Brad Carlson

We are often asked, "How many jumps should I start with?" You
can never have too many single jumps to practice agility. A good
starting place is four jumps. This is the absolute minimum
number of jumps that we recommend.



You can teach a variety of skills, drills, and exercises with
four jumps. Four jumps will allow you to work on a short jump
chute or jump grid. You can setup a "box" with your jumps and
practice handling, collection, and 270 degree jumps. You can
teach your dog jumping left and right. You can be outside the
box and send your dog or you can handle from the inside of the
box. Your jumps can be setup in a horizontal line, so that you
can practice serpentines and threadles.



Go the next step and get eight jumps. Now you can setup two
boxes with one introductory jump. You've now multiplied your
drills that you can practice with your dog. Your jump grids can
be of recommended size and quantity of jumps. You can also setup
your jumps in a circle with the jump bars perpendicular to the
circle or on the circumference of the circle. This pattern also
enables you to train a variety of skills.



You can really be ahead of the pack and have two sets of eight
jumps. This is the ultimate in training because you can keep a
jump grip up at all times that is separate from your course
work, and have eight single jumps to have for course work.



About the author:


Brad Carlson is a dog trainer at Agility by Carlson. For more
training details, visit our website at
http://www.carlson-agility.com/





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