# jump height for older dog



## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

My girl Rusti is now 7 years old and in Nadac she can compete as a veteran. She is 24" at the withers and currently she jumps 16" at Nadac trials. With her being a veteran now, she could actually go down to jumping 12". Is there such a thing as to low of a jump height?


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

I don't do NADAC, but why would you want to jump 12"? That's something they can step over. I'm all for keeping dogs moving and having fun with them at all ages, but there's a point where you need to retire them.

In AKC, your dog would have to jump 20" and no lower.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

Is she having a problem with 16". I agree with Elaine, they can just step over 12" and if she is having a problem with 16", it may be time to retire her, or just run in tunnelers/hoopers here and there for fun.

Mikko will be 7 in September and my plan is to enter performance in USDAA after his ADCH (fingers crossed), which is 22", and if I start AKC then 20" there. If he is having a problem with those heights, he will retire from agility


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Oh wow! She is no where near ready to retire. Just because she can't jump AKC heights doesn't mean she can't do agility. If going down to 12" keeps her doing agility longer and is less stressful on her body then I am all for it. She is jumping 16" just fine right now but since I have a choice now I am looking at all my options. 12" seems low to me and my question was really trying to find out if jumping 12" would be to low as in she wouldn't see the bar or something else that I might not have thought about.



Elaine said:


> I don't do NADAC, but why would you want to jump 12"? That's something they can step over. I'm all for keeping dogs moving and having fun with them at all ages, but there's a point where you need to retire them.
> 
> In AKC, your dog would have to jump 20" and no lower.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

kbella999 said:


> Oh wow! She is no where near ready to retire. Just because she can't jump AKC heights doesn't mean she can't do agility. If going down to 12" keeps her doing agility longer and is less stressful on her body then I am all for it. She is jumping 16" just fine right now but since I have a choice now I am looking at all my options. 12" seems low to me and my question was really trying to find out if jumping 12" would be to low as in she wouldn't see the bar or something else that I might not have thought about.


 
There used to be a standard poodle around here that jumped 12", he looked kind of ridiculous because he just stepped over the jumps and wasn't really performing the obstacle as a jump. You could always try it and see how she does with 12", I'm sure it's different for every dog, but if she's doing fine at 16", which isn't very high for a 24" dog, I don't see why you would go to 12".


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## DunRingill (Dec 28, 2007)

I'm thinking that if a 24" dog can't comfortably jump 16", it might be time to find another activity.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

DunRingill said:


> I'm thinking that if a 24" dog can't comfortably jump 16", it might be time to find another activity.





kbella999 said:


> She is jumping 16" just fine right now but since I have a choice now I am looking at all my options.


I'm confused. Sound like the dog is jumping 16" just fine. Personally, if I had the option to jump my 16" dog at 12", I'd absolutely take it. Less wear and tear. Not to mention that if the dog is moving at any speed, they are still going to jump the 12" bar. 

...Now if they are WALKING over the 12" bar- then, yes, I'd be thinking of retirement. That doesn't sound like the case though.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Willy you are correct. No where in my post did I say she was having trouble jumping 16". I just said she is a veteran now and I have the option of jumping at 12". Willy that is what I was thinking that it would be less stress on her but does seem a little to low so I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea or not.



wildo said:


> I'm confused. Sound like the dog is jumping 16" just fine. Personally, if I had the option to jump my 16" dog at 12", I'd absolutely take it. Less wear and tear. Not to mention that if the dog is moving at any speed, they are still going to jump the 12" bar.
> 
> ...Now if they are WALKING over the 12" bar- then, yes, I'd be thinking of retirement. That doesn't sound like the case though.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

wildo said:


> I'm confused. Sound like the dog is jumping 16" just fine. Personally, if I had the option to jump my 16" dog at 12", I'd absolutely take it. Less wear and tear. Not to mention that if the dog is moving at any speed, they are still going to jump the 12" bar.
> 
> ...Now if they are WALKING over the 12" bar- then, yes, I'd be thinking of retirement. That doesn't sound like the case though.


But she's not a 16" dog in height or in regular jump height. She's a 24" dog, who would normally jump the NADAC height of 20" but jumps the performance height of 16". Is a 24" dog going to actually jump 12"? I'm actually really curious about this, not being facetious.


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## Guardyan (Aug 29, 2005)

I want my dogs to be comfortable in their senior years and I would love to have the option to run at 12". So cool that nadac offers this option!

We practice at a variety of different heights. What I've noticed is my guys have a tendency to get lazy about jumping if the bars are eight or lower. I guess you could try running a few different sequences at varying heights and see what your dog prefers.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Mikko- I was referring to the jump height when I said a 16" dog. OP said the dog is currently jumping 16".


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

wildo said:


> Mikko- I was referring to the jump height when I said a 16" dog. OP said the dog is currently jumping 16".


Right, I said


> But she's not a 16" dog in height *or in regular jump height*.


I guess I just think that if a dog who would normally be jumping 20" (which is already a lower jump height than most venues where they would be jumping 24-26") couldn't jump 16" then it would be time to retire. 
In this case, the dog doesn't have trouble jumping 16", so I don't see the point in lowering the height further, when 16" is already much lower than a regular jump height.


