The aim of this thesis was to determine whether there are differences in the length of a jump among individual breeds and whether the proportions of the body and body indices influence the length of the jump. In total 84 individuals of three model breeds (German Shepherd, Belgian Shepherd and Border Collie) were studied. For each individual dog six body measurements were taken and used to calculate the ratios of physical parameters (indices). In addition to the measuring, the jump over an obstacle was video recording for ad-hoc analysis of the jump parameters. Using the described methods was proven that the breed, individual training experience and body measurements have significant influence on jump performance, or more precisely on take-off and jump length. The impact of analyzed aspects on landing was significantly lower. Jump length is closely related to the depth/height index and the width of the chest. The worst performance was statistically identified at dogs with low value of the balance index. The results indicate that characteristics examined in this thesis (namely breed and the body measurements and indices) can be used for preselecting individuals with higher jump potential.

Reactive strength index-modified (RSImod) is a measure of lower body explosiveness calculated by dividing jump height by time to takeoff. RSImod is different between stronger and weaker athletes and between males and females. The purpose of this study was to evaluate differences in RSImod between males and females while controlling for maximal strength and lower body explosiveness. Forty-three female and fifty-eight male Division-I athletes performed countermovement jumps on a force plate during unloaded (0kg) and loaded (20kg) conditions. We used an ANCOVA to test whether RSImod is different between sexes conditioning on relative maximum strength (PFa) and average RFD 0-200ms (RFD200) measured during the isometric midthigh pull (IMTP). Differences of 0.087 (95% CI: 0.040 - 0.134; p = 0.0005) and 0.075 (95% CI: 0.040 - 0.109, p < 0.0001) were observed for RSImod between sexes in unloaded and loaded conditions, respectively. A male with PFa of 186 (grand mean of the sample) and RFD200 of 6602 N/s (grand mean of the sample) is predicted to have 28% greater RSImod than a female of similar PFa and RFD200. Maximum strength development should be a primary aim of training in female athletes, in addition to other trainable factors, such as stiffness and RFD.

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