Shaping a Working Flank | Expanding the Flank

Ron January 22, 2021

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The Working FlankThe Working Flank is a moving position. On a Working Flank the dog is out to your side some distance and holds position, moving with you as you move around the field. The... is often thought of as a circle. It’s not. It is lateral cooperative movement. A circular working flank, or a full circle is one of many expressions of the FlankOut to the side of the handler is the Flank. If the dog is out to the handler's right or left the dog is on Flank. If the dog is moving with the..., and it is an advanced or mature expression of the skill.

This lesson is featured in DiscDogger Weekly #21. Check us out on Roku. Discdogger Weekly is produced by our Patrons on Patreon. Become a Patron and support our work

No Need to Go Full Circle

As mentioned above, a Working Flank is not necessarily a full circle or even a circular pattern. A Zig ZagA Zig Zag is a series of catches in smooth succession that forces the dog to move back and forth across the field. Usually performed at a distance of 8-20 yards, the Zig..., properly done, consists to two flanking throws and can be thought of alternating Working Flanks. The dog moves clock, catches and 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... Crosses and returns on the opposite Working Flank.

When you try to pull a dog too far on the Working Flank, the dog slides in towards the handler. This leads to most disc dog handlers coming to the conclusion that the Working Flank is a “border collie thing”. It’s not, the problem is the lack of commitment to the Working Flank by the dog and a lack of reinforcement of the working flank by the handler.

Reinforce the Flank Early and Often

The dog goes where the disc happens. Thinking of reinforcing the flank rather than making your dog do a flank is helpful here.

With both King and Eppie, this 90º pattern reinforces the Working Flank and makes it more likely to happen and happen well.

By pulling the dog in for a quick 90º turn, coming in close to the handler becomes a burden lest the dog run too fast and too far and wind up out of position. So the dog drifts out away from you in anticipation of a disc happening “out there” in quick fashion. Reinforcing early like this makes it likely that the dog will run around you loose.

Reinforcing often at 90º proves that committing to the Working Flank is a good idea because the disc happens out there often and being in position to make the catch is just smart disc play.

Once the dog has committed to the Working Flank, you can then pull the dog a bit further around on that flank and the dog will be more likely to stay out there.

Just remember to reinforce the flank early and often, don’t try to move from this 90º to a full 360º around the circle, and you can always experience success on the Working Flank. If you always experience success there is no room for failure – can’t fail if you’re too busy being successful. TakeA Take is a cued Bite that replicates the placement and timing of a throw. Usually used with overs, vaults, and flips, the Take is a powerful teaching tool for creating habitual leaping... your time and reinforce your Working Flank.

Do this and you can easily shape a solid working flank on any dog.

Categories: Disc Dog Flatwork & Team Movement, DiscDogger Weekly Season 3, Patron's Only

Tags: Working Flank

Patron’s Choice: Shaping a Leaping Catch | Leaping Concepts

Patron’s Choice Sneak Peek | Public Access Dec. 26
Key concepts of the canine leaping skill and behavior chain that shape and reinforce a leaping catch.

Ron December 19, 2019

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Patron’s Choice : Shaping a Leaping Catch | Leaping Functions

Sneak Peek for Patron’s only… Public access Dec 27th | Functions of canine leaping and how leaping catches function by Ron Watson

Ron December 21, 2019

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

ShapingShaping is a learning technique where successive approximation and a Positive Marker are used to teach behaviors and communicate concepts. Successive approximation essentially means continually closer to the target behavior. So Shaping is... 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.

Ron February 1, 2020

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Shaping the Around for Lateral and UpField Movement

Go 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... is a standard Set Up Move in disc dog freestyle. It creates timing and position with movement and is the standard set up for toss and fetch. It is this standard set up for toss and fetch that dominates the movement and as a result, most Arounds resolve or release to the front of the handler at 12 o clock in clockwise fashion.

Ron July 4, 2020

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Flatwork Process | Pushing, Pulling, and Blocking

Ron & Epic explore the 3 key variables of the FlatworkFlatwork is the stuff that happens between the catches. How the team moves and transitions, often without the disc, is flatwork. Flatwork concepts in disc dog are taken from the agility and herding... Process: Pushing, Pulling, and Blocking. These 3 variables are the principle functions in disc dog flatwork and moving dogs using positional pressure.