Broad jump woes... please help... losing my cool - Page 2

Thank you everyone for your support and instruction.  This trainer is VERY experienced with AKC obedience, and I agree with her on almost everything.  However, I know my dog, and I know this isn't working for him.  We've been set back twice now because I get him doing it well at home, then I get to class and she wants us to do it differently.  I guess I need to just tell her I'm not going to do it her way... it's not working for my dog. 

Again, thank you.  You've all given me hope.  I'm PMing everyone.

Kai,
Try to make it fun, work on it by yourself.
It seems like the dog isn't understanding the corrections for one thing.
I don't know how the AKC does it either...  not my cup of tea.
But you can set something up on your own and use your head.  Thats where the fun comes in, you and your dog figure it out together.
Moons.

I do Workig Trials and the long jump is 9ft long.

I put in tracking poles at each corner when training to keep dog straight
I NEVER use a toy when training jumps as I believe that the dog then does not focus on the jumps but it may work for your dog(s).
I also put a hurdle in the middle to encourage a good arc.
coming from an equestrian background I also pay attention to where the dog takes off and place the dog so that it is in the correct take off point.  If a long jump is 5ins high then that is how far away the dog should be from the jump when it takes off.  I experiment with my dog to see the optimum distance where he takes full strides and does not have to put in half a one.  When experienced I then ask the dog to take off from anywhere and vary the land so he learns to compensate for difficulties himself.

One of the best books ever written about training a dog to jump is by Suzanne Clothier but I think it is out of print, another good one is Teaching yoru dog to soar by Chriz Zink.

Adding to the previous great advice, you may want to look into target training. Distance work. Motivational behavior shaping.
Works great!

I agree with Kczaja and Two moons, they need to love it and have fun, if not leave it or you will have a dog who may turn on you.Remember your dog wants to please YOU not the trainer,learn techniques that work for your dog and you train, adjust to what works or not, but no one should correct but you I dont, just distract and regroup. I have a female who does bite work on a car tire in a tree, can find our cat with in a mile, obeys all commands, is a controlled PPD,as well as great with kids and small pets(not so much big dogs). All trained by me 53, 95lbs. Just slow down and have some fun your not training a police or military dog .I put bags of dirt for my garden in a pile ,in a corner and had my 2 year old grandson call my girl, she had no way to get to him but to jump. She did and was so proud. That is what we are talking about FUN! Try  some and just ask members how to work on problems that are fun . They have trained alot of dogs . Best to you.

Now, I always reward my dogs with a toy,  jumps included. Again, never had a problem with them. Will try to get those pics tommorrow, didn't have anyone to help me take them today.

Hi everybody-
I took my dog and a handful of treats out to the BJ in the back yard.  I took out 2 boards.  I got him reved up just playing around.  Then I started giving him treats around the jump.  He didn't seem phased, so I ran over it with him a few times.  I just made it fun and informal.  He seemed fine, so we quit and went for a walk.  I'll do this for awhile, and build up using the techniques described here.   It's amazing how resilient and forgiving our dogs are.

This experience has reminded me that I did not get this dog for competition.  I got him as a companion, and he's first rate at that.  Anything else is bonus.  I need to remember to just have fun, and not stress.  Most of all, if anyone, regardless of their qualifications tells me to do something that I know isn't working for my dog, I need to stand up for him.  There will be absolutely no more corrections on this; he doesn't need them.  He just needs to understand what I'm asking.

Thank you everyone.  As someone kindly pointed out by PM, if we didn't make mistakes we wouldn't learn.  Making mistakes still sucks, though.

      Back up an retrain the broad jump in a more fun way useing toys , food.    Start with one or two boards, if he has a tendency to walk on them you can tip one on its side to discourage this.  Run with him, and have him jump with you, quickly give him his reward.   After you have worked up to the four boards leave him in a sit stay, go to other side of jump facing him and call him and give what command you use to jump have him sit in front of you, reward and release.   Some of the time repeat and throw toy between your  legs as soon as he clears jump, have him get the toy , call him  as soon as he get the toy and when he gets you reward with treat.  All we are trying to do here is have the broad jump a fun thing and control his jumping so he jumps stright over it.    You can teach a low bar jump the same way.  When he is having fun going over the jumps you can start putting it together.     I use the two jumps together, have the low bar jump a few paces in front of the broad jump.  You can run along side him a few times at first to make sure he knows to take both jumps.    When you start leaving him to jump stand two feet back from the side of the bar jump just like you would for the broad jump.   Then gradually start moving back to where you will be standing by the broad jump at the shows.    In practice I always use the bar jump most of the time, this get the dog used to jumping in a stright line and not cutting the corners of the broad jump.  It also makes for a more gentle turn after the jump which I think is easier on the dogs body.  I have done this with other breed besides my shepherds and it has worked well.  Also when you train just jump him three times and quit, keep it short simple and FUN!