where I set her up in front of the jump.

There are several jumping exercises you can use. There are many types of jumping grids but a good idea would be to do both contracting and expanding grids to help her judge her take-off. A jumping chute with irregularly placed jumps will also help. Use a ground bar to help her judge her take-off. Try some straddle jumps to teach her to bring her himd legs up underneath her on take-off. Also using a barrel will help her learn to jump with a rounded trajectory.

All these will help, but probably not give you a total cure.

Cheers,

Edited March 14, 2012 by canine fun sports

[Aussienot]

Pratice using three, five or seven jumps in a row. Vary the distances between the jumps. A dog can get over one and maybe two jumps with poor jumping style, but three will show up the problems. Let her work out how many strides to take in between jumps. Keep working on jumping grids until you see an improvement. Then go back to one jump, then add the dumbell work.

[Lablover]

While visiting my canine eye specialist for a breed check today, I enquired whether dogs like humans can be short or long sighted.

The reply was YES.

I have an interesting article if you would like me to add.

[jeb5]

Hi

It never ceases to amaze me at the involved and convoluted answers one sees on this forum without first asking the 2 VITAL questions.

1. Does my dog understand what is required?

2. Is he/she physically capable of doing what is required?

In this case the most simple explanation would appear to be that the dog has an eyesight problem as suggested by Lablover and that all other remedies should be discounted until the dogs physical status is established.

Our dogs are very accomodating and generally wish to comply with our wishes. Why do we persist in looking for answers that are so complicated and that will only lead to confusion in the dog's mind, an inability for the dog to follow our requests and the resulting frustration on our part.

KIS KEEP IT SIMPLE.

[dragonwoman]

Hi

It never ceases to amaze me at the involved and convoluted answers one sees on this forum without first asking the 2 VITAL questions.

1. Does my dog understand what is required?

2. Is he/she physically capable of doing what is required?

In this case the most simple explanation would appear to be that the dog has an eyesight problem as suggested by Lablover and that all other remedies should be discounted until the dogs physical status is established.

Our dogs are very accomodating and generally wish to comply with our wishes. Why do we persist in looking for answers that are so complicated and that will only lead to confusion in the dog's mind, an inability for the dog to follow our requests and the resulting frustration on our part.

KIS KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Exactly. Dogs can have depth/height perception problems with eyesight Get a specialist checkup done Also have dog checked out physically by vet, etc who knows musculo/skeletal stuff. Some dogs rush things because they want to get them over with because they are actually stressed by them. Some people mistake this for enthusiasm, Have been there myself with a couple of my dogs over the years, and they were high achievers too

[wuffles]

Thanks those that have given advice, I will try find some time to go do more jumping exercises with her. Aussienot, it is obvious when she does a few jumps in a row at different distances apart that her jumping style is pretty average I call it the "Superman". The first time she runs an exercise like this, she often finds it difficult. The second time she generally has no issues and by the third she does it perfectly. So more of this is definitely required, then I will try translate it to a solid jump then a retrieve.

She has a clear eye certificate from when she was a pup, and I have asked a vet who sees no problems with her eyes. She can spot a cat in the distance from 100m away, and shows no problems in any other exercise including distance control. She picks up items and fetches fine. It is of course possible that she is long sighted, but seeing as we can't get her glasses, I'd prefer if she just learnt to jump a bit later :laugh:

She has been checked by a vet and regularly goes to the chiro.

Yes she understands what is required.

It is possible she is stressed by the jump. However, she appears to love it, and will willingly jump over obstacles without being told (even if at the park play with other dogs, for example, she will take a detour just to jump over a log).

[perfect partners]

Thanks those that have given advice, I will try find some time to go do more jumping exercises with her. Aussienot, it is obvious when she does a few jumps in a row at different distances apart that her jumping style is pretty average I call it the "Superman". The first time she runs an exercise like this, she often finds it difficult. The second time she generally has no issues and by the third she does it perfectly. So more of this is definitely required, then I will try translate it to a solid jump then a retrieve.

