Animal Farm Foundation Assistance Dog Program by Apryl Lea

Try This! 3 Thresholds with a Bunch of Dogs

This is Ron's followup to the Try This segment on our weekly 1/2 hour dog training and lifestyle series on YouTube, Pawsitive Vybe.

Performance vs Understanding – Human Clicker Game

This is a few minutes of a human clicker game we played at a recent Discdog B&B. The idea here is to teach a...

Performance vs Understanding – Context vs Concept

Performance can be based upon conceptual or contextual understanding. How does a handler communicate conceptual understanding to the dog and avoid performance based on...

Performance is not Understanding

More lessons in this series:

Human Clicker Game Context vs Concept

Performance is not understanding. Just because your dog has done or is doing a behavior...

Flatwork Session with Rokalele

Ron & Leilani, 12 year old Border Collie, do some Frisbee Dog Flatwork focusing on the Rear Cross and good work on the Flank....

Flatwork Introduction with Loot

Ron Watson gives Loot, 15 month old Border Collie rescue, an introduction to disc dog Flatwork.

PVybe Life Season 2 – Post Project Wrap Up

For the last 47 days we have been running a project on Indiegogo to crowdfund Season 2 of the PVybe Life. It was...

Crowdfunding the PVybe Life – Become a Backer of Our Show

The PVybe Life Season 2 is being crowdfunded over on Indiegogo. Get the skinny on how to support the project and help make Season...

PVybe Life Episode 3 – Merry New Year!

Here’s the third episode of the PVybe Show. We just got done with disc dog camp and got some video of the trip...

PVybe Life – Episode 2 Season 1 – Merry Christmas!

Well we survived another Christmas. Here's what went down that week... Episode 2 of our pilot season.

Pvybe Life Episode 1 – The Pilot Season’s Pilot

Episode 1 of PVybe Life - a Dog Training variety show by Pawsitive Vybe in Kingston NY.

PVybe Life – A Weekly 1/2 Hour Dog Training Lifestyle Show

PVybe Life is a dog training variety show with short edutainment pieces based on our dog training and lifestyle. It's pretty sweet. Each short segment...

Teach Your Dog a Hoop

Abby Cline of PVybe Fargo teaches a hoop to a client in her Canine Freestyle Class using cookies and reward placement.

PVybe Florida Disc Dog Camp – 12/28/12-12/31/12 – Dade City, FL

Disc Dog Camp at Kat & Jack Fahle's place in Dade City, FL. 4 days, 3 nights of intensive training.

Shaping the Spot Behavior with Dismissal

DOC is our Environmental Management Protocol. It is designed to help dog trainers learn to passively handle their dogs through shaping and reward and...

2002 Winter Incredible Dog Challenge – Holy Cow… and Magic!

Pretty sweet disc dog footage here of the 2002 Incredible Dog Winter Challenge. Featuring great players and a truly magical catch...

Four Qualities of Good Dog Trainers

I ran across this great article on Clickertraining.com. This is how it's done. It's a long article written by Clint Matthews about overcoming an...

Fixing a Late Drop with a Give

Alternating between Drop and Give provide a strong contrast between the location of the Give and the lack of location on the Drop. I...

Metaphor and Understanding in Dog Training

In our business, teaching people to do cool things with their dogs, we rely on metaphor all the time to communicate complex ideas. A...

You Sure You are Running Your Dog the Right Way?

This one simple adjustment, switching directions, changed Si from a horse chasing a Frisbee to a big cat leaping for it's prey. The difference...

Xs and Os in Terms of Dog Training

Dog Frisbee is just dog training with a slightly different focus. It's easy to forget that. When you're talking about how shapes and patterns...

Vocabulary of Xs and Os

A handy list of Disc Dog Flatwork and Routine terms.

Xs and Os Revisited – Shaping Patterns in Dog Frisbee

This is the first piece of a series where we Revisit Xs and Os. Over the next few weeks to help bring some more...

A Pendulum for Better Flatwork and for Big Leaping

The Pendulum pattern is created using alternating clockwise and counter clockwise "Arounds". This balanced approach slows the dog down and helps dog and handler...

Are You Flippin’ Kidding Me? Faking Your Way to a Flip

Taz performs the flip for the disc but does not seem to care about the catch. Here are some simple tricks to try to...

Oppositional Feeding – Fixing a Latent Drop

We like to use Oppositional Feeding with many Drop issues with high drive dogs. In the case of a late Drop or a dog...

A New Intern at Pawsitive Vybe

Introducing Georgios & Lupo our new interns from Thessaloniki, Greece.

A Special Trophy for the MNDDC by Apryl Lea

Apryl made the MN State Championship Trophy and also the Wazee Spirit Trophy for the Minnesota Disc Dog Club. We delivered them to camp...

Ninja Bounce

The Ninja Bounce, essentially a spinning overhand airbounce is based off of the Push throw. A full twist is followed by an overhand airbounce....

Manufacturing the Approach

The concepts of On and Off can be taught quite quickly by marking the off and tossing a cookie. The dog leaves the Spot...

Three Tips for Working with Distracted Dogs

There are a bunch of approaches to handling reactive or distracted dogs. Regardless of what methodology you use, here are three simple things you...

Success of Your Dog Vs Performance Requirements

Disc dogger's have a problem. We all want to play this game so darned much that it's hard to remain consequent and focused on...

