KrisK Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 My 5 year old BC, Jazz is just over 22" at the shoulder and weighs in around 53 lbs. Under AAC (Agility Association of Canada), he is required to jump 26" in trials in regular competitions. Although we have not yet trialed (still working on some contact issues), I am considering entering a trial under a jumpers class only. Jazz is certainly capable of jumping that height, however, I have concerns that because of his size (weight) I might be causing him damage to his joints, etc. Any feedback from other BC owners with BC's of this size would be appreciated. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Red Dog measured 21/5" so he had to jump 26" as well. I personally thought it was too high, so I dropped him to Specials so he could compete at 22". However, he has CHD so that was still too high - so then I dropped him to Vets and now he jumps an easy 16". Tweed measures 20.5" so he jumps 22" which is fine with him. But Piper measures 17" which makes her 22" jump height - and that is too high as far as I am concerned. When and if she debuts, she is doing it in Specials straight away. It all depends on how comfortable you feel about your dog jumping that height and whether you think jumping that height repeatedly for a significant period of time is going to be detrimental to your dog or not. I see lots of dogs labouring at 26" and I itch to tell their owners to drop the dog a height. And I think any "stigma" attached to Specials is ridiculous - if I drop a jump height for the health of my dog, that's a GOOD thing. Maybe get input from your instructor about what she thinks of the dog jumping 26"? RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisK Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Thanks Mr. Snappy...(BTW, I thought you were giggles the clown Right now, I train on my own, and subscribe to Clean Run and Dogsport to help me out. I had not thought about Specials, thanks! I'll look into that. I might try this trial at the full height just to see how he reacts...Since there aren't many trials in my area (this one is in Ottawa 8 hours from me...thank heavens for friend's spare room!) I don't expect to compete a whole lot (hmmm, unless he does really well...and LOVES it! : Since Jazz also comes to work with me as a resident therapy dog, I really don't want him to injure himself. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 My BC Skye was 21.5" and jumped 30" in USDAA from the age of 18 months until he was 7 years when USDAA dropped the height to 26". In spite of all the doomsayers in our area, he competed (at 24" in NADAC & AKC as well)until he was almost 11 years old and whenever he Q'd, he also placed in the ribbons. The week after his 11th birthday, he broke his leg in a little spin around on our deck and he was diagnosed with bone cancer and I had him put down. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INU Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Barb, Do you think (or your vet) that it was caused from the years of jumping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 If I thought jumping caused cancer, none of our BCs would ever do agility or frisbee again. It never occurred to me to ask our vet about it, but I will ask the next time I'm there. My dad's cousin died of bone cancer and he never jumped, a little girl at our school died of bone cancer and she didn't jump (any more than the other kids) so I don't think there's a connection. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted September 17, 2004 Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 Cancer is cancer. It's an evil monster that attacks otherwise healthy people and animals for no apparent reason most of the time. Osteosarcoma reduces normal strong bone to a brittle weak substance. Jumping didn't cause the cancer. Agility didn't cause the cancer. Barb, I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I've lost a mom and a dog to cancer. Cancer sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northof49 Posted September 17, 2004 Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 The other thing that you need to take into account when you are deciding what jump height would be appropriate for your dog is your dog's structure. Dogs with poor structure, or breeds whose structure does not create an athelitic build need to be assessed with an open mind to determine what would be best for them when doing agility. My one male is 21.5 inches tall and weighs 43lbs. He is very light on his feet and very well put together. He handles the 26" jump height in AAC and USDAA just fine, and he jumps the 24" in NADAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted September 17, 2004 Report Share Posted September 17, 2004 One of my 18" girls handled a 24" jumpers course with no problem (bars were set wrong and I never noticed since she did so well!), although I regularly jump her at 20-22" depending on venue. However, my other 18" girl who's dysplastic struggles at 20" and is just not built to jump any higher than 16", which she handles with ease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted September 18, 2004 Report Share Posted September 18, 2004 Thanks for your reply about jumping and cancer! I first posted that Skye was put down because of cancer, meaning that if he hadn't had cancer, he'd still be jumping at 24-26"! (His last agility trial, he jumped 24" and placed on every course that he qualified on--of course, he didn't really worry about off courses so he didn't Q on every course.) The post questioning his jumping with developing bone cancer sort of blew me away. I hadn't even thought there was a correllation. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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