Pawsitive Vybe Ribbon (PVR)

The Pawsitive Vybe Ribbon is a flatwork pattern we developed to help handlers learn to move their dogs around the field and also to help handlers escape the pressure that a dog with an aggressive style or aggressive retrieve puts on a handler. Oh, and it looks real cool too.

pvribbon

The Consequent Cue

What we do is to make a nice toss out to our dogs, and as they are retrieving the disc, we ask for the out and wait. When the drop happens, we mark and reinforce by presenting the cue to the dog – an outstretched trailing hand (the hand from the side that the dog is working on) – and then pull the dog around with that cue.

The Consequent cue is quite important because many dogs really like to move with their handler. Once we have a disc in our hand and are moving the dog around the field without presenting a throwing position, the dog senses opportunity and is likely to hold on to the disc until the moment of truth. We have to be sure to get the drop before the cue is given. The dog needs to believe that the Drop Makes the Cue, and therefore the opportunity, happen.

Pulling the Dog

Once we turn and present the cue, the dog has a target to move to, our the trailing hand (remember foundational set up moves & flatwork) and we are sending out very clear directional signals – the dog will go where our shoulders are pointed. All that’s left to do is to hook up with the dog with the trailing hand and pull them around.

We need to keep the disc high, the tendency to point our trailing hand and our disc towards the ground will bring the dog in quite close for the looping part of the ribbon, keeping the disc about shoulder high will cue the dog to keep their distance a bit.

Mark Commitment

Once the dog has committed to the cue the flank is set. We need to mark the moment that the flank is set, that commitment to arc we’re drawing with our hands. This mark is vital information and the dog should continue to work, with gusto, as the chase is on and they’ve earned the throw that is soon to come.

Make the toss

We can make the toss at any point after the commitment, but we should recall our directional feeding work and take a moment to hook up and deliver a well placed disc for a real nice leap. Every time we throw a disc, we have to take that moment to ensure that dog and handler are hooked up and that we are intending to hit the spot at the correct time that will enable the dog to look good.

Switch Sides

Once we’re dialed in, we should be able to get a dog to work both clockwise and counter clockwise. We can alternate between clock and counter clockwise (left hand or right handed pickup) to get some balance in our flatwork game.

Look Familiar?

This pattern will initially be seen by our dogs as a simple ‘go Around’ set up move and will be performed the same way – tight, close to the handler, so they can get right back out to where the catch will be made. We’ll change that understanding in a later lesson.

Watch some Flatwork with Loot

Related Articles

Throwing With Intent

Throwing with Intent is throwing a disc to your dog with the intent to make them look good. Throwing the disc to promote a big leap, to hit the dog in stride on the run or throwing a disc that your dog is going to flip for 10 yards away, is the sign of a mature handler.

Patron’s Choice: Shaping the Leaping Catch | Freestyle and the Leaping Catch

Shaping a Leaping Catch can, and should be a full time job. Always throw with the intent to deliver the leaping catch unless working something specific that requires a specific approach, speed or distance that is incompatible with a leaping catch. Out throws are glory, not afterthoughts.

Within a game of disc dog freestyle there are many opportunities to reinforce and shape the leaping catch and to turn the speed regulation required for the leaping catch into a habit that is ever present in your freestyle game.

Responses

  1. Ron
    Great video! I really like the narration over the top. I have to work on the cueing. I also
    have to refine the consequence. When I do stop with that type negative reinforcement, Brodie often will dive at a disc on the ground. It’s almost like he is rewarding himself thus he never gets the negative consequence. Is the cue to pull the dog around the same as with bite work but at a distance and moving? Is there verbal cue as well as disc and shoulders?
    Jeff

    1. Thanks Jeff! The voiceover is nice, so is hearing the instruction…
      If you draw down the energy level of the game well, that self reinforcement should pale in comparison to a well played game. Ideally, if you’ve done your homework you won’t need to do that.

