Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Training Menu – Jamming in 57 Flavors

What Can I expect to Learn at a Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Seminar?

Tough Question…

You can expect to learn a ton about throwing, handling and playing the game of disc with your dog. There is no set schedule in our seminars – learning takes place a bit more organically. Essentially we’re approaching teaching seminar participants the same way we approach our dog training:

Guiding Philosophy

Below I’ve listed 57 of our lessons that we have available to us in a seminar. For those of you who have taken seminars from us, many of these will sound familiar. For those of you who are considering learning with us, each of these lessons can be compressed into 2 or three sentences or expanded to fill 30 minutes. Many of these lessons tie into eachother and are often organized to mesh seamlessly and some are always covered at our seminars.

Training Menu – Jamming in 57 Flavors

Foundational Principles

A Proper Foundation Built on Positive Training.

• Two Targets – Live & Dead
• Choosing a disc – Choose your Weapon
• Marking Behaviors – Yes! Good!
• 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... More – Set it and Get it!
• Rate of ReinforcementRate of Reinforcement can be expressed in terms of Cookies Per Minute (CPM). How many cookies delivered over time has a great impact on dog training. Traditional positive training says you should shoot... More – Success is Catchy!
• Patience – Waiting Works
• DismissalIf a dog is dismissed, it means the handler is "off limits". Dismissal does not mean the dog has to leave, just that the handler is not available. Dismissal is a valuable drive... More – Go do dog stuff
• Tugging – Bite and Bond
• Out – Pavlov’s Drop
• Back Chain the Catch – Toss to Bite
• Go Round – Spinning Lure
• Short Toss – Short Catch
• RollerThe Roller is a great throw for reinforcing a dog with a disc. Instead of flying through the air like a wing, the Roller rolls on the ground like a wheel; a fast,... More – More time, hitting the rim.
• Slider – Rewarding for 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. More

Learning to Run

Team MovementTeam Movement is how dog and handler move, as a team, out there on the field. It is a judging category in some organizations and certainly is a focus of many judges, players,... More is a key to consistency and performance.

• Directional FeedingDirectional Feeding is the underlying essence of disc dog freestyle. As a concept, it consists of reading the dog’s line and delivering a well placed disc that elicits a leap where she is... More – Throw it to where I’m gonna be!
• Directional Leading – Moving in Concert
• Consequent Game – Communicating with FlowFlow is a key component of the modern day disc dog game. Keeping your dog moving with seamless, ever moving and flowing sequences with little to no set up time is the goal... More

Here and There

Building patterns on the Field of PlayPlay is willing, self-induced engagement in, and the experience of, novel, consequent opportunity. More.

• Reward PlacementThe dog puts his face where the Cookie or the disc happens. Where you put the reward matters. Reward Placement is huge in disc dog freestyle. Your dog’s face will always wind up... More – Discs are Dog Magnets!
• Toss and Fetch – Go Deep!
• Setting the FlankSetting the Flank means to throw out to your right or left. It’s really simple, just face any direction, send the dog Around, and then turn and throw the disc out to the... More – Work on the Side
• 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... More – Xs
• Round the World – Os

Basic Throwing Skills

One of the hardest lessons to learn in disc sports is that it’s always easier than you think.

• Catch High – Overhand Wrist Flip & Push
• Catch Low – Side Arm & BackhandThe Backhand toss is the traditional disc throw. While it might not be the easiest throw of them all, it is the easiest to throw a hundred yards, and it is the easiest... More
• Human Freestyle Basis for Learning – Learning through Play
• Shoulders – Dial it In
• The Flick Myth

Enhanced Throwing Skills

Taking Throwing to the next level. Learn to Throw with Intent

• FloaterAt Pawsitive Vybe we call discs that hover above the target Floaters. Floaters float and hover in the air above the target creating more time for a dog to make the decision to... More – Hang Time
• Placement Drills – Bullseye
• Placement Theory – Right Place – Right Time

More Freestyle

Rounding out the game.

• Set Up MovesSet Up Moves are tricks that are used to establish timing and position in disc dog freestyle. Traditional tricks include: Around, Through, Backwards Through, and Scoot, but any or all of your tricks,... More & Position – Get Set for a Good Start
• Flipping – So that’s what Geometry was for…
• Sequencing – … Through…Wait… Flip
• AttentionUnsolicited eye contact or Attention is a great way to hook up with a dog. If you have something the dog wants he should give eye contact in order to get access to... More – Creating Operant DriveDrive is focus and energy applied towards work. There are many kinds of Drive: social drive, tracking drive, prey drive, bite/kill, stalking, and food to name a few. Social drive, prey drive, and... More

Vaults and Overs

Vaulting and Overs are about Teamwork and Understanding.