Eight Ways to Slow Down Your Frisbee Dog

Slowing down a disc dog's on field movements is important for safety and performance. It is also important for your dog's frame of mind...

Seven Ways to Reinforce Your Disc Dog

At Pawsitive Vybe we look at dog Frisbee through a dog training lens. Disc dog Sequences are just long behavior chains and they require...

6 Hallmarks of a Mature Disc Dog Game

A lot of times I look at a Frisbee dog routine and think about it's maturity. It was nice, stylish, entertaining, but it was...

Nine Distinct & Observable Properties of the Disc Dog Noob

Here are nine things that noobs do that everyone should be aware of so they can not do them as much and get bigger...

Five Simple Adjustments for Better Frisbee Dog Freestyle

Frisbee Dog freestyle tips by Ron Watson of Pawsitive Vybe.

Video Assessment – Flip to Dog Catch with Blue

The flip and catch are working great. Nice gainer flip for a well established target. Catching Blu on your hip nicely. Looks comfy...but your...

Public Access with Apryl Lea

A fun video playlist featuring ADI Certified Assistance Dog trainer, Apryl Lea of Pawsitive Vybe, working with Animal Farm Foundation Assistance Dogs in Training...

Zen of Multiples

For Disc Dogs, performing a multiple (several discs thrown in rapid fire succession usually at a short distance and in front of the handler)...

PVybe Washington Disc Dog Camp Personals

Personal Lesson registration for the PVybe Disc Dog Camp in Washington. Spots are filling up fast... Secure your spot today.

PA – Captain America Works Move – Taos, NM

Apryl Lea and Captain America work Move in the Plaza in Taos, NM, after a recent PVybe Disc Dog Camp. This is Captain's 3rd...

Apryl Test of FB on WP

Ron masquerades as Apryl Lea on PVybe.com. This is a test of the FB to WP plugin.

Test of FB on WP with Explanation…

This is a test of the Facebook for Wordpress Plugin. These tests outline the methodology used to try to implement the WP plugin. They...

Testing FB on WP

This is the excerpt and now I'm making it longer... I'm trying to see how much text can be placed in this excerpt...

PVybe Disc Dog Camp – Learning to Drop

Laura starts out by freeshaping the Drop and adjusting her position so Lakota doesn't get to drop discs in front of her at her...

On the Town in Fargo with a Pawsitive Vybe

PVybe dogs hang out at the Empire Tavern in Fargo, ND with Abby, Apryl & Ron.

Making Art at the Pajama Factory

Apryl Lea works on some custom canine art for a famous disc dogger. It's a secret surprise present, so don't spill the beans.

Vaulting Basics with Kenna

Vaulting with Kenna.

Good Dogs on the Lanai

This video features EZ Ryder, Kiva, Ska, Pan Hot, Harpyr, Prima & Si of the PVybe Pack and Captain America, Animal Farm Foundation Assistance...

Nate & Bea

Nate Pearson & Bea demo their disc dog skills picked up from Pawsitive Vybe's Disc Dog Foundation and DiscDogger's Toolkit.

More Drops with Hops

This is a typical disc dog training session here at Pawsitive Vybe. We grab a leash, a handful of Frisbees, a highly aroused dog...

Backchaining an X Step

We are backchaining this skill, starting one step away from the finish and then falling into the correct behavior. This position makes it highly...

Throwing Discs for Distance in 4 Steps

Distance throwing is a highly complex skill. The entire body is in action and must work in concert, feet set up the hips,...

Brushing Basics

Brushing discs, aka - MAC (Mid Air Correction), is actually quite a bit easier than most people think. They can be a bit hard...

Closed Shoulder

A critical part of delivering accurate and powerful distance tosses is where the shoulder is when the disc is released. If you look at...

Distance Throwing Isolation Drills

We do two distance learning drills here at PVybe designed to isolate portions of the body that are moving in concert on your big...

Push Airbounce

You can also use this swooping kind of entry to do the Push Airbounce going backwards, as in the build up to the

Manufacturing Success

Success is contagious and habit forming. Failure is contagious and habit forming. Which one do you do more of in your throwing practice?

Flamingo

Ron Watson teaches the freestyle flying disc throw, the Flamingo. The Flamingo is a flashy, under the leg throw with a twist.

Flamingitis

The Flamingitis throw is pretty spiffy. It’s clean, sharp and really pops. It’s also pretty simple. It's similar in position to the Flamingo, but...

Cointoss Butterfly

The cointoss butterfly is a very cool, very reliable butterfly that rotates 90 degrees - or sideways in relation to the handler., making for...

Rock In Rock Out

One of the hardest things to do while throwing discs is to relax. It is surprising how tense your arm and wrist are even...

Body as Flick

Many great throwers do this so naturally that it looks as if they must have magical Wristbands of Hercules or something. Now a huge...

Jazz

We are going to backchain this skill. You’ll start with a very simple, rough approximation of the finish product - a blind backwards release...

Airbounce

The key to throwing the Airbounce is to have a perfectly clean release at the simplest expression of the throw. If you can’t perform...

Special Delivery Documentation

This is a document that has class information on it. It is downloadable on GoogleDocs.

Vaulting as Leaping Foundation

...dogs that vault well but do not leap well do so because the vault is just a simple foundational leaping drill with concrete and...