      So if you’re constantly having to break down the game in the PVR, you might need to go back and just work the drop with Directional Feeding or Bitework. Weak behaviors are going to crack under pressure, that’s the way it is. If moving forward on the progression leads to failed execution, you need to back up and get the problem fixed.

      I’ll be putting out some drop stuff throughout this week.

      As far as the cue being the same as Bitework, I don’t use the same verbal, but the action is similar. I’m trying to trigger prey drive.

      There was no cue in this session, but sometimes I’ll use,”Go!” or something like that.

      The key is to mark the drop so the dog believes that the Consequent Cue will lead to opportunity and then use reward placement to help make the point. The dog will know what made the opportunity happen and where to go for the reinforcement. They will repeat the behavior and start to cheat to where the reward is going to happen.

      Make sense?
      peace

  2. Hi Ron
    It’s taken me four goes at trying to get this video up to blip.
    Quality is not so good. I know it’s late and into the next week but if you could comment on the drop, consequences pos and neg and my flat work near the end it would be helpful. I have picked up one thing and that is I have no a consequents. I hope others can learn from this as well.
    Jeff
    http://www.blip.tv/file/4428954/

  3. OK…
    Cut 1 – 0-2min –
    Good stuff. No need to mark all of it now. Just mark the commitment and/or completion of the Set Up Move. In fact, as we move out of the foundational level, marking all those criteria can get in the way. Not unlike someone sitting over your shoulder during a math test,”Yes… now carry the 1…”. The Set Up Moves should be more holistic tricks at this point in time. If you’re having issues, mark the match and finish. If not, just mark the commitment or finish.

    The tapping in the front is not beneficial. The tap at the match could be, but is not necessary. We want to start to lessen the expression of our hand signals so they become much more subtle. A shift from side to side, or a tiny pull of the disc or the subtle hint of a match. Eventually they’ll just be verbal.

    You’re also a little tight, emotionally. Frisbee is Hippy! 😉 You can see it during that sit cue at about 1:10… I bet you felt it too… Be careful with that. Don’t play into your dog’s pace, or their BS… Nice and smooth, easy and soft. Frisbee is Hippy – mellow and soft. Of course you’ll still need to be quick and efficient, but be careful of those sharp edges that can happen when you get excited. I have the same problem.

    Nice Rear Cross, Brodie got stuck between the Go Around behavior and Flatwork, and opted for the Blind Cross exit (wrong way – no sight of handler). That could be fixed by delivering a disc out to your left as he is turning away from you to teach him where to go, and/or stopping and breaking the game down a bit.

    Good stuff, Jeff…

  4. Minutes – 2-6
    Again the Rear cross is not finish with you. He should be out in front of you to your left, moving with you. Brodie is not following the body cue and is defaulting to a ‘go around’ behavior. That is most likely due to pattern training. Brodie knows what a go around looks like and he’s sticking with the behavior.

    The next time you try it, as he’s turning away from you, throw it out to your left (away from Camera)- the direction you are moving towards. Throw it early enough for him to see it so he cannot commit to the wrong direction.

    2:47, you should have stuck with the PVR Pattern. At about 2:47.5 you should have marked that commitment. You should have made the throw at 2:48 – out in front of you on Brodie’s path.

    The Front and Rear Crosses should be added after you and Brodie are rocking the PVR pattern and Directional feeding. You need to learn to cut big sweeping arcs and turns first. That gets hard if your foundation is a bunch of crosses. The dog gets creative and frustrated and is not honest with following your cues. Directional Feeding is Grade School, the PVR is High School, Crosses are College.

    2:54 – you can see what I’m talking about in the above paragraph a bit. But this is also Fatigue. This work is really hard. Our dogs are moving and thinking something fierce. There’s about 2 minutes of this kind of work, especially when learning, in our dogs. Anything longer than 3 minutes or so winds up being counter productive.

    Yup… Brodie’s Toast! 3:07 – see it?

    4:50 – Still toast… but he’s a gamer…
    Great Rear Cross out there, you should have capitalized on it. Throw that disc out there. You got that pretty pattern laid out, a bit pretty pattern, and are reinforcing it only on you. Keep in mind that had you thrown it at this stage of the game with Brodie being tired, he’d probably blow it off.

