Dog Hucking Q

[ctarmchair]

I’ve been getting into skijoring more lately, and have had the idea of making enchainments of different problems with my dog. With a little judicious planning you can really cover a lot of ground this way. The problem is, my dog makes even the smallest jumps difficult. He refuses to go first, which is fine, but rather than waiting for me to call him down he always jumps right after me, once right on top of me. He is normally very well-trained and will stay still, unleashed, very patiently if put in a stay; my vet tells me his situational disobedience is probably due to fear of abandonment in a hostile environment when he sees me jump.

Does anyone have thoughts as to handle this with him? Avoiding any drops at all would be one way of dealing with this, but then the whole enchainment thing basically becomes scenic aerobics. My dog is a shepherd-sheltie mix, very athletic but very social and sweet; I have also toyed with the idea of getting a second dog that might be a bit more self-contained and so less prone to anxiety in these situations. I love pitbull mixes, but unfortunately often they don't have a double coat so they likely wouldn't work. Another alternative would be to lower my dog first, leave him under tension, jump to one side of him, then pull the rope after, but this gets complicated.

Any other thoughts on how to handle this?

[Free Range Lobster]

phunk is the resident dog hucker here.

skijoring i did a little with my malinois this year...
high drive working dogs are good for this. pit mixes not so much as they have nowhere near the stamina of either shepherds or huskies.
the key to getting your dog to do this is make it fun and a reward is necessary.
positive reinforcement for every little step.
start out easy not laying any weight on the dog then progress upwards and get a skijoring specific harness.

[Snow Dog]

...he always jumps right after me, once right on top of me. He is normally very well-trained and will stay still, unleashed, very patiently if put in a stay; my vet tells me his situational disobedience is probably due to fear of abandonment in a hostile environment when he sees me jump.

Maybe he just likes jumping on your head. Bonsai!

It sounds more like a confidence issue -- his, not yours -- so you need practice (using stairs or a retaining wall to act out the jump) and a second handler to control the dog. You give the commands and the second handler is there to provide disipline (hmmm, disipline). You might want a new command too -- something that means "don't jump."

[ctarmchair]

These responses are the good, straight dope that this forum seems to so often provide. To head off any more, let me just say, love, 4/01/06,

Armchair

ps: personally I would in fact go with the pitbull mix for a hucker, just get the sucker his own polypros and booties.

[tomw_n]

I can't believe I'm reading a thread about how to coerce dogs to huck (or not). I need to go do some work / ski.

[Huck_Schmuck]

Mrs Schmuck say this thread is useless without photos.

How about taking a toy up with you, chucking the toy of the drop and getting him to chase the toy over the edge. This should get him to jump before you. Is this a good thing by the way? If he jumps first aren't you worried you might land on him?

We're getting a doggo soon, hungarian viszla, should be good to see what he can drop... used to ski with one, gotta make me a nut sack for the fella before we go out in powder...

Good luck. And photos would be great...

[GheePup]

Mrs Schmuck say this thread is useless without photos.

How about taking a toy up with you, chucking the toy of the drop and getting him to chase the toy over the edge. This should get him to jump before you. Is this a good thing by the way? If he jumps first aren't you worried you might land on him?

We're getting a doggo soon, hungarian viszla, should be good to see what he can drop... used to ski with one, gotta make me a nut sack for the fella before we go out in powder...

Good luck. And photos would be great...

I like the idea of chucking a toy but I think a nice juicy steak or meaty rib bone might just be more enticing for him to go first. I think you could throw the rib bone much further so that the dog does not hang out in the LZ.

If your dog is a frisbee dog you could throw it for some real distance. Plus, it would take longer for your dog to find, especially if its a white frisbee. This would allow you more time to complete your huck without worries of landing on his head. Then again you might want to pay him back once by landing on his head so he will understand how it feels?

[tomw_n]

I like the idea of chucking a toy but I think a nice juicy steak or meaty rib bone might just be more enticing for him to go first. I think you could throw the rib bone much further so that the dog does not hang out in the LZ.

If your dog is a frisbee dog you could throw it for some real distance. Plus, it would take longer for your dog to find, especially if its a white frisbee. This would allow you more time to complete your huck without worries of landing on his head. Then again you might want to pay him back once by landing on his head so he will understand how it feels?

Isn't that what Tanner did to CR? I'm not sure if it was a steak or rib he threw first though.

[easyrdr]

I have a malumute/wolf mix that has been a huckster his whole life. His first jump was at 4 months old, followed me right off a 15 footer-after I landed I looked up and he cleared me, landed in deep pow and was visibly smiling. Eight years later the pups still jumping, although now I try keep it under 10 feet although I'm not always successful. As for what you should do, my dog definitely doesn't jump unless I jump first. I don't think it's so much a confidence issue as much as a vision issue. Seeing me do it enables him to see the landing that much better. My dog also would jump on me but after two hard collisions he figured out he needed to take his own line. Talk of getting another dog could be good or bad, most training goes out the window when you add a second dog unless your're a dog training badass. I think your best bet would just be to get the dog out in the environment as much as possible-the more he's out there the more comfortable and confident he is

[ctarmchair]

I should have been more clear with my 2d, disclaimer post: this was an April Fool's post. Although, perhaps I should have been a bit more outlandish to make it clear.

But actually I think most of the advice was spot-on.

I think throwing a rib-bone would be the way to go. Or perhaps my dog's yellow Rubber Ducky, the squeak of which makes it the ultimate fetch toy, though if it were to get lost in the snow I would be concerned re: the Forest Service's views of leaving dog toys on public land.

Tom...

My dog is a hucker, but way too independent and playful to even rate a good hiking companion. He would not agree with the ski-joring thing, unless I were to harness myself up and pull him on, say, a cafeteria tray. That he would be up for.