She has a clear eye certificate from when she was a pup, and I have asked a vet who sees no problems with her eyes. She can spot a cat in the distance from 100m away, and shows no problems in any other exercise including distance control. She picks up items and fetches fine. It is of course possible that she is long sighted, but seeing as we can't get her glasses, I'd prefer if she just learnt to jump a bit later :laugh:

She has been checked by a vet and regularly goes to the chiro.

Yes she understands what is required.

It is possible she is stressed by the jump. However, she appears to love it, and will willingly jump over obstacles without being told (even if at the park play with other dogs, for example, she will take a detour just to jump over a log).

Buy or borrow Susan Salo's Foundation Jumping DVDs (set of 4). They contain lots of different grids to teach the dog to use its body correctly over jumps and judge it's stride. She was a jumping rider and has now used her knowledge of teaching horses to jump correctly to teaching dogs. It is common for inexperienced horses to take off too early too.

[wuffles]

Thanks those that have given advice, I will try find some time to go do more jumping exercises with her. Aussienot, it is obvious when she does a few jumps in a row at different distances apart that her jumping style is pretty average I call it the "Superman". The first time she runs an exercise like this, she often finds it difficult. The second time she generally has no issues and by the third she does it perfectly. So more of this is definitely required, then I will try translate it to a solid jump then a retrieve.

She has a clear eye certificate from when she was a pup, and I have asked a vet who sees no problems with her eyes. She can spot a cat in the distance from 100m away, and shows no problems in any other exercise including distance control. She picks up items and fetches fine. It is of course possible that she is long sighted, but seeing as we can't get her glasses, I'd prefer if she just learnt to jump a bit later :laugh:

She has been checked by a vet and regularly goes to the chiro.

Yes she understands what is required.

It is possible she is stressed by the jump. However, she appears to love it, and will willingly jump over obstacles without being told (even if at the park play with other dogs, for example, she will take a detour just to jump over a log).

Buy or borrow Susan Salo's Foundation Jumping DVDs (set of 4). They contain lots of different grids to teach the dog to use its body correctly over jumps and judge it's stride. She was a jumping rider and has now used her knowledge of teaching horses to jump correctly to teaching dogs. It is common for inexperienced horses to take off too early too.

I already have them They are just very time consuming and it's hard to get the right equipment. But I already know I need to rewatch them :laugh:

[perfect partners]

Thanks those that have given advice, I will try find some time to go do more jumping exercises with her. Aussienot, it is obvious when she does a few jumps in a row at different distances apart that her jumping style is pretty average I call it the "Superman". The first time she runs an exercise like this, she often finds it difficult. The second time she generally has no issues and by the third she does it perfectly. So more of this is definitely required, then I will try translate it to a solid jump then a retrieve.

She has a clear eye certificate from when she was a pup, and I have asked a vet who sees no problems with her eyes. She can spot a cat in the distance from 100m away, and shows no problems in any other exercise including distance control. She picks up items and fetches fine. It is of course possible that she is long sighted, but seeing as we can't get her glasses, I'd prefer if she just learnt to jump a bit later :laugh:

She has been checked by a vet and regularly goes to the chiro.

Yes she understands what is required.

It is possible she is stressed by the jump. However, she appears to love it, and will willingly jump over obstacles without being told (even if at the park play with other dogs, for example, she will take a detour just to jump over a log).

Buy or borrow Susan Salo's Foundation Jumping DVDs (set of 4). They contain lots of different grids to teach the dog to use its body correctly over jumps and judge it's stride. She was a jumping rider and has now used her knowledge of teaching horses to jump correctly to teaching dogs. It is common for inexperienced horses to take off too early too.

I already have them They are just very time consuming and it's hard to get the right equipment. But I already know I need to rewatch them :laugh:

Time consuming?? ...watching the DVDs or doing the grids? I just set up the first exercise and work on that, just a few runs at a time, when the dog can do that one, I move on to the next one. You can buy pre-cut pvc and joiners to make a few jumps, at Bunnings, and get the cups from Clean Run. Taking the time to do the grids is well worth it as if the dog jumps incorrectly it puts a lot more strain on its body.