Good Dogs Stay Down

Check out the PVybe Pack doing a down stay while we hang out with our neighbor at Pawsitive Vybe HQ. They were all really...

SuperAero Field Test and Disc Review

When we got news from Hero that they had a super durable light plastic disc, the SuperAero, it took me all of 5 minutes...

Judging Difficulty and Canine SubElements

I got a couple of questions about USDDN judging sent to me via a Facebook message from Mila, who lives in Moscow, Russia. Mila...

Basic Body Rolls

Body Rolls with discs really are easy. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge and a tiny tap from the tips of...

Toolkit Status Update – Good News/Bad News…

DiscDogger's Toolkit production and availability announcement.

Disc Dog Elements

Disc Dog Elements are online Disc Dog training modules focused on one particular element of the game. Wanna work on your Throwing? Sign up...

The PVybe 2 Step

Once you are more than comfortable with the 4 steps you can go ahead and get started working on actual throwing.

You want to...

Personal Lesson Plans

Why Personal Lessons? Custom Online Training Includes

Personalized Instruction to fit your specific goals and challenges Free 1hr Interview to discuss and identify the specific issues to...

Advanced Disc Throwing

Special Delivery is a 3 week class on throwing discs by Ron Watson of Pawsitive Vybe. Learn more in 3 weeks than you could...

Disc Dog Foundation

Disc Dog Foundation is a 6 Week course focused on playing Freestyle disc with your dog. Broken into six elements, Disc Dog Foundation delivers...

Jack and Groovy PVR Assessment

Video Assessment with Jack & Groovy. Touches on the balance point of herding dogs and on the drive to repeat comfortable patterns by the...

The Pawsitive Vybe STARR Protocol

This is a brief overview of our methodology for working with reactive and fearful dogs.

STARR Protocol for Reactive Dogs

Working with reactive or fearful...

2 Simple Steps for Superior Shaping

Many dogs get very high when working for cookies and clicks. Some go over threshold when working. I think this is fairly common for...

The PVybe Pack Hangout with KOMU 8

The other day, we co-hosted a newscast with Sarah Hill and KOMU 8 via a Google+ Hangout with 9 dogs and a Stunt...

My Life as a Dog Pillow

We were, once again, 4 days behind on our VloMo11 submissions but we’ve got 4 short vids coming out today…

Here’s +Apryl Lea...

Hops – Flatwork and Fish Jam

Hops and Ron work on some flatwork and some fishing across the tracks at PVybe Field.

#VloMo11 Day 17 @PVybe | 30 Videos in...

TOP SECRET: Disc Dog Research & Development – Scoot to Rebound

So I’m violating a cardinal rule here at Pawsitive Vybe. Normally we do not show any cool new trick until we’re ready to...

Almost a Party in Apryl’s Studio…

Any time you bring a camera out the mood shifts in the room.

Here’s a short shot in Apryl’s newly functional Metal Sculpture Studio:

#VloMo11...

Multiple Dog Flatwork Fun – Chaos and Crosses

A fun session with Juicy, Harp & Leilani playing around with flatwork while EZ Ryder, Ska and LaVerne work duration stays on the...

Disc Dog Flatwork Fun | Getting Set Up

Prima, LeiLei, Ryder and LaVerne get settled in and watch Juicy and Harpyr work some Rear Crosses.

VloMo11 Day 13 @ PVybe | 30...

Recess with Apryl

Apryl Lea’s crew hangs out in the studio and Apryl Captures a few choice moments with the camera featuring Prima, Harpyr, Kiva, Pan,...

House Cleaning with Mr. Hippo

Here’s Apryl Lea and Mr. Hippo doing some house cleaning.

Mr. Hippo is an assistance dog candidate for Animal Farm Foundation’s Assistance Dog program....

Pawsitive Vybe Metalworks is Back Online – Canine Metal Sculpture by Apryl Lea

The other day, Apryl Lea got power to her Art Studio here at Pawsitive Vybe HQ at the Pajama Factory in Midtown Kingston,...

VloMo11: 30 vids in 30 Days? We’re Taking Requests

Here are Apryl Lea and Pan Hot getting their Spooky on at Keegan’s Halloween Party. This is some video proof of an otherwise...

Captain America visits Grand Central Station

Here’s Captain America doing some work in the City…

Spooky Jam 2011: And the Winners Are…

So Spooky Jam 2011 is history. Apryl, Abby and I really enjoyed going through all the videos and we’ve gotten great feedback from...

Bent Cavaletti

Cavalettis have been used to adjust horses strides for a long time. The Bent Cavaletti drill is about forcing collection and creating an angle...

The Bilderback

A special Fidget created by Matt Bilderback. It's the only fidget that provides for a switching of grips from High to Low or Low...

Basic Fidgets

Here are some basic Fidgets: the Bloom, The Fonzi & the Weightless and the tricks to the trick. Easy, Simple & fun!

Intro to Fidgets

Fidgets are tricks we do with the disc in our hands, kind of fidgeting around. They make you look and feel cool and are...

Spooky Jam Propaganda

We've had some great Spooky Jam Entries so far... I'm just trying to "Catapult the Propaganda" here... Here's the Link

Wall and Pole Drill

This is a very simple drill that you can use to further hone your precision and accuracy. All you need is a wall that...

Distance Learning Group Video Chat

We’ve been working really hard here at PVybe HQ on our distance learning program. Earlier this summer Google+ came out and really changed...

