Usdaa

[elegy]

If you had a 21.25" Border Collie, would you jump him 26" or would you do Preferred?

Steve has never been officially measured, and he is going to be right on the line. I'm not sure which side he will fall on. I am sure he could jump 26", I just don't know if he *should*.

Thoughts?

 

[stardogs]

IME most measurements of borderline dogs seem to go with the shorter height so it may not be an issue. Kes is over 21" now, but all his measurements are 21" on the nose.

That being said, Aeri is 22"+ and I'll be jumping her at 26" most likely, mostly because we don't have a hugely busy trial schedule and thus we don't have as many reps to worry about as if we were trialling every weekend, or even every month.

 

[SaraB]

I'm doing preferred for Zuma in USDAA. I refuse to jump her 22".

 

[Dekka]

AAC is the same

I would say it depends on the dog. I haven't seen vids of Steve (assuming you are talking about him) but going on his structure I would think that given any jumping aptitued at all I would try him at his regular height. 26 isn't really all that high. To me its more about weight to articular (joint) surface when looking at impact issues.

Kaiden jumps 16, he is 13 inches tall (the cut off is 12) He is turning 9 this year. I have debated putting him in specials or vets (where he would jump 10) but its not the jumps I am worried about but the frame. I think a typically athletic dog should be able to handle jumps higher than agility courses require and stay sound and happy.

If the dog was heavy (not fat, just very bulky for the size of joints), badly structured, total clutz over jumps or very non confident then I might opt for a lower height.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I will be jumping Sloan at 26 in USDAA but not for a while, I need her to age a bit more first. We're starting NADAC on her second birthday as Skilled (preferred) and then 3 weeks later we're running AKC at full height. I'd like to see her a bit older before I do her in USDAA full height.

 

[MericoX]

What does he jump better at? Kiba's jump height is 12" but she jumps much better at 8" (CPE and AKC). I need to reevaluate and see if she could go back up to 12" for USDAA though. Tsuki for sure due to her structure I thought would jump best at 4" but she does a lot better jumping 8".

 

[elegy]

I've never jumped him at 26". I have no doubt he could do it. He jumps big as it is. He definitely jumps prettier at 22" than 20". But still... that's a big triple.

And yes, it's Steve. I don't have any video- I need to try to get some for my own benefit as well as to show him off. He's definitely the ideal build for a dog with this issue.

 

[Dekka]

Some, enthusiastic dogs jump better with the jumps are higher because they need to pay that little bit more attention.

 

[stardogs]

Yea Aeri is a better jumper at 22" than at any of the lower heights and I anticipate that 26" will be the same when I start jumping her at that height after full growth.

 

[adojrts]

The height that he jumps the best, would be what I looked at first. 2nd would be how much are you planning on competing at the higher height? Competing several times a month or many trials in a year vs a couple times a year?

 

[elegy]

Not real often.... can't afford it.

I need to get him measured for real and see if it's even going to be an issue.

 

[Jynx]

I also would jump him at the height he is good at. I think some will notice when you have say, a 20" dog and you jump them at even 24/26" that extra effort (tho it may seem effortless) can slow them down a tad.

The borders I see, sometimes tend to jump 'flat' so alot of pole knocking going on .

I"d try him out on 26" jumps first and see how he does with that, then decide from there.