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## SarahMichelle (Apr 8, 2012)

Personally I think people are way to concerned about jump heights. 

I jump my 25/26" dog at 20". He has no problem with 24" jumps but Id rather jump him at 20". Its not a big deal to me but Ive seen people look at me like I was crazy for jumping my dog at a lower height or Ive even heard people say that if a dog isnt jumping their regualer height theyre not really doing agility 0_0

If you think that jumping her at 12 instead of 16 would give her more time in the ring then I wouldnt hesitate to do it but thats just me.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

Guardyan, I wondered about this too if it would make her actually knock more bars because she doesn't have to jump it or even just trip over the bar since it is so low. I will test it out in my yard and see if she does do this.


Guardyan said:


> I want my dogs to be comfortable in their senior years and I would love to have the option to run at 12". So cool that nadac offers this option!
> 
> We practice at a variety of different heights. What I've noticed is my guys have a tendency to get lazy about jumping if the bars are eight or lower. I guess you could try running a few different sequences at varying heights and see what your dog prefers.


Mikko the point would be to save any wear and tear on her body. She loves going to agility trials and if I can keep her doing agility longer by going lower then I am all for it. 


I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> Right, I said
> 
> I guess I just think that if a dog who would normally be jumping 20" (which is already a lower jump height than most venues where they would be jumping 24-26") couldn't jump 16" then it would be time to retire.
> In this case, the dog doesn't have trouble jumping 16", so I don't see the point in lowering the height further, when 16" is already much lower than a regular jump height.


I completely agree SarahMichelle. My boy Jerry Lee jumps 20" and he is 28" at the withers but he has bad elbows and right now he isn't showing any problems but could at any day so I'm happy every day I get to do agility with him. I'm sure there are many people that can't believe I would jump him at 20".


SarahMichelle said:


> Personally I think people are way to concerned about jump heights.
> 
> I jump my 25/26" dog at 20". He has no problem with 24" jumps but Id rather jump him at 20". Its not a big deal to me but Ive seen people look at me like I was crazy for jumping my dog at a lower height or Ive even heard people say that if a dog isnt jumping their regualer height theyre not really doing agility 0_0
> 
> If you think that jumping her at 12 instead of 16 would give her more time in the ring then I wouldnt hesitate to do it but thats just me.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

> Mikko the point would be to save any wear and tear on her body. She loves going to agility trials and if I can keep her doing agility longer by going lower then I am all for it.


I get that. My point is that she is already jumping two heights lower than a regular jump height (the lower NADAC heights plus being in performance), so IMO, that is already saving wear and tear. I'm not trying to convince you to not jump her at 12"- that's totally your call- it's just my opinion that it's not necessary to jump three heights lower than a regular jump height. And if it _was_ necessary- then it would be time to retire.


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## kbella999 (Jan 6, 2012)

But you are basing the jump height on what AKC says is a proper jump height. She isn't jumping 3 lower jump heights according to Nadac. I agree if she needed to jump at 12 then I would need to look at other options but I have the *choice* of jumping her that low so I'm looking at her well being not what AKC or other people think is a proper jump height. Thanks for your opinion (and everyone else), it is appreciated and will be considered in my decision.



I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO said:


> I get that. My point is that she is already jumping two heights lower than a regular jump height (the lower NADAC heights plus being in performance), so IMO, that is already saving wear and tear. I'm not trying to convince you to not jump her at 12"- that's totally your call- it's just my opinion that it's not necessary to jump three heights lower than a regular jump height. And if it _was_ necessary- then it would be time to retire.


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

kbella999 said:


> But you are basing the jump height on what AKC says is a proper jump height. She isn't jumping 3 lower jump heights according to Nadac. I agree if she needed to jump at 12 then I would need to look at other options but I have the *choice* of jumping her that low so I'm looking at her well being not what AKC or other people think is a proper jump height. Thanks for your opinion (and everyone else), it is appreciated and will be considered in my decision.


 
I'm basing it on what every other venue, not just AKC, has set. It's no secret that NADAC has lowered jump heights- it's part of their philosophy- and part of why a lot of people like NADAC.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

Heck, Bretta is 8 yrs old and now working on her MACH 4 at full 24" height. 

I keep her fit, I keep her lean, and watch how she's running. As long as she's running fine then I'll keep her at 24". I personally got a GSD on purpose BECAUSE they were created to be a 'working' dog with all that involves. They are physically built to do incredible athletic things and I love that aspect of the breed. If I didn't care about fitness or athletic ability in a dog, then I'd go ahead with the Bassett Hounds and Dauchshund type physical build and realize that clearly their build is NOT for jumping in agility so a lower height makes sense.

But she was always easily fit and able to jump 24" (and she's 24" high at the shoulder). If she physically always had issues at that height and I had to jump her lower, then it would make sense there was a problem and maybe have to jump even lower at a younger age.

I always see those GSD's that do Schutzund and jump their darn wall so know if I keep my dogs at a similar fitness level then AKC agility is WAY easier! It's what our dogs were made for (though clearly some GSDs are not built structurally as well or may have physical issues arise)


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