Oppositional Feeding Applications

Pressure generated by dogs with lots of drive can be reduced by using Oppositional Feeding. It is a great tool for slowing dogs down...

Lights, Camera… Spooky!

Get some spooky duds together, work on your moves and get your cameras warmed up. The second annual Pawsitive Vybe Spooky Jam is...

Fidgets Added to Disc Dog Foundation Class and the Toolkit

Last night we shot some test footage of fidgets at 240 frames per second. Poor light and a few beers couldn’t slow us...

Get on Google+ for Group Video Chat

What you will need to do to take advantage of our video chats is to create a Google+ account and then Circle Pawsitive Vybe...

Flipping the Field for Toss and Fetch Retrieve Speed

This is the third and last installment of our Improving Toss and Fetch Retrieve Series. This content will be covered completely in video,...

A Faster Toss and Fetch Retrieve with 2 Discs and Bitework

A few Days ago I wrote about Improving a Toss and Fetch Retrieve and said that I’d share two techniques that we use...

Improving Your Disc Dog’s Retrieve Speed in Toss and Fetch

I have been asked on more than one occasion,”How do I get a faster Retrieve out of my dog in toss and fetch?”

It’s...

The Disc Dog Bed and Breakfast – A Dog Training Vacation in NY

The Disc Dog Bed and Breakfast is back!

Last weekend we had our first full Disc Dog Bed and Breakfast guest since relocating our...

Tapping Technology to Teach III.1 – The Site

Having a bad a$$ site on the web is a good idea. We use WordPress and are supported by WebManna, an internet marketing...

Tapping Technology to Teach III – Show Me the Money

So weʼve been over the history, what about the present day? This was supposed to be one piece, but I’ve broken it into...

Uptown Dog Training

Si offers a trade: Leash for a hotdog? Si poses for the camera while Ron orders a hotdog. Si does Ron a favor by...

Tapping Technology to Teach – Part II

The Rise of Online Video

Apryl and I started Pawsitive Vybe in 2005. And right after Christmas of that year I found Blip.tv. I...

Tapping Technology to Teach – Part I

You may have noticed that PVybe has been using cutting edge technology to teach dog training online for some time now. I will be...

Disc Dog Flatwork: Oppositional Feeding

Oppositional Feeding is a technique that I have been using for some time now to slow my dogs down a bit and get them...

Opening Up the Kitchen

A little bit of demo at PVybeHQ now located in Kingston, NY. Here’s a bit more exposed brick in the back corner of the...

Reframing Reinforcement: Overpaid and Under-Reinforced

I learned this lesson not too long ago with Hops. Focusing on Paying and Rewarding this little Jack Russell Terrorist for good work meant...

Heads Up!

Just like horses, dogs gallop and there are 2 kinds of gallops, probably a few more, but let’s just talk about two:

Head Down

If...

Collection and Lead Changes

A few days ago we talked about leaping and front footed landings, an important and hot topic these days that drew out a...

The Case for Front Footed Landings

So the other day I was asked, ”How do I teach my dog to land on all four feet?” This concept has been floating around...

Captain America’s Sprint Across America

Captain America, Assistance Dog Candidate for Animal Farm Foundation’s burgeoning Assistance Dog Program headed by Apryl Lea of Pawsitive Vybe, gets some Public...

Happy at PVybe Fargo!

Candid photo of a couple of famous Frisbee Dogs: EZ Ryder and Rokalele at PVybe Fargo chilling out after a 20 hour drive.

Arrival in Fargo

Here's a shot of the 2010 Spooky Jam trophy living at Abby Cline's place at PVybe Fargo, ND.

PVybe HQ – Kingston, NY

Here is the new home of Pawsitive Vybe. We move in July 1. The building is an old Pajama Factory and is located in...

It’s Tipped! PVybe Disc Dog Camps in MN and OR

The Camp tipping point campaigns have tipped. We're going to MN and Oregon to conduct PVybe Disc Dog Camps!

Chillin In Kingston

Prima n juicy chillin in Kingston while scouting out locations for Canine Interaction Class, Pawsitive Vybe’s version of dog obedience. Canine Interaction class...

Kiva Wushu

Apryl Lea and Kiva in this POV jam session at Nadja and Kara's place in Upstate NY. Shot with a Go Pro camera compliments...

Muppet Wushu

Ron & Si do a little POV jam with Roo Yori's Go Pro camera at Nadja and Kara's place in Upstate NY.

PreSeason Online Training – Disc Dog Foundation Spring 2011

Class Starts Wednesday 03.09.11 We’re ramping up for another session!

Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Foundation Class offers all players unique and game changing...

DiscDog Wushu #1 – Butterfly Backvault to Handplant

Disc dog sequence development by Ron Watson of Pawsitive Vybe featuring a butterfly back vault, a handplant throw and a left handed over the...

Disc Dog Camps in Minnesota and Oregon Summer 2011

Announcement of Disc Dog Camps in MN and OR for 2011.

Teaching a Hoop With Bitework

This is a typical Bitework Application session. There is a plan, in this case, we're going to develop a Hoop, skill where the...

DiscDogger’s Toolkit Coming Soon

The DiscDogger's Toolkit is a desktop learning application being developed by Ron Watson & Steve Donohue on the sport of canine disc. 3+ Hours...

Whoa!? What’s Up with PVybe?

