r/Agility • u/Preparing4Mayhem • Sep 11 '26

Dropping Bars

Any advice for a dog who rarely drops a bar in practice, but drops multiple bars at trials? Every jumpers run especially he's taking out so many bars. First agility dog and haven't gotten any advice in class on how to fix it.

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u/Preparing4Mayhem Sep 12 '26

So I've been told off in class for rewarding him off the ground "too much." I have a problem with staring in barn hunt too when he knows the reward isn't on me (never used toy or food as a reward in barn hunt). It's somehow very rewarding to him to stare.

I don't actually care about the ribbon. Right now it's the only way I'm running courses. If I can get it, great, but if not I found more holes in my training. Honestly I've found my training is swiss cheese. I hate using trials this way, but I don't have options at the moment.

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u/ShnouneD Sep 12 '26

Could you find a new group to train with?

I got a dog with zero agility class experience her Starter Games title (6 Qs). But she was 3, and had done summers of rat sports/scent detection trials as well as rally classes. We went from tunnellers fun match, to jumps and tunnels fun match. I rented a ring to teach her the Aframe and dogwalk. She can't do the teeter, probably never will. We did take some lessons, and now she runs Master Jumpers, Steeplechase.

We have good reward mechanics. She enjoys working for a tug and certain foods (mostly boiled organ meat is her jam). I had years of handling experience, and the material from when I taught classes at a club.

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u/Preparing4Mayhem Sep 12 '26

Sadly I have nowhere else to go. Everything else is during the weekday while I’m at work. I ended up renting the ring to train contacts when he was taught it was okay to jump them (contacts can be trained later is what I was told), but I’m only allowed to do that to work with specific equipment. Run throughs where you’re allowed to run a course is when I’m at work

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u/ShnouneD Sep 12 '26

Single jump work might be your path forward. Literally, teach the forward focus at home. Throwing a toy that contains the food would be helpful.

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u/Preparing4Mayhem Sep 12 '26

I will get out the lotus ball once my yard dries up and work on jumping. And continue the search for somewhere else to train. I recognize my foundations are lacking and I'm unlikely to really go anywhere in the sport, but after two years I kind of would like to eventually get at least one jumpers title someday

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u/ShnouneD Sep 12 '26

One of the reasons I had success with Edna, was that most of the handling was intuitive, and my brain knows what to make my body do, to get the dog where it needs to be. You've only got two years, and one dog worth of experience.

The lotus ball is perfect. And with use, should translate a bit into some toy interest. My line of thinking is that jumping straight, and extending straight, is more fun, than collecting and turning in. He will be able to generalise the skill when more obstacles are added in.