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I would dearly love for my pet/show bred choccie Bert to jump. I have failed spectacularly at getting him to do so. It is a great shame and tbh a bit of a hindrance around the Shoot.
Recently he's remembered what his role in life is and that's pushing pheasants home in his lovely slow and methodical way. He is actually a really good dog for this job. Soon the pheasants will start wandering further a field and as per last year will involve us having to negotiate many obstacles on our way, one of which is stock fencing.
The stock fencing round the Shoot is just wonderful, no nasty barb wire etc and fairly low. I'd say about 2'6". The routes I take means crossing these at regular intervals. My other two boys just hop over it like bunnies but Bert, oh Bert, I have to literally pick him up and gently toss him over, which is no mean feat for a dog of his size. Neither of us enjoy this, at all.
None of this is the end of the World but it would be oh so useful if he could jump. Am I being unreasonable for a dog his size (42 kilo, and he's not fat, just BIG!), with little athleticism, to actually be able to jump this high in the first place? What do you think?
If I can expect him to do it, any tips on how? I've tried at home to recreate a jumping alley. It just doesn't work. He falls asleep at one end. I've even tried placing dog biscuits the other side of 1 foot jumps and he just sits the other side and drools!
I'm trying very hard to improve his overall fitness, which to be honest isn't bad at the moment. If he had his way he'd just 'potter'. However he will jog with me and he is covering a fair amount of ground, at his own pace mind, twice a day round the Shoot and enjoys it a LOT.
Lost cause or is there some hope? It would be so GOOD to get him jumping those fences, if only for my back and not least it would be the icing on the cake for me! BUT that said I don't want to push him into doing something which he might not be capable of in the first place....?
Yours confused
Helen
Recently he's remembered what his role in life is and that's pushing pheasants home in his lovely slow and methodical way. He is actually a really good dog for this job. Soon the pheasants will start wandering further a field and as per last year will involve us having to negotiate many obstacles on our way, one of which is stock fencing.
The stock fencing round the Shoot is just wonderful, no nasty barb wire etc and fairly low. I'd say about 2'6". The routes I take means crossing these at regular intervals. My other two boys just hop over it like bunnies but Bert, oh Bert, I have to literally pick him up and gently toss him over, which is no mean feat for a dog of his size. Neither of us enjoy this, at all.
None of this is the end of the World but it would be oh so useful if he could jump. Am I being unreasonable for a dog his size (42 kilo, and he's not fat, just BIG!), with little athleticism, to actually be able to jump this high in the first place? What do you think?
If I can expect him to do it, any tips on how? I've tried at home to recreate a jumping alley. It just doesn't work. He falls asleep at one end. I've even tried placing dog biscuits the other side of 1 foot jumps and he just sits the other side and drools!
I'm trying very hard to improve his overall fitness, which to be honest isn't bad at the moment. If he had his way he'd just 'potter'. However he will jog with me and he is covering a fair amount of ground, at his own pace mind, twice a day round the Shoot and enjoys it a LOT.
Lost cause or is there some hope? It would be so GOOD to get him jumping those fences, if only for my back and not least it would be the icing on the cake for me! BUT that said I don't want to push him into doing something which he might not be capable of in the first place....?
Yours confused
Helen