    Pros and cons of the finish of the Flatwork?
    Don’t try to teach a tired dog new tricks. 😉

    All of the breakdown at the end was due to having a fatigued dog. Look at the performance early in the video vs late… Huge difference. Stopping play with a super tired dog is not a negative consequence. The dog appreciates it.

    No more than 3 minute sessions. 10 minutes minimum in between sessions.

    Good Stuff, Jeff.
    peace

  5. Hi Ron,

    Today i tried PVR for the first time, and crosses with discs. For the fist minutes the boys where over arousal mode, almost two months without discs…..
    The field too small and the right side filled with holes that I had to avoid.
    Total time where 28 min, I cut only discs pickup and boys breaks.
    Overall I don’t like, for next classes I *must* find o good training field and I *must* tie Blue :/
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgtK5rt9aQ

    Bruno

    1. Tethering is not a bad idea. But you should probably work 1 at a time. Leave one at home if possible.

      Minute 1 –
      The repetitive yes reminds me of Syn Alia. Not sure if you’re intending that or not.

      When I talk of marking, it’s a clean mark of a particular behavior. The repetitive ‘yes’ can desensitize a dog to the positive marker.

      Also you can see the problem with your Front and Rear Cross signal in the Red Dog’s Performance. They were too similar when you taught it last week – with the handler being behind the dog in the front cross drill – remember? – and therefore the learning was too contextual – any time the hands or shoulders turn, Ozz is performing the Rear Cross.

      Without the context of that real close to the handler positioning, the dog is going to the Rear Cross behavior all the time. You’ll need to go back and refine that a bit to get better performance with the Front Cross.

      Also, give the man some reinforcement! You are using this skill as if it’s always been there. Like you are proofing it. Reinforcement helps the dog learn and helps the dog perform it better in the future. Don’t be stingy with your discs.

      Get a Rear Cross, mark it and toss that disc. Ask for the Drop, mark it, and PVR… mark commitment, Yes! and throw. That will enable the dogs to learn these skills quickly. They’ll know Front Cross from Rear Cross. Behaviors that are reinforced get stronger, behaviors that are not reinforced go extinct. Learning requires a high rate of reinforcement. Don’t be stingy and ask too much of your dog while they are learning these things.

      Minutes 1-3
      Great work, Bruno! Really smooth. Love the purpose of the placement on that circular drill. You’ll want to set that same precision at different parts of the circle, you are hitting 12 o clock here… you can hit 3,6, and 9 o clock as well and add value to all around arc, which would be nice.

      Good attempts on the Rear Cross right around 3 minutes. Good consequence too. Perfect time to shut down the game. Nice jo!

      Minutes 3-6:30
      You are getting a little repetitive on his Strong side. Run some left then right PVRs. Otherwise nice stuff…
      4:54 and 5:08- Never, Ever, EVER, reinforce that blown off rear cross cue. NEVER! lol… It happens from time to time, but you’ve got a really round dog who likes this pattern – a lot. Be very careful of reinforcing that blowing off of your cue.

      Yup… more weak side pattern, for sure.

      Minutes 6:30-9:00
      Again, Bruno, reinforce each behavior for Ozz. He is not as solid as Blue and needs some assistance. Prove that the Front Cross is awesome by reinforcing it.

      Leilani and that skill? The first couple hundred times she did Front Cross to Heel Position, just like you set with Ozz @6:52, she got a bite or a flip. Every single time. She never misses that cue for me. 😉

      You don’t have to be that deliberate or focused on that, but you must get some precise, meaningful and consequent reinforcement on these Crossing skills. Right now they are just mush in between a lot of running. Sharpen them up and prove to your dogs that the Cross, BLAM!, makes something AWESOME happen.

      7:09 – When he blows off that cue, stop. Take a moment. This will be difficult, as you now have the skills to just bring him around and try again. But that is going to prove to Ozz that your cues are not really that important… “I’ll catch it on the next time around…” a dangerous mindset for a herding dog with a good outrun.

