The triple jump has given some dogs trouble at AKC trials. I thought this advice might be helpful to those folks experiencing this problem.

1. If you don’t own a Triple Jump at home, it sounds like it would be a good idea.  There are lots of places online to purchase or you can improvise one by placing 3 regular bar jumps close together.
2. Assuming you have a triple jump, are the height adjustments adjusted properly for your dog?  Triple jumps have a certain set-up for the 3 bars.  Basically your dog has to jump equally as long as he does high.  This is acccomplished by an ascending (’uphill’) spread pattern.  If your dog is in the 24″ jump division, for example, he is not only going to be jumping 24″ in height, but the length of his jump (from the first bar in front, to the last bar in the back) will also be 24″.  The middle bar falls at the halfway point.
3. Your dog’s perception may be faulty.  Squint and stare at a triple and try to see what your dog sees.   When looking straight on a Triple Jump, the bars can look like they are a regular bar jump, with one bar stacked over the other.  If your dog sees it this way, he will jump high over the first bar (which is near the ground) thinking he is jumping over the tallest bar in the back at the same time, thus hitting the back bar because he is not leaping long enough.  I believe some dogs have different depth perceptions than others, and also, if you have a dog with long hair in the face, it is important, at least for safety reasons, to keep it trimmed for agility.
4. You could lower the height of the bars which could be helpful for some of the beginner dogs.  This may seem like going back to basics, but by doing this your dog can visually see upon approach (and while jumping over it) that the bars are spread.  When they are placed too high (that is, adjusted for his jump height division)  your dog doesn’t see this until it’s too late.  If your dog is a 24″ jumper, then start by placing the back bar at just 12″ high, the front bar 12″ apart from it and just 2″ from the ground, and the middle bar in between these measurements.  Start inching the bars up in future training sessions.

You might have some other helpful suggestions. Please share them with our readers in the comments section. Thanks!

Related posts:

1. Economy Triple Jump
2. Stop Your Dog From Jumping in 4 Easy Steps
3. Teaching the Tire Jump to Your Agility Dog

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