In January, our landlord sent us an email notifying us that she would be putting the PVybe Farm back on the real estate market....

Bed and Breakfast Lesson: Chaos vs Consequent Game

Disc Dog Bed and Breakfast Guest, Linday, performing Bitework in the Context of a Consequent Game with Juicy Juice of the Pawsitive Vybe Pack....

Teaching a Fish

A Fish is a move where we toss a disc for your dog to catch and remove it from his mouth before he hits...

Routine Building with Cookies

Work on building a routine with cookies. Whether it's drive reduction for clear thinking or creating a walk through type situation for routines...

Bite for Wait

How do you teach a high drive dog to Wait? Teach him to Bite on cue. This bitework lesson is about creating a wait...

Flag and Flash Cuing

Flag and Flash Cuing is a cuing system developed by Pawsitive Vybe for teaching dogs to leap over and off of their handlers. The...

Rule # 3 – Never, Ever Touch Me!

A video on Bitework Rule # 3. If you're getting bitten by your dog during play this is a must watch.

Foundation on the Fly – Shaping the Give with a Single Toy

Shaping a Give with a Single Toy.

Bite as Cookie

When a Bite is offered as a cookie the dog has earned the right to attempt to Bite that object. It's a very empowering...

Leashes Make Good Tug Toys

Leashes make good Tug Toys.

Anatomy of a Behavior

Most of the behaviors that we create with our dogs are really chains of small concepts and chains are only as strong as their...

Shaping the Give with a Collar Grab

Sometimes when dogs are learning the game of bitework, they can really tear the disc out of your hand after you ask for the...

Bitework and the Infinite Reward Loop

A zoomed out look at the game of Bitework focusing on creating an Infinite Reward Loop where every thing the dog does is successful...

Bitework 101 With Indy – Two Target Bitework

Two Target Bitework lesson with Indy by Ron Watson of Pawsitive Vybe.

Three Rules of Disc Dog Bitework

Ron Watson's original Three Rules of Bitework.

The Consequent Game

The Consequent Game is an infrastructure of communication for learning through play. Performance of target behaviors is tied to energy levels...

Disc Management – Handling and Throwing Two Discs in One Hand

Efficient and competent disc management is more than just racing around picking discs up off the ground.

Jamming with a Young Dog

A frequently asked question for Disc Dog handlers is how do you work with and train a young Disc Dog. Here are some general...

Where Are We?

Hey there ladies! Long time not much chatting, eh? We’re going to officially get back to class on Monday. We have a group chat...

Introductions Are in Order…

Take a moment and introduce yourself to the group and to see who has come before you. Tell us something interesting about...

Disc Dog Foundation Trailer

Disc Dog Foundation is an online disc dog training class with Ron Watson of Pawsitive Vybe. Here's a trailer.

Jan 2011 Distance Learning News

PVybe Distance Learning News Jan 2011

Ballwork with Sue & Ella

Vault Discrimination Ball Work with Sue and Ella. Ella learns to distinguish linear vaults from stalls and reverse vaults.

Over Timing

Timing for Big Overs and any vault is early, early, early! Get the disc up early, before the dog leaves the ground so he...

A Litany of Too Late and Too Low

Apryl and Ron Demonstrate various degrees of poor placement and timing on vaulting skill in the snow at the Farm. This was supposed to...

Team Movement and Disc Management

Simple, outside the box tips and tricks for good team movement and disc management. Learn to show off as you...

Disc Dog Sequencing – Flip to Vault

Flip to Vault with Ron & Kiva utilizing the Art of Linking Tricks (Through... Wait... Trick!) sequence building method.

Notecards

The best Routine Building tool that we have been using here at Pawsitive Vybe for more than a few years is a simple set...

Through… Wait… Flip!

This is our base level building block for building sequences. It has team movement and good positional properties. This is the way you build...

Multiple Flipping Sequences

There are many ways that we can work multiple flips. The most common way is to do it directly in front of the handler....

Through and Flip – Live Speed

Removing the Wait and going on to full speed. Be sure that you have a good history of Through... Wait... Flip before you move...

Dog Beds for All

Christmas Presents for the dogs... 13 Dog Beds from Grandma! Yay!

Over the Hills and Through the Woods!

Pan and leilani hanging out in the car on the way tow grandmas for christmas we are listening to neil young. It’s a...

Human Freestyle as Basis for Learning

Playing catch with another human is probably the best and fastest way to improve our throwing skills. Develop a game of flowing catch. This...

The Flick Myth in Disc Sports

There is no wrist Flick in Frisbee. At least not in the way most people understand the of flicking the wrist. The Flick in...

Interception vs Chase

Most dogs jump for Frisbees because they missed. They have over pursued, ran past the target and make a last ditch effort to make...

Space Time Continuum

Everybody knows that disc placement is key to making disc dogs look good. One thing most people don’t think about is the timing of...

Step, Step, Collect… Jump!

We pattern train many things here at Pawsitive Vybe, but probably the most important pattern for the game of disc is Step, Step Collect......

Vaults vs Overs

Discriminating between Vaults and Overs with disc placement. Dog >> Target >> Obstacle for an Over and Dog >> Obstacle >> Target for a...

Time and Space

Vault Placement and Timing with attention given to the dog's positional relationship to the handler. A stride and a half...

Cuing Direction

Cuing the Direction you want the dog to go and the place where the disc will be caught instead of drawing attention to the...