      When he blows off a cue. Stop, abruptly, and take a moment, perhaps gather some discs or something, then reset. You can capture something nice and Reward with Action or you can engage the dog on your terms… just don’t let blown off cues lead to reinforcement.

      8:20-9:00 – Nice work, real smooth. Really like the open hand cue there Bruno. Nice job.

      Minutes 9:00-11:00
      Fun isn’t it?
      Minutes 11:00-14:00
      Nice finish.
      Good job, Bruno!
      Go merlegang!

      1. WOW Ron, i dont know if I ever can thanks enough for your time. Splitting behaviors (boys and mine) this way you step down to my level of understanding making everything crystal clear.
        I don’t know if you remember but almost two years ago we had a short chat, after that I told you : ” Ron I must erase everything I know about discdogging from my mind and start from scratch with you”
        I was right !
        Thanks Man !! PVYBE Rocks !!!!!!!!

        Let’s see… :

        1. I dunno whats with repetitive “YES” probably something spooky ….. 🙂 (i promise a better self control)
        2. For a while will stick on Expanding PVR (for Blue, he work too close to me, obedience and close reward reminiscence), Drop and eye contact (both boys) and of course 🙂 Crossing Foundation.
        3. I wasn’t stingy, I was just cautious, looking for places with no holes in the field. I know from your view (and other) i look stingy, and that’s drive me to no4. a better filed.

        Peace !!!

        Bruno & The MerleGang

        1. No problem, Bruno. It’s fun to watch.

          Just make sure you get some reinforcement ON the crossing skills – tosses, bites, rollers – very important to define those skills.

          Peace!

  6. Hi Ron,

    The PVR should be done with a little distance between us and the dog as they go around right? Burly is getting it but he’s starting to tuck in tighter and tighter as he goes around. Any suggestions?

    Thanks,
    Shana

    1. Take a look at the Expanding the PVR article.

      I’ll be taking this on in a video today, as I’d like to show it. All you have to do is to make a 5-10 yard throw at various stages of the around – 9 o clock, 6 o clock, 3 o clock, etc. That should loosen up the tightness of that.

      What’s happening is that the dog is taking the shortest path to where the reinforcement will happen. If the disc is always thrown back out in front, from whence the dog came, then it is probable that the dog is going to be as efficient as possible in getting back there.

      Placing some reinforcement behind the handler, to both sides of the handler as well as back out in front for the full PVR, will help the dog not feel the need to be so direct and will help the dog start to read the handler.

      Hopefully that makes sense… 😉
      Blog entry to come…
      peace

      1. I think I might have had that not set up for the class membership on the first couple days of this week. Probably my fault there…

        You can also work with a cone and do it agility ‘Get Out!’ style if you know what I mean.

        peace

  7. Ron
    Here is my video for this week http://www.blip.tv/file/4451282/

    I have tried to work shorter time periods, within that 3 mm with breaks and stops. I have left the stops in to show what is happening during the stops, after watching it myself I know I’m not getting disengagements (negative consequences) for the refusal. He knows the next disc is coming! What lam really after is why he refuses in the first place; i.e. what is it that I’m doing or not doing. The games were only 6-7 mm with some stoppages not great but I hope better. If you could have a look I would be greatly appreciated.
    Jeff

    1. Setting the Flank
      Setting the Flank is great Jeff. Which do you prefer, 3 or 9 o clock?

      And you’re doing it both clock and counter… great show! I need to give that a try.

      The refusal @1:20… no idea why. It could be a pattern training thing. Perhaps he thought you didn’t send him around properly like you should have. It might be that you moved as well. It looked as if he was going then you started to move.

      When you break the game down, disengage from him a bit. You might want to do a little more than just stand there in ‘Ready’ Position. “Oops… and disengage, a little left or right shift, avoiding that ready position. He’s patient… he’ll wait. 😉

      Not sure about the refusal @1:57 either… much better breaking of the game there. You disengaged this time.

