can not jump!!!!! - Page 1

I am currently training a gsd (showlines) for a client to get a BH. This dog has a wonderful temperment very good looking (show judge commented that the dog should V any were)low to medium drive for food no toy drive. the owner just wants a BH to tell her friends about how good her dog is. so while working the dog a couple of times, just for fun, i would do some jumping on a adjustable PVC jumps. (I use PVC jumps for teaching because they are very light and if the dog crashes into them they just fall apart and no one gets hurt.) after the first time i did the jump he didn't seem to be able to clear it so i thought he just didn't know how to jump. so i started at the begining like i would a dog that never jumped before. he did fine and seemed to enjoy the work until i reached about 30 inches. he was still enjoying the work at 30 but could not seem to be able to clear it. this dog is not a puppy he is almost 32 months old, has fast normal hip and elb in great heath. i have also noticed this problem in other show dogs. are breeders now breeding dogs that can't jump? if this dog has the correct structure for a gsd then why can't it jump over 30 inches.

Can he run? I mean really run not trot, faster than 15 mph? I have a showline just like you describe. It took me months to get her to break a trot and her full speed in just over 10mph. I wondered myself if she has a disk problem or if it's just a showline thing. After hearing some show people talk about the training and fitness routines for their dogs, I have come to believe many showlines don't come close to workingline dogs in physical ability.

he runs fine. he is no lightning bolt but faster than 15. physical ability is what I'm starting to question in the showlines.

Well I can say the Showline female I had could jump like a deer and was very athletic. She had a VA Sire and a V Dam.

When Remmi (showline) was a puppy we laughed alot.  She was like Chevy Chase when he parodied Gerald Ford on Saturday Night Live.  When I took her to obedience class at my (working line) breeder friend's house it really pointed out the differences between the lines.  A pup he had bred was there. Where Remmi was gangly and romped around the other was more composed and agile.  Remmi is very athletic now at 2 yrs., can jump very high, runs fast enough to have killed four birds.  But, my friend's working line 3 yr old hits his speed quicker and is more catlike in reflexes.  More like small muscle twitch versus large muscle twitch.

This is just what I've observed.

Regards,

Dawg

by no means do i think all showline dogs cnnot jump. i have just noticed this in the very few that i have witness in training. 98% of the dogs i get to see work are workinglines. i was told that the one i'm training has very good structure. i just can't see how this can be a very good structured dog if it can't jump.

I would think most showlines can jump especially if titled as they have to jump in Schutzhund etc..

Workingdawg,

I'm no expert by any means, but there must be something physical.  My Havanese is only 9 pounds and can easily jump higher than 30 inches. I don't mean to sound like a know-it-all because I don't know much.  But, when a horse is refusing a jump and he doesn't have an objection to jumping in general, it often turns out to be a misalignment of the spine needing a chiropracter.

Just a thought.

Dawg

Is the dog overweight?

he is not overweight but is a big dog. he could use a few extra pounds