Part 1

Hello, fellow dog sports enthusiast! I hope you and your training partner are fairing well during this time of social distancing. Don’t let the boredom of interrupted training routines or cancelled classes derail your handler/dog successes.

As a responsible trainer, I too have postponed my classes. In efforts to keep my students on track, I will be sharing some training content with everybody. I am dedicating my next few blogs to aid with training at home. Starting with jump foundations. 

Now is also the perfect time to add some new tricks to your dogs resume. You can see my previous blog about the importance of trick training here. I am an AKC Evaluator as well as a Certified Trick Instructor (Do More With Your Dog). AKC has recently approved the submission of video evaluations for trick titles. I’ll be happy to evaluate your trick submission videos at no charge if a trick title is on your Covid-19 agenda.  Not sure where to start, join my facebook trick group.

So, let’s talk about building those agility jumps. Even if you don’t train in agility, you can still create fun training scenarios with some jumps in the back yard (small space approved). As a canine fitness trainer please be aware that young dogs (less than 18 months) should not jump at height (keep the bar at the first cup height or simply place the bar on the ground) because their growth plates need to be closed before you can safely jump your dog. Jump “bumps” are a useful training tool, don’t be so eager to “raise the bar” on your dogs jump game. Please subscribe to my blog, I will post exercises in a few days that will scratch your “newly built jumps” itch!

A special thanks to my lovely husband for building me jumps over the years and making some detailed instructions to share with you. Please email us with questions or if you run into any trouble.

Supplies: