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Jumping up into my arms


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My rescue is about 8mnths and very agile and 'light footed'. I'd LOVE to teach her to jump up into my arms as a reward when she comes bounding back after i.e. a retrieve. How do I go about doing it? Any tips?

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My rescue is about 8mnths and very agile and 'light footed'. I'd LOVE to teach her to jump up into my arms as a reward when she comes bounding back after i.e. a retrieve. How do I go about doing it? Any tips?

 

I taught this about 15 years ago to my dog Zoe. It seems like I did it in steps (using the same command). First teach them to jump up on something. Then teach them to jump on your lap when seated. Then teach them to jump on your lap with knees bent while standing. Then teach them to jump into your arms. The key is CATCHING them when they jump. If you don't do this well, they'll be less inclined to jump into your arms.

 

Kim

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My youngest border collie does this trick. I taught it almost exactly as Kim says. I started out by sitting down and having her jump into my lap. When she could do this easily and land lightly I moved onto leaning against a wall with my knees bent almost like I was in a chair. Then having her jump up again. I gradually straightened my knees as I was leaning against the wall. I used the wall to help with the knee bend so my upper body wasn't leaning forward and she would have plenty of room to jump cleanly. It also kept me from being knocked off balance if she jumped harder or bigger. As she got better I just moved away from the wall and straightened up.

 

I agree that catching them is the biggest thing. I missed my dog once and I had to go back to basics for a day or two before she would trust me again. She also won't do the trick for someone that she isn't positive is trustworthy.

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My cattle dog more or less did this naturally. He "bounces" a lot and also loves to be held and cuddled! It didn't take too much encouragement to get him to bounce next to me. Then I just caught him. It is now his favorite trick and, as you mention, it is a very handy reinforcer when I don't have treats or toys on me.

 

My other dog learned the same way as the previous posters, but she hates being held, so to this day she is hesitant to do it and sometimes "grumbles" when I catch her. I stopped asking her to do it. I figured, she doesn't like it and there is no NEED for her to do it.

 

My third dog hates being held even more (not to mention is not a very agile jumper) and we never even accomplished the "jump on my lap while sitting down" piece. He prefers to get his love with all 4 feet on the floor, and that's fine with me.

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I've been trying to teach this for months now! For some reason Brady is only confident when jumping up on to things that don't have a back or sides. And things higher than maybe six inches from the ground are a no-go for him. I know he can jump high (he once jumped onto the dining room table--was both unpleasant AND hilarious) and is agile, but I have no idea how to convince him that my lap is safe for him. Tips on how to teach this to a wary dog?

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This trick kind of just happened for my dog. One day I decided I would see if he understood what I wanted and said "Up!" while tapping my chest and he jumped right up, licking my face like no one business. I second the part about catching them, trust is a big thing.

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I taught a small bitch I had some years ago to do this and thought it was pretty cool until she jumped when I wasn't expecting it and cracked me in th jaw with her head. I put and end to it then and have never taught another dog to do it.

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Orbit was a very bouncy pup so i figured i could give it a shot. I would tap my shoulders and he would jump but he never quite jumped high enough fo me to catch him. I finally put his favourite toy on my shoulder and that sealed the deal. He was up in a flash. Once i caught him and he looked around, he was super pleased with himself. I never needed the toy again. It became everyone's favourite party trick. But like some one mentioned, it became a problem. Anytime anyone even looked as though they might tap their shoulders, he was flying through the air.

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For a dog who is having problems getting quite high enough to catch, it's helpful to teach them to use your knee to vault up. This is what I've done with my little (14") dog. He's the only one of my three I'm brave enough to do this with. Secret is @ 45 lbs and I don't want to risk being knocked over. lol I know a couple of people who do it with their Labradors. I'm not that brave! :lol:

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4 of my dogs do it naturally. The eldest ACD won't even think about it. The youngest ACD tries it but messes it up plus she is the one who has busted my lip open so we limit her ability to jump up. My toy poodle loves this game and he has been taught to vault off my thigh so he can get higher. The border collie just does it. The command for jumping into arms for us is a hand signal with our hands above our head and clap.

 

Another thing to teach is them to do hand touches and once they learn that you can start raising your hand higher and higher. Once they start getting that figured out you can then switch over to catching them.

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My one border collie will do it. She learned it as a way of getting away from a dog she was scared of. First time she did it she jumped on a cross country jump & the from there leaped into my arms while I was on my horse while we were standing beside it! As a side note, my horse confirmed how bomb proof he is.

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A couple of worst case scenarios that I have come across

 

Motivated dog, liked to bark at the end of the agility run. Jumps into handlers arms and barks...clamping down on handlers cheek and jaw...stitches

 

Spinning one handed catch of min pin at the end of an agility run, handler missed the one handed grab, tried with the other hand, flipped dog upside down who landed on it's back, dog out of agility for quite some time.

 

Handler with large border collie, didn't understand why his instructor (me) would not allow jumping up into the arms after a run during class, gets knocked flat at the end of a competition run and needs to have chiropractor adjust him afterwords (dog was fine). Handler no longer catches dog.

 

Please be careful if you teach this trick.

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I agree that you do have to be careful when teaching this. My dog is cued with a very specific body and hand motion. I proofed it by doing similar motions and if she tried to jump up I would gently bump her off my chest. A couple of times of not being caught (she wasn't hurt, and didn't fall, just landed back on her feet) and she started to really watch for the right cue.

 

I also don't allow just anyone to ask for that particular trick, it has to be someone that she has a good relationship with and trusts, and they have to be someone I trust to correctly handle her. I don't want her to ever think that she should try it with everyone else!

 

My girl is 29 lbs and I don't think I would want to try to catch anything any bigger. I've seen a guy at agility trials catch his Malinosis (misspelled that, sorry) and that just seems like an accident waiting to happen!

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