Jumping...how high?

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PCC
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Jumping...how high?

Post by PCC »

I know Chows aren't built for jumping. They are built all wrong for it. But Dim Sum has surprised me. He's always jumped into the planter at a shopping center where I walk him. The brick work is about two feet tall. Now he's gotten into the habit of jumping up onto a concrete ledge about 30 inches tall; maybe it's even a bit more. I dunno, I've never measured it. It seems awfully high though, especially considering his build. It just shocks me that this bulldozer of a dog can jump that high.
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cherriemater
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by cherriemater »

Our Leo seems a bit spring-loaded at times. Very high strung and has no problem jumping hither and yon. He was the first to jump up on the bed, the sofa and into the truck. Now that the Christmas tree is in front of our front door, he jumps up on the lazEboy so he can see outside to watch Daddy go to work. He is slim and trim.

Then there's our Max. Our big boy. He outweighs Leo by just 10 pounds, but that seems enough for him to either not jump or not desire to jump. He doesn't like getting on the sofa and he does his part of jumping on the bed by only getting his front paws up, then turns and looks at us like he's saying "the rest of me ain't getting up here without your help!" Silly boy! He does jump up into the truck just fine so I know he CAN do it ... he's just not the jumpy type.

Both boys jump down the from the bed/truck just fine ... it's me that worries about them and their tender joints.
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Tippsy'smom
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Tippsy'smom »

Tippsy could jump 4ft in her younger days. As she got older she wasn't able to jump quite so high, but was always athletic throughout her life.
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Victory
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Victory »

Firesong can still jump onto a four foot wall from a stand still, Dreamdancer needs a small lead in step but he can do it too. They both go airborn on the ends of their leashs clearing a good two feet as they twirl around. They even jump over each other during play.

I don't like this notion that chows can't run, jump, play, go up and down stairs and all the other things that any dog should be able to do. If I EVER buy a puppy from a breeder, I'll want to see the parents, (and maybe the grandparents) perform all those actions.

So how high? 4.5 feet during his prime won't be out of the possiblity, even higher if he has a running start. There have been chows in aglity competitions, do they do as well as Border Collies, no, but they can do it and hold their own.
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Blackbear
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Blackbear »

Depends on how they are built. The short legged stocky chow has trouble jumping but the long legged athletic chow will jump as well as any othe dog for its size. I agree that they should be able to run, jump and play like other dogs but they do seem to lack stamina.
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Victory
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Victory »

Blackbear wrote:...but they do seem to lack stamina.
That kind of depends on two things, 1) how well conditioned they are, and 2) where you live. If where you live is hot or even worse hot and humid, they will over heat easily and that causes that lack of stamina. If you live where I do, in the winter there is no such thing as too long or too far for a chow in good physical condition, as soon as the temp drops at the end of summer to around 50F they are off. My girl has walked for miles and hours without missing a beat. The colder it is, the more she and my current boy want to go. It's me that has the issues, humans just aren't built to be out in the deep cold, (below freezing) for hours and hours even all bundled up, (which can cause it's own issues)

As for the conditioning a logt of people think that a dog can lay around 90 percent of the time and then be taken out for a day or two of intense exercise. That just isn't true, they are just like us in that they need a good daily workout and to work up to intensive exercise. Here in the US there was a case not too long ago where this guy took his not in condition for a long hike, GSD, (a breed well able to deal with long hikes) on a climb up a mountain, (the kind of climb where you walk, a strenuous hike) well she got up to a certain point and just couldn't go any farther, she wasn't in condition to go as far as she had, the pads of her feet weren't tough enough either, (or protected) He left her there, and another couple found her, (there was a custody battle over her but that's another story) the thing was she had never been on more than a mile long walk on normal city streets, she wasn't in shape for a strenuous mountain hike. Right now I know my two are cabable of a long long walk, but as we haven't been on any for a while I wouldn't take them out myself for a long walk or let anyone else do it. They need to build up a bit more muscle tone, just like I do. :)
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by chowchowdaddy »

Ming has NO problem jumping onto the bed, but Tempest can't. She'll try everything, from just running and jumping to standing and jumping, all to no avail, she just kinda hangs there. Ming, on the other hand, will be standing perfectly still and all of a sudden, he'll hop up onto the bed (most likely, to get away from Tempest). Outdoors, Ming would rather tunnel under the fence than try to hop over it, Tempest just ignores everything outside of the fence!!!
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Ursa's daddy »

Malachi will jump over the flower bed that I put beside the walk, which he isn't supposed to do. :( I will probably put up a bamboo fence to discourage him. To clear the plants, that would be about 16" high. He does so without any running start, since there is no room to do so. I don't encourage my two to jump, because knowing them, they would jump into some kind of trouble.
Victory is right about the weather. Most of the time it is humid and hot, so a walk around the yard and then around the pond is about the limit for the dogs. That maybe 1/4 mile. Today, it is in the 40's F, and they have a lot more energy.
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Rory's Dad »

Rory jump...no. He would much prefer to tunnel under. No problems going under the temp fence in the yard or the foot of the recliner in the living room.
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by TyChowgirl »

Ty leaps onto the couches and beds. He leapt on top of a four foot wall from a stand still once. I couldn't believe it when I saw it especially since when we went to Bark in the Park, he couldn't clear the one set of bars they has set up (agility course stuff) and could only clear the lowest hoop. He does a lot of running, trotting, and jumping or leaping with dogs at the dog park. Most of his friends are agile and springy as well as fast and energetic and he tries his best to keep up with them. /shrug. I don't want to freak out every time he does because with his type and build, I think he's more than capable of doing that stuff without hurting himself, and I feel running around all the time helps build the muscle so he can do that stuff. It was funny, there was a gentleman sitting next to me on a bench at the dog park. His dog, either has a mix of chow or shar pei because she has the classic purple tongue and tail curl, but looks more like a lab of some sort too and he had a chow growing up so he's familiar with the breed. Ty was running with the group of runners and keeping up (even though he was the caboose)with the other fast and energetic dogs. This went on for quite some time. When Ty came back to me for a breather when the group had disapated, the man said "Wow. He's really energetic for a chow! I've never seen one run and play that hard and long" I shrugged and told him, "All of his best friends do this, so he wants to do it too I guess".
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Sarahloo »

I usually jump as high as Loo tells me to! :D :D :D
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by Cocoa »

Cocoa has no problem jumping up on beds, sofas etc. As far as stamina goes it definitely depends on the weather. On hot days we stroll slowly and she doesn't want to go far but in the winter she loves to run and play. She does zoomies around the house where she is jumping on and off the furniture, it is so much fun to watch. \:D/
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Re: Jumping...how high?

Post by JasonandNat »

ShenLung at 85lbs of massive bone and muscle and can jump straight up and snatch a squirrel off an 8' fence, or hang on before pushing off. He has also done this up a cliff wall, then pulled his mass up with his front legs to get up and after something. FengHuang can jump up about 5' if she really wants to, but has been known to jump off a 6' cliff landing on ice to snatch a duck, more than once. Like all predators, what they seem they can do and what they actually can do, are usually very different.
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