Types of Linear Vaults

Linear Vault descriptions: Catch and Carry and Stretch to Catch and the pros and cons and best practices of each.

Vaulting Vocabulary and Nomenclature

Vaulting Vocabulary and naming convention because the Disc Dog world doesn't have any and being able to talk about discdogging...

Lower is Not Always Safer

When it comes to vaulting, lower is not always safer. The standard trajectory in vaulting is like a staircase. The dog leaps up from...

Ballwork – Disc Dog Vault Discrimination

An introduction to Ballwork for Vault discrimination. Teach your dog the concepts of Linear Vaults, Reverse Vaults and Stalls - and put each on...

Lynn Campbell Jones’s Photos – Random Korea stuff

Pictures of Apryl Art in Korea.

Trainer’s Notes

Working Multiple Dogs Trainer's Notes...

Change of Venue

Change the venue of your multiple dog working environment. Start to generalize the environment.

Adding New Dogs

Adding new dogs to the multiple dog mix.

Adding an Action Distraction

Adding action by way of the distraction dog while maintaining a working relationship with the working dog.

And Then There was Bug

Here is a ridiculous flipping dog. I just happened to be sitting at the right place at the right time to capture Donna Schoech...

Flipping Basics

Basic Flipping Concepts for teaching and understanding the Flipping behavior in disc dogs. Learn where the disc must be placed and how and why...

Teaching the Flip

Here are a few techniques and some good concepts for teaching a flip. Flipping is an art and with some dogs, it is not...

Flipping Safety

Because there are millions of ways that dogs can land, smooth movement out of landings is probably the...

The Gainer Flip

Traditional back flips move backwards a bit. They start in one spot and land behind that spot. A gainer flip is a back flip...

Flip to Dog Catch

Flip to Dog Catch is a sweet move that is often much easier than it seems. Here's a quick breakdown of one approach...

Runners and Floaters

Getting a disc to hang up in the air for as long as possible increases the likelihood of your dog leaping. Floaters maximize hangtime,...

Precision and Accuracy Drill – Throwing Floaters

Most new players and players that lack confidence in their throwing ability often avoid throwing into the wind...

Darts vs Baseballs

There are many ways we can think of throwing technique. An interesting one is Darts vs Baseballs. It's really a pretty big deal.

Catch With Curves

The idea here is to get mastery over curving the disc so we can throw straight when we need to. The full range of...

Learning to Curve for a Self Correcting Throw

Disc Doggers get driven mad by those discs that curve off to the left or right. It seems as if sometimes we just can’t...

Marking with a Finger Point

When working with Multiple Dogs, how we mark is important. One of the things we like to do at Pawsitive Vybe...

Trainer’s Notes

Tips and tricks for freeshaping with multiple dogs.

Choosing Target Behaviors

Choosing Target Behaviors for a freeshaping session with multiple dogs.

Freeshaping Sample Session

Freeshaping Multiple Dogs Sample Session.

Some Thoughts on Teaching in Drive

A dog that is engaged in drive is often hard to handle and gives many good discdoggers fits. It is important for handlers to...

Counter Conditioning the Head Down Gallop

Here are some common approaches we can take to mend bad habits, specifically tailored to ending the Head Down Gallop...

Curving for Collection

This drill combined with short toss and short to medium interception type catch drills can dramatically improve a dog's patience...

Drop with Prima and Hops

Here's Hops and Prima working on their drop skills. Both of them do not drop particularly well. We do some freeshaping of the Drop...

Attention and Targeting

Attention and Targeting are the basis of team based work. Without these skills teams don't function very effectively. Shaping...

Vault Tosses – Learning a Horizontal Hover

Our dogs pressure us with their movement every time we throw a vault. Their movement and timing affects the throw...

Paying the Release

Paying the Release of a duration behavior is important as duration is defined by the Release. Without the Release, duration can't happen. It's also...

Sample Session

A sample session of working multiple dogs on taking turns using a pedestal.

The Working Dog and the Distraction Dog

We have the Working Dog, the dog holding the duration behavior and a Distraction Dog(s) that is doing stuff.

Principles for the Working Dog

Set Position

When we set the working dog on their Spot or Pedestal, it would be a good idea to use a very high...

Principles for the Distraction Dog

The Distraction Dog is not very important to this exercise. This dog is simply used as a distraction for the Working Dog’s duration...

Attention and Drop as Secondary Reinforcer

Eye contact in the presence of a disc earns the opportunity to bite the disc. It's brutally simple and effective for keeping dogs off...

Crossing and the 4 Keys of Flatwork

What we are doing with Flatwork is moving the dog around the field. We are pushing and pulling. This happens through...

Flanking and Feeding

The first steps of Practical Flatwork are Setting the Flank and Directional Feeding. Both of these skills have huge impact in how handlers...

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...

Rear Cross

The Rear Cross is a move where the dog turns away from the handler. That's all it is. Dog is running and turns in...

Front Cross

Crossing during a PVR is a bit of an advanced flatwork maneuver, but it should be relatively easy if we have a solid...

Expanding the PVR

The way the Pawsitive Vybe Ribbon is constructed, our dogs are likely to mistake the PVR for a simple Go Around. If we look...

Spot Training – Generalizing Handler Position and Approach

In this Video, Apryl Lea and Pan work on a Pedestal, or raised spot. The intent of the session is to Manufacture the Approach...

