Peter Holmberg, an agility judge from Norway, unleashed his “Holmberg Double” on small height competitors at a trial in Drammen, Norway this past weekend (focus on jumps #6 and #7):
First, please note that while 120 cm (4 feet) puts the jumps very close together, the sequence can be handled as if the second jump is not there. To teach this to your dog, simply separate the two jumps by 10-15 feet and slowly bring them together.
Second, note that both jumps are backsides (270s). This ensures that the dog approaches the jump at a sliced angle, allowing the dog to jump towards the gap rather than towards the other jump.
For equivalent large dog spacing, you can view distance as a function of height. Therefore, a 4 foot spacing for 14″ dogs would be equivalent to 7.5 foot spacing for 26″ dogs (48 inches/14 inches = 3.42; 3.42 * 26 inches = 88 inches; approximately 7.5 feet).
There are several different handling options; Sarah and her novice border collie Venture demonstrate the sequence at 26″ height in the video below, with the tight 4 foot spacing intended for small height dogs.
Going to have to set that one up!
Actually his spacing for large dogs is 200cm or 78″ – 6.5 feet. Medium dogs 150cm.
Nice, now I want to go set that up and try it out with Half and Half.
Well done Sarah and Venture.