Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Hmmm....

ETS--Early Take off Syndrome...in the next issue of Clean Run apparently.

Is it real?

What would Susan Salo say about it? Since she has a different way of teaching jumping than Awesome Paws.

What lines is it in? If these lines are bred purely for performance...maybe that is the issue...breeding for performance...

Is it just another excuse for dogs jumping incorrectly?

Is it another way to help people sell their puppies (aka WE HAVE LINES WITH NO ETS!! Well..yeah, they have some deafness, and maybe a TINY bit of epilepsy...but they will NEVER take off early for a jump!)...

So many questions, and I have none of the answers :)

HECK! Most of my dogs sires and dams have never taken an agility jump in their lives! Now a 48 inch woven wire fence I am sure ;-)

10 comments:

Knotty Dogs said...

To me, the scary part is ... there are "experts" out there, claiming it is genetic (http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=feature.display&feature_id=114) and already starting to correlate culling ETS prospects as the sign of a responsible breeder. "After becoming aware of ETS, the owner/breeder of this dog spayed and neutered all of her related dogs in an effort to prevent recurrence, despite the potential for producing top performance prospects." Could you imagine going to the likes of Patrick Shannahan or Kathy Knox and telling them they need to cull for ETS?

Seriously ... I wish the ABCA would draw a hard line in the sand and do a tiered registration. Level I for dogs whose working ability is proven through a trial record. Level II for farm dogs (still trying to come up with an idea for how to "prove" this without having to send a rep out ... a move the ABCA will not approve), and Level III for everything else, including Sporter Collies and Barbies.

Seriously, how does anyone think culling for something as ridiculous as "ETS" does this WORKING breed any good?

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry but this sound ridiculous. According to the article on Awesome Paws, this is not a structure problem so what is the cause? (If this is actually a "condition") Sounds like people need to go back to doing some jumping exercises, which is pretty much what the article on Awesome Paws said. Did you see the pictures at the end of the article? The Aussie that looks like its swimming to get over the triple? That last jump looks like its at 26". Maybe the Aussie's problem isn't that it has "ETS". Maybe the Aussie needs more training on jumping over a triple. And maybe it shouldn't be jumping 26". Could it be happening from the way the handler is handling? Given signals that they don't know they are giving and the dog is anticipating something? Could the jump heights have anything to do with it? Are there more dogs with this "condition" in one venue vs another? Just two cents from the person that is fading out of agility...

Loretta Mueller said...

Exactly Jaenne, to me it sounds like a confidence issue...I am not convinced that it is anything other than that...

Anonymous said...

I think it's bullshit! I haven't read the article yet but I've been hearing about ETS for a few years now. I think it's all about physical and psychological issues.

Here's a good blog post on it (also read the comments of the post before). http://purpledogs.livejournal.com/107427.html

Unknown said...

Oooh I didn't see this post. Just wrote up a bit on *my* opinion of "ETS" on LiveJournal...very interesting topic.

Loretta Mueller said...

Tori--I loved your opinion, very logical and exactly how I feel. Too many factors to really be able to determine anything other than a jumping issue caused by unknown things.

Carolyn--I think that is probably the case...something not genetic I am pretty darn sure! :)

Anonymous said...

Tori - yes, a great post. I guess I could say so on your blog though...

Hey, next time you see Karen H.'s Siren please give her a hug from me! (I bred her and really, really wanted to keep her)

Unknown said...

Really?! I definitely will- I *love* Siren! She is going to be a fab agility dog.

Rosanne said...

ETS is not bullshit. Foundation work, grids, do NOT fix it. And it is not JUST in sports lines. Period. Heck, it's not even just in border collies.

Why isn't it structural? Because it's a combination of mental softness and depth perception, is my educated guess.

And yes, it absolutely runs in lines. Probably because the softness and eye issue also run in lines.

Loretta Mueller said...

Then perhaps a different approach to training is needed?