Clean Run - November 2017 - 3

Cover
THE MAGAZINE FOR DOG AGILITY ENTHUSIASTS

NOVEMBER 17

PHOTOS © KRISSY DAY, NANCY GYES, JTPAWPRINTS

VOLUME 23

NUMBER 11

Everything You Need to Know
About Early Takeoffs
Early takeoffs, or ETOs, are not
caused by inadequate training,
physical pain, lack of confidence,
or poor structure. ETOs are caused
by vision impairment. This indepth discussion of ETOs is intended to raise awareness in the agility
community and help educate
agility handlers, agility instructors,
and breeders of dogs that need to
jump, on this very important subject. Hopefully, it will also inspire
veterinary ophthalmologists to
expand their knowledge of testing for visual function. By Linda
Mecklenburg, DVM

What Are Early Takeoffs

32
The Canine Vision Project
A study of the vision in 210 agility
dogs to see what kind of refractive
errors and binocular vision skills were
present, and determine if there was a
difference in the visual skills of good
jumpers versus poor jumping dogs.
By Gina Day, O.D.

Early Takeoffs: History, Research,
and Testing
An examination of the development
of our collective knowledge about
ETOs in agility and studies that shed
light not just on ETOs, but on how
vision abnormalities can impact our
dogs and our sport. By Nancy Gyes

About the Dog's Jumping Arc
The jumping arc is the dog's trajectory
over the bar as viewed from the side
at ground level. The takeoff and landing points, and the height of the bar,
determine the amount of curvature in
that arc; that is, how round or flat the
jumping arc. By Linda Mecklenburg

10 Progression of ETOs

Features
5

Editorializing: Understanding How Vision
Problems Affect Our Agility Dogs
There aren't nearly enough handlers, or even
instructors, who recognize ETOs or know how to
counsel handlers who run ETO dogs. It's time to
increase awareness and understanding of ETOs
in the agility community. By Nancy Gyes

30 ETOS: It's Not Just Border Collies
Shelties and BCs may seem to have a higher
frequency of ETOs, but the actual incidence is
difficult to estimate because these breeds are
very popular in agility. All dogs, and therefore all
breeds, are susceptible to the risk factors associated with ETOs. By Linda Mecklenburg
46 My Journey with Multiple Related Dogs
with Early Takeoffs
A Sheltie breeder and successful agility handler
discusses her personal experiences training three
related dogs that all demonstrated ETOs, as well
as her observations about related dogs with ETOs
in her breeding program. Jean Lavalley, DVM

55 Talking About ETOs
Talking about ETOs can be a difficult and
charged topic. Here are some suggestions for
handlers, instructors, and breeders on having
those discussions. By Nancy Kemna
58 Breeding Concerns Regarding Early
Takeoffs in Jumping Dogs
Most breeders are unaware of the risk factors for
ETOs and that they are presumed to be inherited. For those not breeding performance dogs
and selling them as agility prospects, it probably
doesn't matter. But it is critical that performance
dog breeders understand what ETOs are and the
impact they might have on the future of their
puppies. By Linda Mecklenburg, DVM.

10 Signs Related to ETOs
13 Early Takeoff for Other Obstacles
or in Daily Life
14 Factors that Impact ETOs
15 Diagnosis of ETOs
17 Jump Retraining

61 Record Keeping for Dogs with
Early Takeoffs
Each dog with ETOs is an individual so you need
to keep complete records about your successes
and failures in order to help you determine how
to help your dog the most. By Nancy Kemna

18 Management of Dogs with ETOs

50 Early Takeoffs Can Dash Dreams
Lori shares the heartbreak of seeing a young,
talented dog go from a confident jumper to struggling with a task that used to be effortless, and
the frustration of not being able to find a training
solution for the problem. By Lori Michaels

63 Rating Dogs with Early Takeoff Symptoms
Some general guidelines to help handlers and
instructors evaluate dogs and recognize some of
the subtle signs that actually indicate ETOs.

27 Summary

52 Not My Dog?! From Denial to Acceptance
Discovering that your new puppy has a vision
problem is hard to face. An experienced
instructor and competitor shares how she went
from denial to finding ways to help her dog
play agility in a safe and enjoyable way.
By Sherry Kluever

Columns

26 Prognosis
26 Heritability
26 Prevention

Cover
4

Themes Like a Good Idea By David Bozak

64 Backyard Dogs By Mia Grant

We took a photo of an actual triplebar jump and modified it based on
vision simulations of human myopia
to show what that triple might look
like to a dog with myopia. Note
that this illustration differs from true
canine vision in regards to actual
visual acuity, field of view, and the
color spectrum perceived.

Clean Run (ISSN 1089-8506) is published monthly by Clean Run Productions, LLC. Principal office: 17 Industrial Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075. Periodicals postage paid at South Hadley,
Massachusetts 01075-9902 and additional offices. © Copyright 1995-2017 Bud Houston and Clean Run Productions, LLC. All world rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part
without written permission is prohibited. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Clean Run, 17 Industrial Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075.

November 17 | Clean Run

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