This post is about how to teach a German Shepherd Dog jumping for agility. Often we are asked, “How many jumps is best to begin with?” You can never have too many solo jumps to teach agility. A suitable starting point is 4 jumps. This is the absolute minimum count of jumps suggested.
How to Teach a German Shepherd Dog jumping: Begin with 4
You can teach the German Shepherd Dog many drills, skills, and exercises with four jumps. 4 jumps will allow you to work on a short jump chute or jump grid. You can setup a “box” with your jumps and practice collection, handling, and 270 degree jumps. You can teach your German Shepherd Dog jumping right and left. You can be out of the box and send your German Shepherd Dog or you can handle from the inside of the box. Your jumps can be positioned in a horizontal line, so you can practice serpentines and threadles.
Teach a German Shepherd Dog Eight Jumps
Take the next logical step and practice 8 jumps. Now you can setup 2 boxes with 1 starter jump. Now you’ve increased the number of routines that you can work on with your German Shepherd Dog. Your jump grids can be of suggested size and number of jumps. You can also setup your jumps in a circle with the jump bars perpendicular to the circle or on the circumference of the circle. This pattern also allows you to train a variety of skills.
Teaching the German Shepherd Dog Double and Triple Jumps
Your next level is a double jump and a triple jump. You can set 2 or three solo jumps together to make your expanded jump, but having double and triple jumps in your course work is really beneficial to practice. We’ve seen several German Shepherd Dogs run a flawless course and the final obstacle is a triple and the German Shepherd Dog is not prepared to do it, and bang, down comes the bar.
Don’t forget to check out these other articles about German Shepherd Dogs.Was this post helpful? If so, please take a minute to Tweet and Share below on Facebook. I would also love to know your thoughts so leave me a comment 🙂
Follow