36. Broad Jump Problems How To Overcome Them

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.

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