Category: Performance Events ¤
  Author: Sue Ailsby ¤
   Title: Shaping the Broad Jump ¤

How is it that one can be constantly amazed even when one KNOWS what's
going to happen?  Having worked 14 mo Scuba over the high jump lightly for
the last couple of weeks (that is, working her at 8" and having her
volunteer up to 36" when I was NOT working her), we turned our attention
to the dreaded Broad Jump.  Lo the countless hours I have spent in the
Olden Days working on that kerflushiner broad jump!  Lo the countless
stupid gadgets that have been invented and applied to keep dogs from
stepping on or going around that ferklushiner broad jump!  I was giving a
talk on the CKC rule changes to local exhibitors and instructors, so I
went down to my building half an hour early to start on the broad jump.
Sure enough, several dyed-in-the-wool J&P trainers showed up early and
witnessed the whole thing - if THIS doesn't get them thinking, they are
blind, deaf, and terminally stupid...

I started with one board, clicking her for looking at the board.  It took
her about 30 seconds to extrapolate from the high jump to try jumping over
the board, jackpot.  I added another board and pushed the two together.
She jumped over about six more times, then tried a paw touch.  Paw touch.
several paw touches.  Three, then four (standing on it).  Then she got off
and jumped it - jackpot.  Tried touching it again.  Then jumped it again -
jackpot.  Then she consistently jumped it about 12 times back and forth
and I moved the boards apart a bit.  She tried touching and walking and
standing again, then jumped them - jackpot.  In the half hour we worked,
we got the two BJ boards up to about 40" apart with nothing but floor in
between, with me standing in the correct position, or back at the start,
or on the other side, or 5' back from the correct position, or anywhere in
between, and her clearing it.  We also tried a couple of entire chains
with the sit-stay, correct position, send, pivot, front, finish, which she
did perfectly.  Then it was time to quit.  EEEE HAH!!!

Last night we spent another 10 minutes on it, added another board and got
the distance up to about 5', and she still doesn't care where I stand, and
comes around to get herself back into position for the next leap.  I even
tried sitting on the pause table (to retain my exalted position in the
Couch Trainers group) - made NO difference.  So in 2 sessions totally 40
minutes, she's gone WAY beyond what she needs to know to do the broad jump
in competition (well, y'know, besides proofing and attention and stuff),
including me not worrying about whether she'll step in the spaces, whether
she'll cut the corner to get back to me, and whether she's going to clear
her distance (she's 21" tall so will be BJing 42", and in the first
session she was offering 60").

An amusement - when I added the third board and reduced the distance a
bit, she neatly jumped the first TWO boards and delicately landed between
the second and third, finishing up by popping out over the third.  This
got her nothing, though she expected it to cough up a reward.  Interesting
how she had been concentrating on jumping TWO boards, rather than thinking
about clearing the LAST board, eh?  She thought about this for a moment,
staring at non-productive jump, then came around and tried again.  This
time her HEAD and BODY abviously had decided to clear the entire jump
including the third board, but in mid-jump her LEGS forgot and tried to go
down between 2nd and 3rd again.  Fortunately the body carried her through
to the end ;-) .

A caveat - this is a very active and athletic 40 pound Portuguese Water
Dog who is not physically OR mentally stressed by jumping 5'.  If I was
teaching this to the heavier Giant, I'd be going much slower (not that
they need it either - THEY can do 7' over a fence from a standing start).

And an un-amusing thought - what the J&P trainers undoubtedly took home
with them was the horrible thought that I was ALLOWING the dog to STEP on
the Broad Jump, let alone WALK THROUGH it.  Sigh.

Sue eh?
Scuba Satan-Spawn (those are WAY COOL **AND** ya get treats for doing
them!)
Song The Wonder Schnauzer (yeah, well *I* get to do go-backs!)