[wuffles]

Thanks those that have given advice, I will try find some time to go do more jumping exercises with her. Aussienot, it is obvious when she does a few jumps in a row at different distances apart that her jumping style is pretty average I call it the "Superman". The first time she runs an exercise like this, she often finds it difficult. The second time she generally has no issues and by the third she does it perfectly. So more of this is definitely required, then I will try translate it to a solid jump then a retrieve.

She has a clear eye certificate from when she was a pup, and I have asked a vet who sees no problems with her eyes. She can spot a cat in the distance from 100m away, and shows no problems in any other exercise including distance control. She picks up items and fetches fine. It is of course possible that she is long sighted, but seeing as we can't get her glasses, I'd prefer if she just learnt to jump a bit later :laugh:

She has been checked by a vet and regularly goes to the chiro.

Yes she understands what is required.

It is possible she is stressed by the jump. However, she appears to love it, and will willingly jump over obstacles without being told (even if at the park play with other dogs, for example, she will take a detour just to jump over a log).

Buy or borrow Susan Salo's Foundation Jumping DVDs (set of 4). They contain lots of different grids to teach the dog to use its body correctly over jumps and judge it's stride. She was a jumping rider and has now used her knowledge of teaching horses to jump correctly to teaching dogs. It is common for inexperienced horses to take off too early too.

I already have them They are just very time consuming and it's hard to get the right equipment. But I already know I need to rewatch them :laugh:

Time consuming?? ...watching the DVDs or doing the grids? I just set up the first exercise and work on that, just a few runs at a time, when the dog can do that one, I move on to the next one. You can buy pre-cut pvc and joiners to make a few jumps, at Bunnings, and get the cups from Clean Run. Taking the time to do the grids is well worth it as if the dog jumps incorrectly it puts a lot more strain on its body.

Doing the grids. I have 4 homemade jumps but they don't fit in the backyard so I have to lug them to the local oval to practice. Yes I know I am making excuses. I will get out there and do it!

[perfect partners]

Thanks those that have given advice, I will try find some time to go do more jumping exercises with her. Aussienot, it is obvious when she does a few jumps in a row at different distances apart that her jumping style is pretty average I call it the "Superman". The first time she runs an exercise like this, she often finds it difficult. The second time she generally has no issues and by the third she does it perfectly. So more of this is definitely required, then I will try translate it to a solid jump then a retrieve.

She has a clear eye certificate from when she was a pup, and I have asked a vet who sees no problems with her eyes. She can spot a cat in the distance from 100m away, and shows no problems in any other exercise including distance control. She picks up items and fetches fine. It is of course possible that she is long sighted, but seeing as we can't get her glasses, I'd prefer if she just learnt to jump a bit later :laugh:

She has been checked by a vet and regularly goes to the chiro.

Yes she understands what is required.

It is possible she is stressed by the jump. However, she appears to love it, and will willingly jump over obstacles without being told (even if at the park play with other dogs, for example, she will take a detour just to jump over a log).

Buy or borrow Susan Salo's Foundation Jumping DVDs (set of 4). They contain lots of different grids to teach the dog to use its body correctly over jumps and judge it's stride. She was a jumping rider and has now used her knowledge of teaching horses to jump correctly to teaching dogs. It is common for inexperienced horses to take off too early too.

I already have them They are just very time consuming and it's hard to get the right equipment. But I already know I need to rewatch them :laugh:

Time consuming?? ...watching the DVDs or doing the grids? I just set up the first exercise and work on that, just a few runs at a time, when the dog can do that one, I move on to the next one. You can buy pre-cut pvc and joiners to make a few jumps, at Bunnings, and get the cups from Clean Run. Taking the time to do the grids is well worth it as if the dog jumps incorrectly it puts a lot more strain on its body.

Doing the grids. I have 4 homemade jumps but they don't fit in the backyard so I have to lug them to the local oval to practice. Yes I know I am making excuses. I will get out there and do it!

That does make it a bit harder! It will be worthwhile though. Do you have anyone you can train with - that makes it a bit more motivating.

[Kavik]

I would look at CFS advice too - might be a judging takeoff issue and some of her suggestions may help.