Dog Training: Jumping

( Originally Published 1943 )

Dogs delight to jump altho they may feign fear at first. A puppy can go thru an ordinary playful jumping exercise but the more strenuous exercises should he done only by the dog at least six months old.

Begin with the cane or stick raised about two inches from the floor. Have one end of the stick against the wall so that the dog can not go around the stick.

The command is "jump." Snap your fingers, motion with your arm, and command "jump." Let him walk over it at first or have some one call him across it. Then have him walk or jump hack to you.

A ball or a piece of candy or anything that attracts him can he held on the other side of the stick and in the air.

Another person can hold the stick and you jump over it first and have your dog follow. This plan gives the dog confidence.

Also, run with the dog free by your side and as both of you run, bend down and hold the stick so that he must leap over it as you shout " jump,".

Raise the stick from time to time. The arm later can be used as a stick or the dog can jump thru a hoop formed by the two arms with the finger tips touching.

Outdoors, especially with large dogs or grown dogs, one can begin with a wall eighteen inches high. The trainer goes over it first several times. Then keeping the dog on the lead, be goes over it several times with the dog. Then, with the dog loose, be runs, followed by the dog as in play, and leaps over the wall. Always the command "jump" is given just as the dog gets ready to leap, so that be will think he is doing this because be is commanded "jump." The command should be accompanied with raising of the arm over or to the top of the barrier.

The barrier can be raised a few inches every few days. Do not permit the dog to go around the barrier. If the barrier is high, the trainer stands on the side, partly beyond the barrier. If the barrier can be placed against a wall, the dog can not as easily turn aside.

Do not permit him to give up.He must make the jump successfully at some height. He must believe that always be will succeed in the end. Seven feet is perhaps the highest barrier any dog can clear on a running jump and six feet from a still position, clearing the barrier in the air. Barriers as high as ten feet can be gotten over but the dog must pull himself up as he strikes near the top.