Fence Jumping

[holy grail 0]

gday fellow hunting champs.

ive got a queiry... just got a Deerhound for foxes. would have gone with the usual stag but wanted something different. do i need to train the dig to clear the fences or does he pick it up himself?

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Whilst I've never personally had a Deerhound, mate; I found a little maturity and experiance 'taught' most Dogs to go over fences.

 

Funny; I'm re roofing a shed right now and thought to myself how, here I am popping in new rafters and such. No one ever taught me how. I couldn't have done it as a nipper. Now I'm older it just comes naturally. I s'pose Dogs are much the same? Grow into their fuller potential.

[elma-fudd 0]

when it comes to feeding it put a bit wood up against a door way so it has to jump to get the grub start of low and rasie it abit once hes mastered that height,one of mine jumps for fun scares the life out me when she jumps 5 and 6 bar gates at 20+mph

[skycat 6,173]

Is your Deerhound a pup or an adult? If it is a pup then you want to start the little thing jumping little things such as a plank of wood at ground level: on its side of course, the plank... that is!

 

Big dogs such as Deers and Stags shouldn't be jumping any great height until they have finished growing and have the muscular strength to lift their body over something AND land without damaging themselves: its often the landing that damages young joints and feet etc.

 

Once the pup has learned the action of lifting all 4 feet off the floor over very low obstacles then the basics have been learned: gradually increase the height of the jump over the months making sure you never over face the dog or allow it to hurt itself when learning.

 

Make sure your pup learns to jump 'see through' fences such as stock wire as well: dogs that are only used to jumping solid fences often freak out when faced with see through wire. Its a certainty that your pup will twang itself on wire at some stage or another: just another part of learning: better it twangs itself on wire at a young age before it has the weight and speed to do serious damage to itself than waiting until its an adult when the results can be serious.

 

If the dog is already an adult and cannot jump then you need to follow the same training scheme but you can do it over weeks rather than months, again making sure the dog is happy at each height and type of fence before you go higher. To start off with jump over the fence yourself and get the dog to follow you.

 

With wire fences it may help to lay your arm across the top of the fence to begin with to encourage the dog to jump over something solid, in which case the dog may 'bank' it and the barbs will dig in your arm which is just part of the process or you can lay your coat over that part of the fence you want the dog to jump.

 

Hope this helps.

[holy grail 0]

yer ok. i think i get the jist of things. thanks heaps for your reply. Hal (the dog) is nearly 11months old. ive had him since early july. when i first got him he was a timid pup who had been taught not to jump. since then ive so far been able to teach him to jump into the ute without any trouble. do you think 11 months is still 2 young? this is all new to me as its the 1st hunting dog ive owned. prior to me getting him, id always go out with friends whom have stags. your advice is just what i was after. thank for your help. much appreciated

Edited September 11, 2007 by holy grail

[Guest little_lloyd]

My Six month old Lurcher pup is very springy with his legs, He from siting down manages to jump to the top of a round straw bale.

 

A few weeks ago he jumped upon our kitchen table and ate a whole packet of duck and port pate along with the biscuits

[MATTI 34]

Deerhound's are slow to mature, especially dogs. They are natural jumper's and with a little coaxing and encouragement he will be jumping everything in front of him. I had a DeerH X GreyH 1stX and he was 14 month's old and 32" to the shoulder before he was 100% confident at jumping, but from there on in he could clear deer fence's with ease.

[holy grail 0]

Matti. Clear deer fences you say? well thats one big jump if im thinking of the same fences you are! i used to own a 180acre deer farm in which the fences were roughly 9ft high???? we farmed fallows, when my family owned the farm, we didnt manage them but they still were there. if your dog could/can jump that fence, you should hold onto him for dear life. but perhaps not all deer fences are quiet that high hey??? good old deerhounds, cant go wrong..

[MATTI 34]

The deer fence's Zak used to jump were a little over 7' high, i've never had a dog that could jump like it. Unfortuneatly i had Zak PTS late last year he was 12 yrs old and worked til he was 9.

All the best

MATTI

[holy grail 0]

The deer fence's Zak used to jump were a little over 7' high, i've never had a dog that could jump like it. Unfortuneatly i had Zak PTS late last year he was 12 yrs old and worked til he was 9.

All the best

MATTI

my god!!! thats one big jump. what was the dogs temperment like Matti? my boy is friendlier than our Labrador. its hard to believe when you consider what they do to their prey.