      PVR
      Lift your PVR hand a little higher, Jeff… unless you want him close…

      He’s got a free drop, too, which you are marking. This is freeshaping the drop and you’ll wind up with a dog that believes that the sooner they drop the sooner they get to play. That can be trouble for Disc Management.

      The refusal at 3:20 was weird too.

      @3:55 – a little more of a break would be a good idea. that flowed a bit too well, Jeff. Not enough consequence. @4:00 did you see the difference in performance when you shifted to the trailing hand? Whoa! that was crazy.

      Crossing
      Rear Cross was great!

      Great consequence at 4:10. Still don’t set up in that ready position. Ignore him a bit. I get the idea that you and Brodie are still connected during these consequent breaks. Are you looking him in the eyes there?

      @5:10 – I think he noticed that the other disc disappeared. @6:06 I think he’s tired.

      You stopped at 7:19 – that’s a 5 minute session – too long. I think it’s being tired or tired and bored. Also I think he’s a bit picky in general on the disc placement. If they’re not in danger of getting away from him he doesn’t seem to value them. If they’re too far or too hard to get he doesn’t want them.

      I think the solution is to make sure that you keep your training sessions short. What is important is that he doesn’t EVER blow one off. Dismissal would help here.

      You are pushing the game on him. More, more more… there’s always more. Take that game away from him before he wants to quit – not consequently, like he blows it off and you stop playing, but preemptively – “Great job Brodie! I know you want to jam more, but Go Do Dog Stuff…” having the game taken away from him will make him want to play more.

      Also, it’s a friendly break – “Great job Brodie!” is an important part. If we just shut off, real mechanically and leave the dog hanging that can be a turn off.

      3rd Session
      Cool idea with the “Get Out!” around the piles of discs… very cool, mind if I steal it?

      The thievery at 7:40 is not a problem at all. In fact, it’s a can be a great thing for dogs that are not real committed to the lure. It proves that the lure is attainable. It’s exciting.

      @8:10 – what is the difference between that break and your consequent break for poor performance? I couldn’t tell.

      You look a lot more active during this session. Can you see a difference in Brodie?

      I think he’s tired @8:34 I bet he refuses soon… I am SO on it. lol…

      Think about this, Jeff. You are pressuring him for being tired. How is that going to help him not be tired? Just as success is contagious, so is failure. You have about 1:20 of good work – MAX – when Brodie is running full tilt, which is fine, that’s the length of a routine. Quit before he does.

      The only way breaking down the game is going to help you is if your dog wants to play more. If he’s tired, your stopping of the game will be reinforcing.

      At 11:40 you got some good energy – Brodie was high… that’s the time to quit – even if he were to not catch – he was loving the game from 11:40-11:54. That was your time to quit.

      You had nice energy through the finish…

      Good job, man.

      Work on calling the drop a bit more and shorten your sessions to less than 1:20 if Brodie is running full tilt.

      Peace

  8. Ron,
    I’m having a little trouble with Groovy doing the pvr to my left (leading her with the disc in the right hand). I’ve tried expanding the pvr and throwing early in the direction I want her to head but she still goes around me the other direction. I think this is partly due to her non-stop desire to go around me in a clockwise direction. Please take a look at this vid and let me know what I’m doing wrong. I’m sure I’m sending mixed messages to Groovy or something. Thanks.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA3MV4ezLeQ

    Jack

    1. Simple, simple answer, Jack! Look at 8 seconds: do you see that orange disc? Do you see the escape route? That body position looks exactly like a clockwise go around. She’s just doing what she knows.

      This happens when the handler fails to set the lure properly. You’ve gone too far, rotationally speaking, too fast. You also could hold the cuing hand up a bit more to draw a larger diameter pattern for her.

      Pull After Commitment

      Let’s say the camera is 12:00 on the clock face. @0:07 Groovy is at 11 o clock. You are at 8:45. You should remain at 9 o clock until Groovy commits counter-clockwise. @0:08, she has not commited and you are already facing 6:30 on the clock. This early pull, pulling before the dog has committed will open up the clockwise go around escape route to your left knee – where the orange disc is.