Treat to Toy Transfer with Layla

The main mechanics for this skill is activating the second target and making the first target disappear. That popping lure with the second hand...

Generalize the Spot Behavior

While it is true that dogs do not generalize as well as humans, generalization may be enhanced through training. And the dog surely won't...

Rewarding with Action

At Pawsitive Vybe, Dogs don’t earn cookies, they earn the opportunity for cookies. When the mark leads to opportunity, dog’s are conditioned...

Generalizing the Pedestal with a Circuit

Generalizing the Pedestal behavior can be done quite easily by creating a circuit of many different pedestals and working them in rapid fire succession.

Transferring from Treats to Toys

Reinforcement will be in the form of tossing the toy, when the handler wants some space, or a bite and tug on the toy...

Introduction to the Pedestal Behavior

We like to use Pedestals here at PVybe HQ because it is a very Black and White behavior. The dog is either on it,...

Root Concepts of the Spot Behavior

Behaviors can be broken down into many root concepts. Spot training offers us several active root concepts that we can teach our dogs that...

2 Keys to Teaching a Dog to Stay

Many clicker trainers have problems with duration because they are primarily focused on marking and reinforcing action. After the action part of the duration...

Spot Training in 3 Steps

Spot Training in 3 steps: shape interest, add value, release.

Reward Placement for Spot Training

Reward placement is key in teaching a dog the Spot behavior. The reward must be delivered so that the dog can maintain position on...

Bitework with Indy

There are 2 videos in this player… Tugging 101 with Indy and Flag and Flash Cuing. Searching for some bitework video on the site...

Reframing and Refining the Rear Cross

Here's another way of looking at the Rear Cross behavior.

Three 5 Minute Sessions for All Your Set Up Moves

All the tools you need for immaculate set up moves you've already seen in the Set Up Move video. It's simple, elegant and effective...

A Typical Foundational Positioning Session

A written explanation of a sample Foundational Positioning. Quick sessions, super successful... Less is more.

Disc Dog Distance Learning Starts Now!

Disc dog distance learning classes with Ron Watson of Pawsitive Vybe.

Flatwork Foundation

This video lays out our baseline Flatwork Foundation. This drill teaches Front and Rear crosses at the foundational level...

Set Up Moves

At Pawsitive Vybe we work on being as flexible as possible when it comes to getting our dogs set up so the team looks...

Foundational Positioning

Foundational Positioning is a huge part of the game of disc. A killer limitation in the game of disc is the not being...

Spooky Jam Winners!

Announcing the winners of the 2010 Spooky Jam!

New and Improved Disc Dog Checklist

New and Improved DiscDogger's Checklist.

Distance Learning Program Starts Nov 17th

Distance Learning Starts soon...

Pirates of the Mitten

Apryl Lea & Pack's Submission to the 2010 Spooky Jam - featuring Ska, Prima, Kiva & LaVerne.

Power Puff Jam

Professor Utonium (Ron Watson), Si (Bubbles), Juicy (Blossom) & Rokalele (Buttercup) and Mojojojo (Hops)all jam at the same time in this Powerpuff inspired piece....

Spooky Jam Update

Spooky Jam Update...

Humor, Repetition and the Classical Condition

Yesterday, I did a piece on Reframing the Dog’s Understanding of the Door. A couple of the comments pointed out some gaps in...

Reframing Canine Understanding : Doorways

Change your dog's understanding of doorways from 'staging area' to 'destination'. This little reframe save you and your dog a lot of grief at...

Injuries and the Canine Athlete

An opinion piece by Ron Watson on Injuries and the Canine Athlete.

Disc Dog Training is not a Race

Some dogs come out of the whelping box jamming and some need to be taught. That’s the way it is. The point is that...

Abysmal Jam

An Abysmal Jam with Ron Watson & Abby Cline

Disc Dog Foundation Class

The Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Foundation class is six weeks long and is for all skill levels.

Before you write this class...

Waiting for rick

Hanging out at the mcdonalds parking lot waiting for rick.

Multiple Dog Class Is Shaping Up

We are about 2 weeks away from starting the Pawsitive Vybe Distance Learning Classes and I’m working on the Working Multiple Dogs online distance...

Fargo! In the House!

Cline... at the Farm...

Foundational Positioning With Apryl & Ska

Foundational Positioning with Apryl & Ska.

Flatwork with Leilani

Ron and Leilani demonstrate some flatwork and crossing at the farm in 2008. This is how some dogs play the game of disc. Leilani's...

Flatwork – Are You Feeding or Leading?

Are you feeding your dog's patterns or leading them? Creating and maintaining cool patterns in freestyle disc is a balancing act...

My Dog is not Food Motivated

This issue comes up every once in a while in my discussions and training sessions with students and potential students. Personally, I've never ran...

STARR Protocol – Setting the Tone with Layla

STARR protocol session with Layla exiting the car.

AWI World Finals Part I

Footage from the 2010 AWI World Finals.

Frisbee Dog Foster – Meet B.B

Frisbee dog foster, BB. A big strappin' border collie with tons of drive.

Judging Canine Athleticism

I recently got a question from a friend about judging the ‘Canine Athleticism’ category that we find in almost all of the organization’s judging...

Zig Zag for Big Leaping

Here's Apryl & Kiva working on a zig zag for big leaping. Notice the intent that Apryl throws with...

