Dog Obedience Jumps:
High Jumps and Broad Jumps

Dog obedience training helps to create a well-mannered, happy and confident canine. Some people, however, take it even further and enter obedience trials, where they direct their dogs to perform certain exercises. One of these exercises are dog obedience jumps. With these jumps, the dog moves from the handler in the direction the handler indicates, jumps as directed, and then recalls when prompted.

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  The panel jump consists of a set of boards supported by a pole on each side. The boards are slotted into the poles to cover the entire area from the ground right up jump height. The height of the jump can thus be adjusted to suit the height of the dog, ie. big dogs jump higher than small dogs.

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  With the broad jump, dogs jump across a wide area (rather than jumping upwards to clear a certain height). The area they have to jump across is typically set to twice that of the high jump. For instance, if a dog jumps 20 inches on the high jump, he'll jump 40 inches across on the broad jump.

Dog obedience jumps can be fun for both the handler and for the dog... but always check with your vet first: dogs who participate in these types of sports should be in good health to help minimize the risk of injury.