Dog Anticipates
Jumping Command
Alternate the Sit-stay with the Jumping
command. Leave your dog sitting in front of the first hurdle. Take
your position to the right of the jump. Wait a few moments, then
return to heel position. Leave your dog again. Do this until the dog
no longer anticipates the Jumping command. If she starts before she
is told, tell her emphatically, “STAY!”
Dog Doesn’t
Jump On First Command Or Signal
See page 40 for on-leash
training.
Off-leash correction: Ask an assistant to stand
close to and directly in back of your dog. Give the Jumping command
and follow the command with praise. If the dog doesn’t start, ask the
assistant to tap the dog gently with the toe of her shoe. Your praise
and the clapping of your hands should convince the dog the correction
was sort of “accidental.” An alternate correction is to
toss something in back of her when she doesn’t start, providing she
is not the scary type; but the most satisfactory method of overcoming
this BROAD JUMP problem is to teach your dog that “Jump!”
means jump, best accomplished through proper timing when the leash is
on.
Dog Doesn’t Jump High Enough
Put
your dog on leash. (The leash is to keep the dog from running around
the ends.) Ask two assistants to stand, one on each side of the
hurdle, and to hold the bar from the Bar Jump between them, directly
above the jump. The height should be equal to what the dog jumps when
retrieving over the hurdle. Make the dog jump back and forth several
times so she will learn to jump height as well as breadth.
Dog
Walks Over Broad Jump
Ask two assistants to stand, one on each
side of the hurdle, and to hold the bar of the Bar Jump between them
but lower than the top of the first hurdle. With your dog on leash,
give the Jumping command. Follow the command with praise. If your dog
starts to amble across, ask the assistants to raise the bar and move
it parallel to the floor in the direction the dog is jumping. In the
meantime, use the leash and pull the dog across. The moving of the
bar lengthens the over-all jump and by doing this over and over, your
dog may learn to leap the full Broad Jump length. If there is no one
to assist, secure a piece of chicken wire or hardware cloth. Lay this
on top of the jump. If, after two or three tries, your dog clears the
jump, fool her by working the wire under one hurdle at a time. Later,
take it away entirely. By using ingenuity, you may discover your own
cure for the dog that walks on top of the Broad Jump. Design a jump
that will “give.” One that will trip. Or, place on top
something other than chicken wire that your dog will want to
avoid.
Dog Goes Wide On The Return
With your dog on
leash, and ready for the jump, give the command and the moment she
lands on the opposite side, call out a loud “COME!” then
snap the leash hard. After you snap it, give praise and coax her to
sit close, then pat her. When you take the leash off, use a forceful
command. Dog Walks To Owner Without Jumping
Hold the bar from
the Bar Jump, or the two or four inch board from the Solid Hurdle,
vertically in your left hand. When the dog starts to amble toward you
instead of jumping, drop the bar or the board directly in front of
her, After you block her, encourage her to jump by grabbing the
collar and helping her across. An assistant can make the correction
by standing a few feet away to the dog’s right and holding the bar or
the board in her right hand. When the dog cuts toward the owner, the
object is made to fall directly in the dog’s path. The owner then
playfully encourages the dog to jump as she should.
Dog Cuts
Corners To The Right
Stand close to the jump. Give the Jumping
command and WHILE THE DOG IS LANDING, lift your knee or your foot and
bump the dog as she comes down. Pat her!
Dog Cuts Corners To
The Left
The same, but have an assistant do the “bumping.”
Off-leash corrections can be made by having two assistants, one on
each side of the jump. If the dog cuts to either side, one of the
assistants drops something as if by accident. The noise should make
the dog veer toward the center of the jump.