Kitty Jam 2 – The Rise of Rigler

Here's Rigler busting in on Apryl & Kiva's Jam Session.

Disc doggers dashboard

This is what we had lying on our dash in the van…

Lou mack, marley and alex stein.

Pretty cool…

Pew! Good Man, Hops!

Several weeks ago, Hops and Ska did some filmwork for Bissell's Pawsitively Clean product line.

Kimo Kai’s Flying Circus

A very special disc dog video... Kimo Kai's Flying Circus.

The return of Deb…

Deb just got here and she’s letting her dogs out. They were very well behaved the whole weekend. We’re almost sorry to see them go....

Who’s the Boss?

Hired by the Intern... Who's the boss? Pretty cool! Thanks Abby!

PVybe Palm Beach

During camp and our animal wrangling escapades, we hooked up with Jason and Andrea Rigler of WebManna

and decided to offer them a PVybe...

PVybe Movie Stars

The shoots went real well and we made some great connections with media production companies. We are looking forward to working with all...

Pawsitive Vybe at the Incredible Dog Challenge

Ron & Leilani rockin' out at the 2007 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Finals.

Reward Placement

Reward Placement is a key aspect of Dog Training. The Dog goes where rewards happen.

Pressure

As dog trainers we need to be sensitive to the concept of pressure.

Variable Reinforcement

As our dog gets better at learning or when the skill we’re working gets stronger we need to move to a variable reinforcement schedule....

Criteria

Criteria is an extremely important component of dog training, possibly the most important. Setting clear and appropriate criteria allows the handler to teach the...

Rate of Reinforcement

Traditional positive training says that we should shoot for 15-30 rewards per minute for learning and tough challenges. That’s a cookie every 2-4 seconds....

Resource Management

Positive trainers manage their dogs resources and dole them out consequently dependent upon behavior. Good behavior earns access to resources bad or unwanted behavior...

Consequence

The definition of an Operant animal is an animal that understands behavior affects consequence.

Positive Marker

A Positive Marker is an excellent tool for communication. Pinpointing and isolating the action that is to be reinforced gives us a tremendous boost...

K9Disc for Agility Handlers

Originally Published in Dog Sport Magazine 2008

I’ve been playing disc with my dogs for over 10 years now, and in those...

Four Principles of Positive Training

These are standard Positive Training principles with a little Pawsitive Vybe flavor added to them – and the mindmap is just really cool....

Economics of Distraction

Rhythm has a tendency to explode into the environment when he's asked to work - marking everything, sniffing everything, hustling up on people, etc...

Japanese Dog Catch

Learn to do a Japanese Dog Catch in just a few simple steps. This is based off of Pawsitive Vybe Flag and Flash Bitework...

Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Training Menu – Jamming in 57 Flavors

Thinking about working some disc dog stuff with Pawsitive Vybe? Here are 57 lessons that are available in a seminar or camp. Each of...

Teaching a Fakie With Bitework

A fakie is a essentially a rebound or flyball box turn off the handler, a Reverse Vault without a throw. Fakies are great set...

Learning to Run Patterns – Drill #1

One thing that separates the Pros from the soon to be Pros is Throwing With Intent, intending to throw to a spot at a...

Teach Your Dog to Jump and Catch with Bitework

We are going to go with the tried and true, maxim of positive dog training, reward and repetition using a high rate of reinforcement...

The Cookie Process

One of the goals as a professional dog trainer is to have a simple, accessible philosophy that can be communicated easily and applied...

Working Out of the Pivot

The Pivot happens when the dog changes direction enough to cause some kind of reversal of field, essentially a 90 degree angle or...

Art of Linking Tricks

Sequences are just behavior chains and is only as strong as the weakest link in that chain. Each behavior in the chain must be...

Reverse Hoop

Here’s Leilani and I creating a new move in 2005.

Behold the elusive Reverse Hoop!

Muppet Scoot

Here’s a new variation of the scoot that Si and I put together a while back. It’s pretty exciting and flashy. Hope you...

Flatwork is Flow – Introducing Disc Dog Flatwork

In agility, the stuff that goes on between the jumps, the team movement and cuing proper direction is called Flatwork. Disc Dog Flatwork is...

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...

An Evening at Pawsitive Vybe

Apryl does some bitework with Pan to try to build some drive and bring her out of her shell. My new little buddy, Hops with...

Wind Management – Knife and Sail

Management is a tough skill for all discdoggers. It usually gets better with experience, but the time required to get that experience can be...

Exercise – Freeshaped Multiple Target Targeting

Note: in the video linked above, LaVerne demonstrates this exercise at 15:14 and 23:16

Freeshaped Multiple Target Targeting is a training exercise that we...

Contextual vs Conceptual Understanding in Dog Training

What if it's not the failure of the dog to generalize the skill but the failure of the handler to teach the root concept...

Fixing the Problems of a Toss and Fetch Foundation

Toss and Fetch, Single Disc, Mini-Distance, Throw and Catch, whatever you want to call it, the timed distance game with 1 disc, while an...

Xs and Os of Diverse Routines

Read your dog's movements and pay attention to the kinds of patterns that develop during a freestyle routine and learn to use that information...

The Importance of Using a Positive Marker in Dog Frisbee

Because Discdogging is a complex game made of many behaviors: biting, dropping, chasing, catching, retrieving, establishing position, it is very important that our...