Libby can jump higher than expected...

Libby's almost down to her target weight now, and she's giving us signs that she's ready for us to start raising her jump heights some. Here's the most recent sign: while staying with our agility instructor for a couple of days while we were out of town, Libby jumped up on TOP of the washing machine looking for a way around the gate! Twice!

She's 23 inches high; I've only been jumping her 16" because of her weight and her build (legs slightly short for her body length, and solid, decidedly non-dainty bones and paws). If she can jump on top of a washing machine, I guess she can probably handle a few 18"-20" jumps!

It doesn't matter that they can jump that high, it is a matter of whether they 'should' or not because of age, weight and/or conformation. What is the purpose of jumping her higher? Even training to compete in agility, we don't jump them at full height while learning new skills (that is called over facing them) and only jump them at full height to perpare them for the height they'll compete at (after all the other skills have been taught and perfected). Other than for those reasons, there isn't any point especially if jumping full height puts physical stress on the dog.

adojrts, I agree with you about training at low heights and focusing on long-term health. However, Libby's ready to compete - she's very solid on all obstacles, and I'm handling her reasonably well on intermediate-level courses in class. We've done a couple of "not for points" novice runs in trials at 16", and run clean and fast. I would love to compete for real, at least a little bit, but she would have to jump at least 20" for that. Her long-term health is the most important thing to me, of course, but both my instructor and my vet told me that once she lost enough weight, it would be safe for her to jump higher. I absolutely won't over-jump her. Anyway, her weight is down close to the target, and she's apparently feeling more athletic! I'm thrilled.

And the main reason for my post is that it was a funny and unexpected thing for her to do. I wish I had a copy of the cell phone picture of Libby sitting pretty on top of the washing machine!

My dog can jump 16", heck she could jump 20" if i let her. That doesn't mean she should.

The height my dog would jump in regulars would be 16", but she's only 13" at the withers and she's built very forward. Just because she could jump her regular jump height doesn't mean it's the best thing for her which is why I'm jumping her specials which allows me to jump her one jump height lower at 10". I'm doing this because it would be healthier for her and allow her body to compete longer rather than breaking down fast.

How tall is your dog at the withers and what venue are you wanting to compete?

At 23" I doubt that jumping 20" in competition is going to be too taxing guys.

I routinely jump Kestrel in 22" and he's 21" which is the height cut off for that jump height. If he measures up at all he'd jump 26" and I would hesitate a smidge on that, but would prob still do it since he's going to be jumping 1m in schutzhund and that's a full 10" higher...

With proper training and conditioning I don't see why Libby shouldn't jump 20".

Thanks, stardogs. She may not be built like a border collie, but she's fit and jumps smart with good form. There really is no reason why she shouldn't be able to safely do some 20" jumps. I'll still mostly train at 16" - and even at 16" I take care not to over-jump her, practicing only a couple of times per week and asking for <15 jumps at a time outside of class). I am obsessively careful about Libby's health and well-being, and there's no way that I would ever do anything that could cause her harm. To be sure, I am following the guidance of my vet and my very good instructor.

I'm not talking about campaigning her and doing trials every weekend; I just would like to run her a couple of times 'for real' because it would be fun for us both, and because I'm so proud of how well she's doing.

Libby, got ya, and it sounds like she is ready, congrats and we look forward to hearing how you do.
Stardogs, I didn't say she shouldn't jump her dog that high and I did ask why. Libby had stated that her dog was a bit short in the leg and not a light boned dog, which 'could' mean that her dog would be better suited to jumping a lower jump height when competing. That said, now that we know the rest of the story, it sounds like she has been smart about her training/conditioning/weight etc and jumping and that is a good thing. Esp considering that so many don't by competing/training at heights that are unsuited to the dog's conformation/weight/age. So kudos to Libby

If you would like to, you could always run your dog in the preferred class (for AKC.) It is "for real," you get Qs and ribbons and everything - it just means the dog jumps a lower jump height. Lots of people run their dogs in preferred for a variety of reasons, age or physical reasons or some people just want less stress on their dog. I'm pretty sure the other venues also have a class like this but it's not called preferred, I don't know what it's called because we only play AKC and mostly that's what is available around here.
Sounds like you and your trainer are comfortable with her at 20", but there is always another option, just so you know!

The USDAA equivalent to preferred is the performance division. You get a jump height lower, a lower a-frame, and a couple more seconds to the SCT. I run Meg in USDAA performance (as, at 17.75" she would have to jump 22" otherwise), but she runs the regular division in her rare AKC experiences, where she falls into the 16" height class anyway.

I agree that it sounds like you are being smart about this - congrats on getting her so much fitter!

It's been a challenge to figure out the available options. At 20", Libby will be able to compete in AKC Preferred, UKI Select, and NADAC Proficient. She'd have to do 22" in USDAA Performance. I could do CPE Specialist now; I'm planning to attend my first CPE trial in late August (it's at an indoor, climate-controlled venue - important for a black, fuzzy dog in blazing hot central NC!). (We actually did compete 'for real' in a NADAC trial at the 'skilled' level (16"), but I was disappointed by how unchallenging the courses were. It was great practice, but didn't feel like a real trial.)

And thanks for the encouraging words. I didn't phrase the initial message well, so it was definitely ambiguous. I was just so flabbergasted at the thought of Libby choosing to jump on top of a washing machine! I love this type of surprise from her. I adopted her 2 years ago; she was very reserved and careful, almost weirdly polite and well-behaved, suggesting that her former family might not have been very nice to her. It's been a delight to see her personality emerge, and see her begin to occasionally push boundaries. Agility training has been an important part of her rehab; we were very lucky to find an instructor who is both technically skilled and totally positive and kind.

Congrats on doing so well with Libby!

I agree, it's a challenge trying to figure out the options (not that Riley is anywhere near being ready to compete - but hopefully, some day!) The last time I measured him, he was 24" tall (eek! what happened to my little stripey boy??), so depending on the venue, we could be jumping anywhere from 20" to 26".