When you are at the stage where your dog has a good drive to retrieve and some steadiness to a dummy being placed or thrown you can start to introduce direction casting.
If you do this along a hedge, fence or wall it can help you to keep your likes straight to ensure the dog is learning to run out at a 90* angle.
When starting out perfect casting in one direction before moving on to the other direction, do this in different sessions so as not to confuse or overload the dog.
Step 1- sit your dog up a short distance in front of you and throw a dummy directly to their left or right. Blow you stop whistle command to replicate what you would be doing when you are handling the dog onto a retrieve as you progress, move your arm directly out to the side of you to whichever side you have thrown the dummy and give your release commanded. Your command can be whatever you like, we use "on" for right cast, and "out" for left cast.
Step 2- Once you dog is consistently running out well, proof your steadiness by making sure they are waiting for the verbal command and not running the moment you extend your arm out. You can reinforce with a sit or stay command as you move your arm to indicate direction.
Step 3- When you have worked on each side cast individually and your dog is running out well each way you can increase the difficulty of the exercise by throwing a dummy to each side of your dog and choosing the one you send them for. To start with make it simple and send the dog for the dummy that was thrown last, as you develop in confidence being to mix up which dummy you send for.
Tips:
* Take it slow, only start to push the exercise furher when you are satisfied the dog knows the criteria and is confident in each step
* Make sure your dog is not running in without receiving the verbal release command
* When first starting out only cast to one side each session until you are happy the dog is confident in what you are asking of them
8 июн 2024