• Teaching the OverAn Over is any leaping catch that happens over top of the handler’s body. Overs are usually named by the part of the body over which the dog flies, i.e - Leg Over,... More – Hup Pup!
• Lower is Not always Safer – The ‘Safe’ VaultThe dog uses the player´s body as a launching pad to jump for a disc. A Vault is a leaping catch from the handler’s body. The dog leaves the ground for the target... More
• Timing – Too Late
• Vault Toss – Set it Right There!
• StallA Stall has the dog leaping up and chilling out on the handler’s back. Stalls are great for showmanship and for presenting a dog to the crowd. They create a dramatic or emotive... More – Top – Rebound – Vaulting Concepts
• Landing Safe – Trajectory, Funnel and Flow
• Repetitive Stress – What’s the Frequency?

Flatwork is Flow

Learn to Move as a Team.

• Foundational Theory – Fluid Dynamics
• Crosses – Agility Crossover
• Xs and Os – Reading Your Dog’s Lines
• Inside/Outside Push – Get in or Get out
• Position – Predictable Positioning with Discs
• Directional Leading – Shape Patterns with your Dog
• Positional PressurePressure comes in many forms in dog training. Positional Pressure, Performance Pressure, Environmental Pressure, the Plane of the handler’s body. Pressure is a fact. How you wield it or leverage it is up... More – Getting Pushed Around…

Bitework

There is much to be taught with Bite and Drop.

• Rules – Rules of Biteclub
• Mechanics and Technique – Efficiency is a must in fast games
• Jedi Mind Drop – I am the Drop
• Waiting Works – WaitWaiting on cue and situationally is extremely important for disc dog freestyle training. The competition field might not see too much waiting going on as everything is supposed to be happening in flow,... More for it…
• Eye Contact – Automagic Attention
• Reward for Position – Money Spot
• Variable Reinforcement– Slot Machine Syndrome
• Patience in Drive – Good things happen to those who wait
• Consequent Game – Ebb and Flow
• Freight Training – Positive ReinforcementThe addition of something desirable to increase the likelihood of a behavior happening in the future. Reinforcement promotes behavior, it makes it more likely to happen. The “Positive” part of Positive Reinforcement means... More Feedback Loop

How Does that Work?

We evaluate each individual, each team and the group then try to deliver tailored instruction to the individuals and teams while keeping the flow going for the group. It’s a delicate act, but it works well for our style of teaching. Playing disc with your dog is a game with many, many variables, and we cannot cover all of those variables with a formal schedule.

Sometimes we go into a seminar planning to do one thing and the skillset from the participating teams does not match up with our intent. Sometimes the foundation is entirely missing. Sometimes there’s a regional or club bias that is hard for us to work with on the spotSpot is a “go to a place”, or “go to a mat” behavior. This means that the dog seeks out and performs a duration behavior on a spot of the handler’s choosing. A... More.

I remember doing a seminar in the Netherlands and we were quite excited to deliver some of our flag and flash cuing and bitework to the Dutch teams. It was brand new at the time. The entire focus of the seminar was built around this bitework stuff. When we got there, we realized that nobody could get their dogs to bite discs in their hand. “Hups!…um… OK, let’s move on to Plan B!”

This has happened to us several times, and it is uncomfortable, for instructors, handlers and dogs, to try to cram square pegs into round holes. It’s much better to go with the flow and get the most out of our time. So instead of having a set itinerary, we’ve developed a menu of sorts.

A Typical Seminar

We open the seminar with some throwing warmup then we do a quick Evaluation Jam. The Eval Jam is 2 minutes max/team, and the seminar instructor takes notes and prepares a lesson plan.

After the Eval Jam we start throwing. We do lots of throwing. We teach you to throw cool throws, run drills to enable you to place discs in the right spot to make your dog look good, and we breakdown foundational disc principles into regular old English.

Personal Sessions usually take place right after lunch. Apryl and I will work with each Working Team for 10 minutes. Participants that are not working with the instructor are encouraged to observe other participants personal sessions. If there are 18 working teams, an observant handler can get 180 minutes of very good disc dog instruction and can see it in action on several dogs. There is much to learn observing teams in a learning process.

We do a little distance throwing, some fidgets, do a cookie or a bitework session with the dogs, and add in some in depth analysis on safety, vaulting, throwing, routine building, sequencing, and all kinds of other things.

We might get a 3rd jam session, we might not.

That’s about it.

It Sounds Hard. I Don’t Think I’m Ready

We structure our instruction so it fits the team. If you just want to get your catch discs and bring them back for a backyard game of catch, that’s cool. We can do that. Want your dog to give up the disc for you? No problem. You’ll get more than that, and you’ll have fun doing it, but we can keep it simple.

A Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog seminar can put a great foundation on a dog and handler in an afternoon and can help you and your dog develop a solid communication system.

If your dog plays with toys and is fairly well socialized you’re ready for a working spot.

If you have any questions or comments post them below or Shoot me a note.