# Tire jump issues.



## KelceyAnne (Nov 6, 2015)

my corgi mix, while making awesome progress through his agility training according to our trainer, has recently developed a bit of an issue. I have most of a course set up in the backyard so he can get daily practice in, and most of the obstacles are pretty close to standard. (jumps are made from 3/4 pvc instead of 1", tunnel and chute are light nylon collapsing trainer things i found on amazon, A-frame is down to 8'longx2.5'wide on a side, dog walk is 3 lengths of 8' instead of 12', still at correct width and angles. in process of building pause table.) I couldn't figure out how to get the tire to break away at bottom while still holding round shape, so it is a solid ring of 4"diameter duct piping. (i have a vague plan for the next one i build involving that expanding foam insulation, but that's later.)

He was doing great with it until I recently raised it up a bit. Then he had the brilliant idea of using the tire as a mid jump launch point. Just about as fun as his recent experiments in "If I run around the weave poles and just go between the last two, will it count enough for a reward?" standard answer, no. nope. let's do this again. Trick some days is repeating and holding out long enough he decides its easier to get the treat/ball by doing it my way. I'm told this is very corgi. Luckily, I had a cattle dog and a half to practice on growing up. 

dropping it back lower didn't stop this habit, leading to a fun moment today that was good evidence for (a) why competition tires have the breakaway point, (b) why dogs shouldn't run agility wearing a harness (in my defence, we had just gotten back from a hike.) and (c) why competition frames are solidly glued together and have wide bases weighted down. 
So, once I get the frame put back together in a less prone to collapsing format, any suggestions on how to convince him the tire is meant to be leapt through and not climbed through? 
He has his next lesson on the 26th, although I'm carpooling with trainer to a herding clinic this weekend (fun adventures in meeting sheep, can't wait to see how he reacts) and can ask her then.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

I would just click and treat correct reps and not reward incorrect reps. And I would reward with forward tossed treats/toys. If your dog understands that the treat/toy will be moving ahead, she will be more likely to drive forward. And the fastest way forward is to jump without the assist.

Just do the reps! Mark what's right!

And good lesson learned on the harness! They can really screw up a session and can actually be dangerous.

You're going to have so much fun! The break-away for competition tires is for safety, not to aid performance. Before they changed them, I had a pretty horrific accident with one. No injuries, but very scary.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

trainingjunkie said:


> I would just click and treat correct reps and not reward incorrect reps. And I would reward with forward tossed treats/toys. If your dog understands that the treat/toy will be moving ahead, she will be more likely to drive forward. And the fastest way forward is to jump without the assist.
> 
> Just do the reps! Mark what's right!
> 
> ...


All of this. 

And there are some videos out there of dogs getting caught on the tire and being slammed face first into the ground before the break away. I'm pretty sure there were dogs who died.


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## KelceyAnne (Nov 6, 2015)

I'm pretty glad I learned that lesson as harmlessly as I did. his weight hit the tire just right to pull the frame down into collapse, bungee cord came loose from tire and snagged his harness, and there were a few seconds of panic with a yelping dog dragging a pile of pvc in a circle before I got him to stay long enough to get him loose. He was unharmed, calmed down as soon as he was free, and stood there sniffing the tire with a look of "okay... what the heck just happened?" And then he ran over his dogwalk and back through his tunnel, and was back to his tail waggy happy self. But I can easily see how that could have gone very very much worse.

But at 3 months into training, Fionn has decided that running obstacles really fast and flying over jumps is the most awesome thing ever, only diminished by my odd insistance that he stay with me, do the course in the order i tell him without looping back through the tunnel 5 more time, and not try to leap halfway off the Aframe. Trainer's recent suggestion of making him do a 20 second down stay time out when he goes off course seems to be making a start at least.


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