# Tire Jump accidents



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

I really never would have thought that the tire jump could be a danger in agility ... until I saw these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LbWTPK9-A8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Dh21ZKy5o&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHz28ReFay8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGsLzXN1dmY&feature=related


Especially THIS one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6KLajepanE



Then I found this tire - designed to 'break' apart if the dog hits it hard enough:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2D4hpIxlPA&feature=related

I would think ALL venues would require this new tire!


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## Barb E (Jun 6, 2004)

WoWzA - Glad I had my sound off when I read the comments on "Especially THIS one"


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Wow, I was going to blame it on Border Collies, until I saw that PWD in the last one. 

Doerak used to bump his bottom parts on the tire jump, so I had to do a lot of training with it in my back yard as he had started to refuse to jump it. 

Now you got me worried.


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## sleachy (Aug 10, 2001)

Is that an aussie in the first one?
I have seen this happen at trials but none of those accidents sounded as painful as that portie! OMG, that nearly brought tears to my eyes. My girl made a similar sound when she fell off the dogwalk flat onto her side.
We all get so addicted to the FUN of agility but this sport can be hazardous!


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

well my putter it to slow for youtube,,but I gotta find the pic of my sister smashing into my tire jump and breaking not only the tire all to pieces, but her ankle in the process !! 

I believe nadac took the tire jump out of their courses because of injury, tho I myself, have never seen a dog get injured in person using the tire..


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

they don't look hard to make at all. That is an excellent solution.

Why is the tire jump not tied down so it doesn't swing? Is that part of the problem? As a mech. designer I think it is. The dogs hit it with their chests, it swung, catching them by their necks as they continued thru and the dogs momentum to throw them. 

I think tying it so it won't swing is the first step if not using this alternative tire. Then they would run into it but with less of a chance to break their necks. They may cause injuries to their chest by tying it down though.


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## AmandaK (Apr 2, 2009)

OMG Those are awful! We use a tire like the one in the last video. I never thought they were really dangerous either, but I guess they can be.


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## balakai (Feb 9, 2005)

I have been competing for 10 years, starting in NADAC in '98 and USDAA in '99. I have seen two horrific tire crashes, with one dog breaking its hip.

I can't get to YouTube here at school--bummer.

My club purchased a breakaway tire that is hinged at the top and has magnets at the bottom opening. It automatically resets itself if a dog "breaks" it. It's pretty neat, and I think that it is very safe. 

I'd like to see the tire come back in NADAC--there are hardly any obstacles left!









~Kristin


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

kristin- i believe if a club has a breakaway tire, it is allowable to use in NADAC.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Ooookay next time I'm at our club I'll make sure the tire is fastened along the bottom!


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## Aster (May 17, 2008)

You have to be careful with the breakaway magnetic tires though. The dogs learn very very quickly that they can split them at the bottom and get lazy. Then when you go to a trial/class/etc that has a normal tire, they seem to be more inclined to hit them because they've learned to be lazy.


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## maggs30 (Aug 5, 2008)

Wow! Thanks! Glad I saw this before making something homemade! I will be sure to look into the breakaway tires and stabilizing them better. Ouch is all I have to say!


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## grmnshpd21 (May 5, 2005)

Molly took our tire out in training one time. Scared the crap out of me. The entire thing, frame and all, came crashing down and actually broke. Thankfully she was ok.


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## mygsds (Jan 7, 2007)

Kahlua has taken out the tire a few times and pulled the entire frame over in practice. It is heavy metal so I was really freaked. Luckily she kept moving but it could have been bad.

It was in a trial where I saw she was missing the tire completely that I realized I had not really "trained" the tire properly. She had seen it as a pup but I didn't work the tire as much as jumps and contacts. So we went back to square one and sure enough she did not know when to jump. After a few sessions of jumping doing round the clock angles, she figured it out and was able to set her take off position better. It has made a huge difference and I'm more confident with her using them.

But I really like the break a-ways just in case.

Pat


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## Akekal (Feb 21, 2005)

I don't visit the board often (and post even less than that!), but wanted to contribute to this thread. Kal-El crashed a tire a couple of years ago. The tire was the first obstacle and it wasn't staked or sandbagged (not sure if that would have made a difference). The video of it is here... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP9cLQVzViU

There was also a photographer at that trial, who was shooting the tire using a "burst". Photos of the accident are at 

http://www.akekal.com/kaltirecrash.html

I no longer lead out at all if the tire is the first obstacle (not that I really have a lead out with Kal anyway!). 

Beth and the Florida crew


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Beth and the Florida crew you need to come and post more often!









I know that one of the issues with the tire as the first obstacle has to do with those electronic eyes for the timer. Apparently if they aren't positioned properly (really close to the tire) the dogs read the timer uprights as the jump rather than the tire itself, so they mis-judge their jump completely and get hung up on the tire.


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## Akekal (Feb 21, 2005)

The eyes could have been an issue too. I'll never know for sure. I was just glad that A) Kal wasn't hurt and B) he didn't develop a fear of the tire. The judge was very nice and let me put him back through it once it was set back up (after we knew he wasn't hurt). Since Kal has gone through stages of not doing the dogwalk for months after a fall, I was worried I'd have to retrain the tire from the ground up. 

I'll try to visit and post more...but my new agility pup (well, agility hopeful) isn't a GSD this time, I'm having to get used to a smaller dog! But training is training, no matter what the breed...for the most part at least!


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