[Susan Miller]

My boy (4 yo Donovan Pinscher) has never had a problem with the retrieve over the jump. For the last 8 months or so, he's formed a habit of jumping over the right side of the jump. On the return he does the same thing also (jumps on his right). So I broke everything down--started from the beginning. I had him sit in front of the jump, I'd go block the right side of the jump and reward--didn't make him finish. Then we blocked him both going over and coming back. We did this for months. So a few weeks ago, tried a regular retrieve and he's right back to hugging the right side going over and coming back.

Everything else is pretty perfect--the only problem it causes is if I'm standing too close to the jump, his finish is slightly off. Maybe, if I stood slightly off-center then he wouldn't have to adjust to finish. I have no idea what caused him to suddenly prefer the right side. We were thinking now of putting up Styrofoam on both sides to block him but that's basically the same as what we've been doing.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. We have 2 months to work on it.

Thanks,
sue

 

[Jerry Lyda]

It sounds as if he is going over the jump just not in the middle. So why does this bother you?????

 

[Andres Martin]

Yes. Use 6# IGFA test CLEAR fishing line (breaks at 6 lbs or less) and thumbtack it in a diagonal on both sides of the obstacle, thus funneling your dog into the position. Train at dusk, where the line catches no sunlight.

If this is going to work, you'll see it in a couple of sessions. Start low-ish, not all the way to the bottom.

You can then proof it by using an arched top board, and using the lines, to make sure the dog jumps centered.

This has worked for me very well.

 

[Susan Miller]

HI JERRY

He's going over the jump and understands that, but a perfect front finish counts in SchH. If I stand at the center of the jump, he has to adjust himself when he returns in order to finish straight and he doesn't have the room. I was thinking about increasing the distance I stood from the jump so he would have the room to finish perfectly.

 

[Susan Miller]

Andres

What happens if his foot gets caught? He's definitely going to plow through it the first time. What happens with the line--does it break or just tangle around his leg? Do the tacks come loose?

 

[Jerry Lyda]

If you go messing with something that is no big deal you could mess the jump up. I would repossion myself so that he will finsh straight. I know straight finishes count. He friend of mine had to do the same thing with the flat retrieve. The dog would go out straight pick it up and come back on an arch. All he did is throw the dumb bell out off center. Problem eliminated. You can fix yours by giving him more room to finish. Easy fix.

 

[Andres Martin]

The line breaks. When you do it enough, the dog learns the spot where there is no line.

To a good dog, that line is a tiny, tiny learning obstacle. No big deal.

 

[Bob Scott]

Your trying to train two different exercises at the same time. Jumping and the finish. Work on a good, straight finish from any position and the off center jump will be a moot point.
Also, find your dogs stride so you can stand in the same spot all the time. That will help keep his jumping consistant.

 

[Susan Miller]

JUMPS

Here's a little video of my boy almost a year and a half ago.jump

As you can see, he's jumping in the center--and that's how he always jumped--then all of a sudden about 8 months ago, he started hugging the right. Now when he jumps, he makes sort of a "n" because he goes over and comes back on the right and when I stand in the center, he lands on my left. Then he needs to make a big adjustment to end up perfectly centered--he tries, but sometimes he doesn't have enough room. I can't understand what happened. We tried breaking the jump down and retraining it (blocking him so he jumped in the center, rewarded immediately for jumping centered etc.) but just a few days ago when we thought the issue might be fixed and we tried the whole thing together, he hugged the right again both over and back. I want my perfect jumper back. I think we'll try the line thing. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Kristen Cabe]

That link is invalid.

 

[Susan Miller]

Video

try this-touch mouse pointer on vid

</p>

 

[Kristen Cabe]

Here:

http://members.cox.net/stewartmiller/jump.avi