      This is super common, and I’d be willing to bet it’s going to go on throughout this video. I’ll try to pick out a few key moments and highlight them in terms of flatwork.

      0:15-0:45

      You can see a lack of intent on the lure here with the right hand. Are you leading, following or helping? I can’t tell. Can you? Set that target and pull, not just with the disc, but with your body. Intend to lead her around. If she doesn’t go. Stop and reset then try again. When she goes, Mark it and reinforce by starting the drill.

      This lack of commitment to the lure by the handler is part of the problem on your PVR.

      You might want to pick her up with the clockwise PVR after first setting the flank. This will allow more experience with flowing flatwork. So set the flank… pick her up clockwise… make a toss… then pick her up counter-clockwise and challenge her.

      You can, and should mix this up so you get a mixture of performance of the behavior, challenging your dog and success. You keep setting up exactly the same set up and you’re getting the same result.

      0:45-1:00

      She’s really doing a lot of clockwise circling – 3:1, I’d say, and most of it is happening during set up. Try turning clockwise yourself when she’s moving clock. When she hooks up counter-clockwise, then go. Again, your intent on that lure, that stop sign you are giving her is just not working. Neither you nor her expects it to work.

      I think you could do some Front Cross work to fix this quite easily. If you have a strong front cross, that stop sign you are giving her should mean something.

      Have you done foundational set up moves with counter clockwise go around? Have you worked it with discs?

      1:00-1:30

      @1:06 – hell yes! Did you see that pickup? And it was well marked and reinforced. You need to get that happening before she walks around 3 times… Also, did you notice how it kind of looked like a Front Cross? More of that!

      The more I watch this, the more I am convinced that you need more counter-clockwise go around work from Foundational Set Uip Moves. Did you work that during week 1?

      Clockwise PVR as IceBreaker – 1:40-2:00

      @1:46, pull her around Clockwise for once. Change your pattern, let her experience the freedom of movement you are offering her. She has not had any chance to contrast that with what she is doing. This standing around waiting is being budgeted right into the game – it’s what you guys do.

      Work some clockwise PVR as an icebreaker.

      Why it Broke Loose 2:00-2:15

      This broke loose because she’s a herding dog and her balance point was tripped. She got to about 8:00 after that catch (@2:00) and she was already around. Her arcing catch forced that. That is essentially setting the flank at 270 degrees, and it’s part of the reason why we do that.
      Where was the Mark on all of those moments of commitment? It worked, but does she know what it was that worked?

      Watch for the Balance Point – 2:15-2:45

      I knew this one wasn’t going to work, as her approach was a bit to head on for you, she did not pass that balance point. She came in from 10 o clock instead of 8:00. It was close, but it wasn’t enough to convince her that she should continue on that track.

      In fact, that balance point is part of your issue all over the place thinking about it… @2:18 you are too late. She had already crossed over when you offered the cue for the other direction. You should have set that cue at 2:16 or 2:17 to have any hope of it being taken. If you stop frame just before 2:18, you can see that she’s already committed to going around before you set that stop or counter cue. She’s passed the balance point. She’s gone.

      Where’s the Clock? – 2:45-3:00

      Where’s the clockwise PVR? Many skills work in antagonistic fashion. Spin and Twist (clockwise and counter spins), Go Around (counter and clock), PVR (counter and clock), On and Off, Bite and Drop, Duration and Release… each of these concepts is taught best when working both antagonistic skills at the same time. They define each other and exclude each other and promote understanding of each skill.

      You need to work more than just constant counter-clock, because now you’ve got an around the world and she’s no longer taking your cues,”Oh! He wants an around the world…” and now you’ve got the skill but not the understanding of how to do the skill.

      3:00-3:30

      And there you go! heh! Interesting finish. Largely happened due to scale and that balance point. Also she was pretty much on flank the whole time (no real frontal approach) which sets a line.

