[barney2007]

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

 

[rach_willibob]

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?

Sorry H, can't necessarily help you with the 'how to' side of things, but I can answer this one... both my boys are 40+ kilos, big, yet not fat, although Jake is a lot fitter than Danny, and both can jump fences of the heights you describe, so I don't think you are being unreasonable to expect Bert to do this physically.

 

[barney2007]

Thank you Rach that's really good to hear

 

[_Mary_]

From what I know of the incomperable Bert, he`s perfectly capable of jumping the height you want him to, he just doesn`t see why he should :lol: , no idea how you can encorage him to do it though, have you tried with really low jumps, say 6" and work up from there?

Saying that CJ isn`t a jumper either, I can use a chair on its side to block him from a room and he won`t jump it :roll: , so, maybe its all those pets in there wots done it :wink: :lol:

 

[Tractorgirl]

An offbeat suggestion ...... Maybe try a different context - is there anyone near you who trains agility as that might generate some enthusiasm for jumping and you could up the height steadily but the poles knock off easily so no danger of bumps?

 

[Becs]

How adorable is Bert?!! Firstly I would like to volunteer my services to Bert and offer to be his personal 'leggy-upper-person' as a chap like Bert really shouldn't be expected to have to exert himself in any shape or form!

If this isn't practical (!) then what about clicker-training him to defy gravity? Bert, and his love of food seems an ideal candidate for clicker training and I'm quite sure that under his thick skull lies a very sharp brain! I would aim to get him really, really crazy about the clicker and then start working him on stepping over a pole on the ground for a click and treat. Once he's twigs this, I'd raise the pole onto 2 small plant pots so he has to start lifting his feet and then move it up a couple of inches at a time. I think that once he's caught on he'd be nipping over your stock fencing like a young gazelle! I am happy to offer my services as Bert's personal coach, in return for a cuddle from him!

If all else fails, then I think Bert should come and spend the shooting season on my sofa with a nice bit of C-Beebies TV (nothing to taxing for him) and a packet of custard creams to dunk in his tea!

Becs and The Gang

 

[Becs]

Just another thought- a lot of dogs don't have much spacial-awareness (spelling?) and have no idea where their back legs are, or where their back legs end and The World starts! I can imagine that this very thing must be very confusing for Bert, who probably lies there for many an hour, pretending to be asleep whilst really pondering this very question!

One thing to make them more 'back-end-aware' is to lie a ladder flat on the ground and walk them over it, so they have to start thinking about where they are placing their back feet. This can increase a dog's confidence and might make him more inclined to lift his back end off the ground.

Or else Bert might decide that a horizontal ladder is the ideal place to take a snooze!

Becs and The Gang

 

[_Jac_]

Put Brooke the other side of it, he would jump through hoops for her :lol:

 

[Feebarn]

Ok... i have a claim to fame!!!!!

I saw Bert lift his front and back legs off the ground. Not at the same time mind... but he was shifting... and jumped another dog! He was chasing Brooke.... THEN I saw him hump her!

So he can jump... I saw it with my own two eyes!!!!!

 

[_Jac_]

:lol: :lol: He did rather like her !

 

[Diana]

helen,

I think the major drawback you have is that Bert does not respond to 'normal' winding up techniques. The way you might encourage confidence in a dog unwilling to jump is to wind them up and bat tennis balls or allow them to run in for a dummy or a piece of cold game, if thats their bag, over a small fence. Or you would sit them up and call them to you over a small fence... and then increase the height slowly.... only in short bursts of training not over and over again.

But having tried I think you'll agree both are very difficult specifically with Burt, because he doesn't really 'wind up' even for bouncing tennis balls or being allowed to run in on a small dummy you have skipped about trying to make interesting....

So its a bit of a hard one...! How do you encourage something that takes a bit of 'umph' when the dog can't be 'umph'd' up ! ;-)

What word do you use to have him jump into the back of the car?

Di

 

[Becs]

What word do you use to have him jump into the back of the car?

Di

Judging from what I saw of Bert last weekend, a simple command isn't enough to get Bert to jump into the car Di! It was more like:-
" Bert this is the car. Do you remember the car Bert? The car is what takes us places and you need to get in it. Remember you went in it this morning, and last night, and the day before that?Look Bert, all the other dogs are in the car. Bert- can I point your attention to the door? This is what where you get into the car. It helps if you aim for it Bert- oh dear, did that hurt your head.............................etc etc?!"

He's a very complex character! Deeply intelligent but very misunderstood, I think!

Becs and The Gang

 

[EJW]

It’s so obvious this dog needs an appropriate incentive – Have you tried a glass of port and a cigar! :?

John

 

[barney2007]

It’s so obvious this dog needs an appropriate incentive – Have you tried a glass of port and a cigar! :?

John

LOL I think he'd prefer that much more!

Am soooooo ashamed of the humping . I'd no idea. He doesn't hump. That's Barney's thing........ Poor beautiful Brooke. Well at least he's got good taste! Well done that boy lol. Do convery my apologies to her.

Well as Fee and Jac has pointed out then it is possible for him to get at least two paws off the ground 8O So that's something. I don't know anyone who does agility tractorgirl but I'll ask round. Although I have tried my best at have ago events and he broke one of the obstacles once. Not a pole but a side bit of one of the jumps. That was also a bit embarrasing. We knocked the whole thing over and he kind of sat on it!

Di is right, he is not an easy dog to motivate into another gear. I'm not sure if he even has another gear. Bec's post made me laugh, she has it down to a tea on the car thing. Every time he has to go in the car it takes him half an hour of thinking time. It's like he's never seen a car before and we only go in the thing about 10 times a day. I use the word 'up' for that Di but I may as well use a different word for every new day.

Clicker training has got me interested. I've never tried that. Maybe, just maybe he's the dog for a clicker....?

The husband has suggested we leave him in the jumping lane all night with a bed and bowl of kibble the other side :roll: . He really doesn't get it. bert would be quite happy, he'd just find a nice damp corner and go to sleep. Bless him.

Thanks so very much for all your help and input. What's encouraging is to hear that it's not outside the whelms of possibility that he could clear a small stock fence, I guess now it's just about finding what would make him do it.

 

[Tobias]

I got Mildred to jump by just walking away from her in the field. She didn't like that, once she cleared the fence to join me I gave her lots of fuss and she jumps like a good'en now. Today she jumped into the back of the Land Rover bashed her head on the closed dog cage door and jumped up again! 8O The second time I had just managed to open it. :lol:

 

[BenLora]

I started a reply last night but got interupted.

I was going to say that I sympathise as Ben doesnt jump either and to be honest I haven't bothered too much as he does have really bad elboys. He also barks and wails and tells the world that I am abondoning him. At 40 plus kilos he is too heavy for me to lift so normally I have to find an alternative way for him.

However, tonight, and I couldnt believe my eyes, but lo and behold my boy sprouted wings and cleanly jumped a 2ft 6" wire fence tonight. He was following Logie and chasing a deer, the deer was in the next county by this time, but he didnt know that. I was so impressed so it just shows they can do it when they want.

Perhaps poor Bert just needs the proper incentive - maybe Brooke could do it

Eileen