Clean Run Magazine - July 2008 - 10

Starting Your Pup the “Right” Foot By Susan Salo Photos by Jeanine McAnaney This year, it has been a great joy for me to once again see many of the young dogs that have begun their careers using the methodology that has been a staple for starting young horses. The teaching method has been used for many years by top horsemen and women and it has always provided the horse with the understanding of how to do his job, without too much help from the rider. I was very lucky to have been able to ride with the great horseman Gene Lewis, who began all his horses’ careers by teaching them to learn the mechanics of the jumping process, without being encumbered by a rider. When at the top of his game, Lewis had horses on Olympic teams from five different countries, all at the same time; a feat I doubt could be duplicated today. I still teach my horses the same way he did, on a rope, with no rider. The horse soon learns that jumping is his job and his responsibility to perform. It would be much too lengthy to describe all of the factors that go into the teaching process, but I will say this: One of my clients told me the other day, as she faced the challenge of finding a new horse to ride over fences, that she is totally spoiled by having a horse that has learned his job on the rope. Once her current horse “sights” his next jump, the job is all but done, because he “wants” to get down to the jump without dragging his person along—he simply looks forward to jumping! 10 Once a young dog begins to have a good understanding of the task at hand, I am always changing the appearance of jumps to ensure that he learns to drive to whatever is in front of him. Presenting jumps in different ways at an early age encourages his problem-solving skills and will make for a brave dog that is not easily overfaced by jumps that do not look “normal.” I do not use this jump setup to create height, but rather to teach dogs to read the effort required of them. To a young dog, this setup appears to be bigger and more imposing than a stride regulator. In fact, many young dogs will opt to go around or under the slanted bars. If this happens, I make the center space bigger and more inviting to the dog. Over several repetitions, I gradually close the gap. The poles must never be crossed to create height and must always be presented behind the large stride regulator (8” PVC). Therefore, the dog can only go through the exercise in one direction. Remember that your target needs to be obvious to the dog and placed properly at the end of the grid line. You, the handler, should lead out all the way to the target and should not be moving with the dog at this time. This past spring, I saw several young dogs that have been trained from puppyhood using my jumping process and they, too, want to go and jump, and they really enjoy it! They move toward a jump full of confidence, and Clean Run | July 08

Clean Run Magazine - July 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - July 2008