[maryj]

ive read that letting your dog jump or even walk to much at a young age you can some how blow something in their leg? is this true?
when should i wait till i let mj go crazy jumping... i try my hardest not to let her since ive been messing around with the flirt pole.. and i learned the trick... she loves it. but she also loves jumping even tho i dont make her she does it im guessing outta excitement lol what do you all think?

 

[performanceknls]

You want to limit jumping till they are about 12 months to 18 months. If you damage a growth plate your dog can problems for the rest of their life. Keep spring poles so all 4 feet are on the ground when young, no jumping with flirt poles, or any other jumping. When doing agility you can teach a pup to jump and go through the up rights of jumps you just put the jumps at 4-8" depending on how old the dog is.

 

[MY MIKADO]

How old is your pup? I would never make my dog do alot of jumping but if she wants to jump on the hay or onto the picnic table I didnt stop her. I think there is a difference between forcing a dog to do a repeative movement that could harm them and then just letting them be pups and act crazy if they want.

 

[performanceknls]

:goodpost: I agree pups will be pups

Since this is in the agility area if you are looking for jumping drills for you pup or older dog this is how I teach them to find jumps and the uprights. When I am working a young dog like under 4 months I will take the bar off the jump and do it with no jump bar. When the pup is 4-6 months I will put the jump at 4". Then at 6-10 months 8" is ok but again I do not jump puppies much just little exercises like this are just fine.
When I work my older dogs I always work them low when doing jumping drills so not to jar the joints repeatedly. When they are old I will work on jumping full height but it is more important to work on find the jumps without your help than it is to learn jumping at an early age. Now some trainers disagree and will wait to do any jumping till the dog is 18 months old then will jump them full height right away.
I am more cautious and I want my dogs to be able to run till they are old not till about
7. Over jumping a dog wears down the body and they will have a shorter career. Not all dogs are built like a Border Collie.

 

[maryj]

:goodpost: Lisa.

and shes about to turn 5 months, i understand purposely making them jump and them doing it on their own, what i mean is when i use the pole every now and then i keep it easy and low at a quick enough pace; she sees it she knows whats gonna happen and she goes crazy lol starts jumping at the actual pole, i just dont want her to get hurt because shes having to much fun... lol

 

[performanceknls]

Tempest broke her toe when she was about 12 weeks from jumping off the couch like under dog! lol I let my pups be pups but try to avoid things that can damage them for working. Viper was 6 months and could do the jumps like the above video off leash with a little work and I just took the bar down. There are a ton of things they can do without the worry of impact injuries.
One thing I suggest is finding different surfaces to walk on that make noise. Like play ground equipment, noisy metal or wood things under the feet, get a board and put something under it so the board tips back and fourth but is still low to the ground and have them go over it using food. This sort of stuff helps with agility later on when they have to go on the teeter and contact obstacles.