      This is what I do naturally when working with dogs that have a decent outrun. I set and place targets so that it’s likely that the dog will continue to move on the pattern that I am looking for. It’s cheating, essentially, using reward placement to make things happen, but cheating is important if you are to ensure that the skill is performed successfully.

      I hope all this makes sense…

  9. So I got home with just a little bit of daylight left, took groovy out, and tried a little more pvr. After last night’s chat, your feedback above, and talking to Kat I decided to try setting the lure out front more and earlier. After watching my video again a number of times I realized I wasn’t “setting the hook” as you call it and thus was not able to pull groovy. I put the lure out early and more in front of my body. As soon as I saw her lock in, I started my turn. Worked a ton better than anything we’ve done before. I know I still need to go back and work some more flatwork with her for sure, but I think I figured out another piece of the puzzle. Thanks Ron.

    1. Awesome, Jack!
      That concept of Hooking Up is key in Flatwork, and in Disc Dogging in general actually. As is the rushed hook up that leads to the dog escaping to a default pattern. You should look to apply this knowledge elsewhere in the game and in dog training in general. It can save you a lot of frustration.

    1. Starts out nice…

      0:20-0:29

      If it goes all wonky and messed up, like it did here, just stop. Tell him to lie down and go pick up the discs and try again. You wound up reinforcing all this manic activity by communicating with him via the No Reward Marker. Sometimes you just need to stop and reset.

      0:29-0:50

      He was carrying it… you need to capitalize on the drop there – call it while he’s holding it. @0:38, that was close enough – you started with the cue and he was super responsive – go with that in the future…

      50-1:10

      do you notice that he’s carrying it well? I wonder why that is? Seriously wondering… no idea… the thing is though, that by allowing him to carry it like that without being in charge of the drop, you could be sending a mixed message on the drop on cue: does he need to hold it until you cue it or not?

      I would have cued the drop and dismissed him while I picked up the discs that way he had no expectation of doing work. I’m afraid this is going to end with an oops.. I’m @1:01 right now… let’s see… looks like you got away with one there… Good mark and reinforcement…

      @1:10-1:16

      Don’t move. As soon as you give him your No Reward Marker (NRM) you start moving around. Handler movement can be quite reinforcing for a border collie. Instead, just stand there and wait (or give him 1 ‘go get it’ cue) and wait. If you get tired of waiting, then dismiss him “Go Do Dog Stuff” or put him in a down and go pick up the disc yourself. Wait a few more seconds and get started again.

      Generally speaking your negative consequence for dropping is not very negative – it’s actually interesting and full of opportunity – “This one? That one? I’m Dropping! How about this.” coupled with your “Oops.. that one…” and your moving around creates a dialogue that Brodie is trying, manically to navigate to get the right answer.

      1:16-1:26

      Nice prediction and execution – your placement throughout this session has been quite solid. Make sure you call the drop when you get that extended carry (1:26).

      1:40-2:00

      Again, do you see how his errant drop makes you walk around and come close to him. Your little shimmy at 1:48 or so is exciting, you see him pick up? I thought this was supposed to be negative punishment… looks like he thinks it’s opportunity. From 1:50-2:04 there’s a dialogue or a dance that looks like fun for Brodie. Stay stationary or go and get the disc. It looks to me like he’s waiting to punk you on picking up the disc…

      2:00-3:33

      At 2:04, when he picks that up you should be prepped and ready to call the drop… let’s see what happens… good job cuing the drop and reinforcing.

      @2:09, looks like he dropped on your setting up the next disc and you let him do it – that’s not consistent with how you ran the rest of the lesson and kind of hurts your delivery of that understanding that the cued drop makes stuff happen… nice vault, though.

      Great flatwork after that but you let a few errant drops happen and kept playing.

      I don’t know what to tell you about the dropping… You are working it fairly well at times and then poorly at others. It’s not becoming clear to Brodie what’s working.

      Just be careful that the time that you are waiting for him to pick up the errant drop is not filled up with movement and that dialogue of NRMs.

      If he has a solid Down, use it while you pick up the disc that he has dropped.

      Love your flatwork, Jeff. Really flashy and creative.

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