Big dogs over 25kg jumping medium and large dogs over 35kg jumping mini,views plz

I have the chance to jump medium with my larger boned dog next season (2012) which will be his first under this new baa ruling as my boys 29kg and according to a vet nurse weight in he will go down to 27kg but unlikely to go any lower and his within his weight limit anyway. what would you do his not jumping maxi yet? Friends with smaller breed dogs ie: Spaniels dont think its fair there smaller spaniels will be up against big dogs over the following weight limit as there likely to have a much bigger stride, and to be honest i know baa lower but he sometimes knocks kc medium poles down so will be a long time before he can jump true kc maxi.

As of 1st October 11, dogs measuring over 20" in height and dogs weighing 25-35kg now can jump medium for competition, and those 35+kg can jump mini for competition to benefit dogs long term wellbeing.

This is the first I have heard of this

I compete and have won twice and have many placings with my girl who weighs 34kg and will be competing with my bsd who I am sure weighs over 25kg next year. I wouldn't want either of them competing at medium. They are large dogs and thats how they should stay in my opinion.

its on the lastest news on the british agility associations page on a social networking site they havent updated website yet. I am not dead against it as will benefit me and its better for the dogs long term fitness to jump lower or so they say, i also prefer BAA to kc shows as no tyre at baa.

I dont like tyre been too many accidents with them.

Landing from a lower height has to be better for the joints than landing from a higher one.

If it is true it is interesting since for years the 'official' view has been that agility does no damage to dogs!

rune

Some research says that landing at speed over a lower jump is more damaging than basculing properly over a higher jump.

I think it's like any other sport in that you have to keep your dog fit enough to the job and make sure it is warmed up and cooled down properly. Unfortunately not every dog is suitable for agility and I don't agree with amending a sport to enable such dogs to participate which is one reason why I prefer KC shows.

to the op... u mean benefit by going faster? lol...think u will have a wee shock

eta..what do u mean he will go down to 27kg? is he on a diet? id be careful jumping a large breed dog that is overweight!

OP, do you plan to compete at KC full height? If so, I would not be changing jump heights, and if he is managing fine then why change?

I compete at full height with my 25kg GSD and there are plenty more out there competing full height with bigger/heavier dogs than mine.
I will not be running her in any size classes until she shows signs of struggling with full height.

I must admit to preferring KC shows now.
I think this new ruling is slightly odd, some dogs weight fluctuates so what are they going to do? weigh the dog before it can compete?
I cant understand it really, but I guess I shouldnt be surprised...my other girl that is an average sized collie measure into medium with them!!!

I dont agree with that. Agility is open to every dog including mongrels and non registered pedigrees, regardless of whether they are small, tall, slim built or heavily built. I personally wouldnt choose to do agility with a Newfoundland because it's not the most athletic of breeds but why should it be discounted from having fun and having a chance to compete? Many owners just want to have a bit of fun with their dogs without thoughts of reaching the agility ring at Crufts.

I have a 28kg dog standing at around 23" and I would personally choose medium height for him because he's heavily built with quite short legs. I have a 32kg dog standing at about 25" tall but he's athletic enough to jump most things in his path so would choose the higher option for him.

I didn't say they shouldn't participate only that the rules of a sport shouldn't be changed to allow dogs with an inappropriate conformation to compete. If BAA wish to do that, good luck to them and their members. As I said before, this is why I prefer KC shows. Having said that, even a lot of KC shows provide Any Size classes so that dogs unable to jump full height for any reason can have a go but it doesn't impact on the full height competition in the way that altering jump heights could but then the numbers competing under BAA rules are much smaller than at KC shows so would be easier to administer.

His not overweight his crossed with a german shephard so naturally big boned.he was 29kg last month which vet said is within correct weight range for his cross but personally. Id like him to lose 1_2kg so now has half a tin of soup sized food twice a day compared to the two he was having before.

He has never entered a show and we train on small/medium kc jumps his nwver attempted large.his only been doing agility 6months