Scaling the climbing wall

Technically, the wall is not a jump, because it is not desirable that the dog jump it. If the animal bounds to the top and then sails off the other side its shoulders will take a completely unnecessary pounding.

Instead, we teach the animal to scale the wall, to climb up one side and then climb down the other. We do this by opening the wall up so that it is only about four feet high. Because the sides of the wall then ramp very gently, the dog begins by simply trotting up one side and then down the other.

Just as he did with the hurdle, and with the same “Hup!” command, the handler runs the dog on leash over the wall and back, lavishing it with praise and playing with it with the ball after the return. Of course, he cannot run over the wall with the dog, so he just runs alongside. As training progresses, we gradually creep the feet of the wall together, so that it grows higher and the sides grow steeper.

As the wall nears full height, the handler takes particular care to slow the dog down as it tops the wall, so that the animal will keep the habit of climbing down the far side of the wall instead of simply jumping off.

^{A dog that leaps from the top of the wall to the ground instead of climbing down shows good spirit but also takes an unnecessary pounding. (“Derry”)}

^{The handler teaches the dog to scale the wall rather than jump it by opening up the wall so that it is only about four feet high. Then the handler walks the dog over it on leash.}

^{TEACHING THE RETRIEVE OVER THE CLIMBING WALL}

^{After the handler sends the dog, and while the dog is making the retrieve, the handler scuttles forward, jumps to the top of the wall and then calls the dog and slaps the obstacle with her hands. As the dog heads for the wall, the handler jumps back down off it, steps backward a meter or two and…}

^{…waits for the dog to deliver the dumbbell.}

^{In our opinion, a strong, driving send away is the most difficult skill to teach in Schutzhund obedience.}