Do Then Cue – Putting Behaviors Before the Cued Drop for Proofing Purposes

Cue Before Do is standard operating procedure for teaching a cued Drop with discs. Cue Before Do means that you ask for and get the Drop behavior before giving the cookie which is “Do” – throw, next move, bite, etc. Because disc dog freestyle is really nothing more than a series of long behavior chains, many of which are dependent upon having the disc out of the dog’s mouth to complete, this makes complete sense and is logically sound.

The Problem with Cue Before Do

There is a bit of a problem though. Sometimes we want the dog to carry the disc a bit longer. Sometimes dogs learn that “I drop right after we do the first thing,” so the first thing done while carrying becomes the Drop cue. At Pawsitive Vybe we call that Drop on Opportunity, and it’s a real pain in the… It is possible to harness this structural shortcoming by creating a physical cue that we always do before next and only do it before next, but we find this limiting to the free part of Freestyle, and also the mechanical and aesthetic aspects of disc dog play.

We want our actual Drop cue to be the actual cue that elicits the Drop rather than situational cues or opportunity. Both of which are fine until they are not, like when we want or need to do something else and the dog decides that the new thing we want or need to do is actually a Drop cue. This can be maddening to try and fix and is likely to break when performance pressure or energy levels bump up or fatigue sets in.

One way to do that is to change or challenge standard operating procedure and place a Set Up Move, PositionIn the Play+ philosophy, "Position" is the final stage within the "Next" phase of a Cycle of Play. It acts as a pivotal link between the "Next" phase and a new "Now" phase., or disc manipulation in front of the cued Drop in the behavior chain, do something before we cue the Drop – Do before Cue.

There are additional problems with dogs that are not apt to drop on cue, but that is beyond the scope of this proofing piece and is covered here.

Do Before Cue for Proofing the Cued Drop

If your dog drops well and you think it is on cue, odds are your dog is likely to drop the moment you give a cue for a Set Up Move or load a disc into your hand. This likelihood is so strong that these cues, physical and verbal, are often used as Drop Cues. I mean, they completely and reliably cue the Drop, so it’s not a bad idea.

Due to our focus on and usage of flatwork, we often give cues and get discs loaded at a pretty big distance. Having any cue or a disc being loaded as a Drop cue is not an option (You hear that, Loot! I’m looking at you, kid…)

We employ the Do Before Cue idea to help proof the cued Drop and to attempt to establish full stimulus control over this critical mechanical skill.

How It Works

• Identify SkillsSkills are purposeful actions that require information from the environment. In Play+, performance revolves around Actions & Skills rather than behaviors. That Are Not Likely to Elicit a Drop
• Avoid Skills That Are Highly Likely to Elicit a Drop
• Stay Focused on the Drop CriteriaCriteria is a key concept of dog training. Criteria is what exactly the handler is looking for out of the dog at any given time as a metric for success. Criteria is the...
• Freeze on Unsolicited Drops

Epic Skills Not Likely to Elicit a Drop

The Thru Set Up Move is not likely to elicit a drop from Eppie. We’ve worked on the FishA Fish is a leaping catch that ends with the dog passing the disc back to the handler before landing back on the ground. The basic idea is catch and release, Fishing is... behavior (Flying or Moving GiveThe Give is a retrieve to the hand. A cued Give is a foundational skill that is not super useful in the actual performance of disc dog freestyle, and has huge applications for...) with the Thru, so he is already pre-conditioned to carry the disc through that cue and team movement.

The FrontFront is a stable position directly in front of the handler. Front is an traditional obedience skill. Usually your dog sits in this position, but standing is often acceptable as well, especially in... and Rear CrossOn a Rear Cross, the dog switches Flanks with the behind her. From clock to counter clockwise Flank or vice versa. Taken directly from the canine agility world, the Rear Cross is a... should be somewhat unlikely to elicit a drop. As should the presentation of Basic Flatwork PositionBasic Flatwork Position (BFP) is a standard position of the handler in the Working Flank; hand reaching out towards the dog (usually with a disc) with the dog on the same plane as... (the lifting of the arm to pick up the dog with team movement on the flank).

Epic Skills Likely to Elicit a Drop

AroundAn Around, or a Go Around is the traditional disc dog set up move. The dog goes around the handler’s body in a clockwise or counter clockwise fashion allowing dog and handler to..., especially in the clockwise direction is highly likely to elicit an unintentional drop. This will most likely be the case with most all disc dogs. We, as handlers, tend to give the around cue and let the Drop be an assumed behavior. You know what they say about assuming…

A ScootA Scoot is a Set Up Move where the dog scoots backwards between the handler’s legs. It’s a really clever Set Up Move, the image of your dog spinning around and shimmying backwards..., Spin/Twist, vault, over, flip, and/or catch cue are also going to be likely to elicit a drop. They should be used sparingly or deliberately and thoughtfully worked to get closer to stimulus control.

Staying Focused on the Drop Criteria

This should not be too great an issue for Eppie and I, as I’m well aware of what I’m trying to do (Be a Splitter Not a Lumper) and am prepared to keep a laser-like focus on the Drop behavior.

But for people new to the Do Before Cue idea, be prepared to cue the Drop immediately after the dog picks it back up and to be somewhat flexible and charitable in your expectations on the behaviors before the cued Drop.

Resist the urge to pull the dog around 360 degrees on your working flank. Be prepared to cue the Drop immediately after or even during the Around or Thru behaviors.

We’re not trying to test the dog’s ability to multi-task at first. First we need to teach the dog that the behavioral cue and/or opportunity is not the cue to drop the disc. Testing the multi-tasking ability and challenging the dog to not drop the disc at all comes later after the dog can perform a carry through a behavioral cue.

Freeze on Unsolicited Drops

When the dog drops unsolicited, simply freeze. Do nothing, and wait.

You will be tempted to cue the dog to go get the disc, but resist this urge. You may ask the dog to fetch it up one to three times, but after that it is the dog’s responsibility. This is absolutely key to quick learning and self discipline by the dog.

When the dog starts to immediately recognize that they have dropped the ball, literally, and they quickly try to remedy the situation, you know that the lesson is being learned. At which point in time you can start to up the ante and increase your expectations and criteria.

The down time of waiting for the dog to figure it out act as a punisher (-P) to make the unintentional drops less likely in the future. Fixing it immediately by cuing the dog to fetch it up means that unsolicited drops are no problem and are simply part of the game.

Choose and Set Criteria to Manage Energy & Flow

The energy level and flow of the session are a cookie. They are both powerful cookies. Choose your behaviors and set the criteria of those behaviors wisely so you can manage the energy levels an flow of the session as if they were cookies (and removal of cookies).

Choose easy to hit behaviors and criteria to manufacture success, generate flow, and create confidence then leverage those things towards increased performance and greater challenges.

Avoid too hard to hit criteria and tougher behaviors to keep the flow and energy levels up so you can leverage success and have a good time learning together. Or save the tough criteria for specific high moments that are likely to put the dog over the hump and achieve a big behavioral win.