Patron’s Choice: Shaping a Leaping Catch | Creating a Late Read

Reading the disc is a skill that astute dogs and humans pick up rather quickly. The float, the spinSpins and Twists are tricks where the dog spins 360 degrees in a clockwise or counter clockwise fashion. Spin is clockwise and Twist is counter clockwise so it is important to have a..., and the speed can reliably be gauged and predicted after several reps. Of course this changes with wind, disc choice, and throwing ability but, generally speaking, the flight path of a disc is easily predicted.

Well thrown discs are very predictable. The better the handler gets as a thrower, the more likely the dog is to do a quick calculation and endeavor to meet the disc where it is supposed to be. Any changes in flight due to wind or throwing error are anomalies, and the better the thrower, the fewer anomalies. This can be trouble for shaping reliable leaping catches, as the dog is not likely to pick up good tracking skills and does not have to worry so much about regulation of speed. Discs that cater to the dog’s line or the dog’s strengths or mask the dog’s weaknesses also can be trouble for the same reason.

Poorly thrown discs are not predictable, and the leaping catch suffers from a lack of consistency. Tracking skills and the ability to regulate speed get exercised but there is no clear intent to leap. This lack of intent to leap combined with scattershot placement makes habitual leaping impossible even though the dog has the skills to make it happen. By the time the handler has the skills to make it happen, the dog often has missed the boat on creating the leaping habit or is too old to really capitalize on the skill.

By the time a handler is reading this, odds are the dog has the installed habit of either not leaping due to lack of intent or not leaping due to reliance on prediction of well thrown discs. Intent can be remedied through application of the ideas in this book. Teaching a dog to exchange prediction for tracking can be done by creating a late read on the disc.

Anatomy of a Catch

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... a single toss and fetch throw — the handler throws it and the dog chases it down at 42 yards…

The dog goes around and watches the throw come out of the hand. The disc’s speed and trajectory is read as the disc passes in front of the dog and is followed and tracked down the field, the dog pacing patiently, matching the speed and trajectory of the disc. 

At 32 yards, the catch starts to line up and the dog makes a few last second calculations and then breaks stride for the leaping catch at about 39 yards, taking a yard or two to dial it in, and then leaps for the catch. This is kind of the ideal, and it’s a very simple expression of a 42 yard catch. Methods may vary, but these ideas: disc coming out of the hand, reading early, tracking down the field, reading late at 39 yards to line up the collection for the catch are a pretty good summation of the process.

A proper pace, tracking the disc, and that late read to properly collect accounting for wind effects, erratic placement, and fadeOverstable discs are likely to hyzer out. That means they are likely to fall away from the direction of the spin. For clockwise spinning throws, the overstable disc wants to fall to the... or turn of the disc are key to a reliable catch in toss and fetch. If these things don’t happen most all the time, the anatomy of a toss and fetch catch is a very different critter.

Pattern Recognition and Prediction

Competitive needs and repetition create unintentional patterns. A pattern is able to be read without really paying attention to the datapoints. This happens, then that, then this… and here we go at the finish. Dogs are very good at pattern recognition. If the dog recognizes the pattern and knows where the reward placement is going to happen, the dog will skip the whole following and tracking thing and go right to where the cookie happens. This prediction is great as long as it’s working, but when the wind kicks up, the throw is too high, off angle, or the disc has too much or too little spin, the disc won’t be where the dog thinks it’s going to be.

Many dogs play the whole game through pattern recognition and the extrapolation of the pattern, not even seeing the disc until 30 yards down field. Again, this is fine if everything goes right. But if something goes wrong or prediction and extrapolation becomes a habit, say goodbye to your leaping catch. Simply catching a disc with a dog who is playing the game through extrapolating known patterns can be a challenge.

The predictable trajectory of a flying disc combined with plenty of time as the disc floats down like a ball with wings gives a team a good chance of success even with poorly extrapolated pattern recognition. Add in some quality throwing and a team can be on the edge of success at any time without the need for real-time tracking of the disc.

When the disc doesn’t wind up in the predicted 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... the dog often looks more surprised than the handler right before they miss, “Whoa! What happened? Better leap!” or “Where is it… Holy cow! It’s over there?”

Extrapolation vs Eyes on the Prize

If the disc is frequently outside of the predicted area or time, the dog will have to keep his eyes on the prize, as the pattern can’t be recognized and extrapolation fails to predict reward placement.

Ever wonder why your first disc dog is a better catcher than your second? Or why your formerly amazing catcher starts to miss discs and miss them badly? The answer is that your first dog was a great catcher because you were a !@#$ty thrower. Your formerly amazing catching dog was actually reading your discs when you were a terrible thrower, but as you got more consistent and became more proficient at throwing your dog started to rely on pattern recognition and extrapolation from a few datapoint to make the catch. It was working, so you went with it.

Keeping the dog’s eyes on the prize is key. But how in the heck do you do that?

Forcing a Read Is Good

If the dog is forced to actually read the read, habitually, the dog should become a better catcher. If it can be over here, over there, or anywhere, the dog has to watch the disc and can’t be too hasty in making a prediction on where dog and disc will meet for the catch.

Scattershot reward placement is great for forcing a read, but this approach can still result in an early read, letting pattern recognition take over and short circuit the tracking process putting you in the same boat. Scattershot reward placement can also put the dog out of position or out of time with the trajectory of the disc leading to inconsistent approach angles, erratic speed, and guessing.

Throwing erratically, like a noob, isn’t a bad idea, and can be a great exercise for a team, and while it will keep a dog on it’s toes and reinforce looking at the disc, it’s not good for shaping a leaping catch or may or may not reinforce the tracking behavior.

Forcing a Late Read Is Better

While forcing a read is good, making the dog read the disc right before the catch is much better. If the dog has to watch the disc closely right before the catch to make sure it doesn’t do something funky, pattern recognition won’t take place until right before the catch, where it should happen.

Prediction right before the catch will make the likelihood of the catch much greater and will be much less likely to be incorrect, as the dog only has to extrapolate a few yards of the disc’s flight.

Forcing a late read pairs prediction and collection, so the dog reads the pattern and predicts in order to collect. This is remarkably close to the plan required to make the play. NowThe Now Phase is an integral part of the Play Cycle in the Play+ training philosophy. It embodies the current, immediate interaction between the handler and the dog, anchoring them in the present... all of a sudden a disc hanging up in the air isn’t a recipe for a premature ejumpulation due to over-pursuit, it becomes a recipe for the leaping catch.

That’s great, but, um… How in the heck do you do that?

Try an Upside Down Toss

Upside down throws have this funky finish. They fade out, quite aggressively. The disc is humming along, nice and predictable as discs do, and then the wing fails and the disc hyzers out (fades left for right handers) and drops from the sky.

This crazy finish on upside down tosses not only forces a late read, but it breaks your dog’s little brain and completely changes the understanding of how discs can fly. Most dogs, when they see a well thrown upside down toss completely whiff underneath it as they surge forward for the running catch. This miss is completely different than a normal miss, as it isn’t even close, and if they do manage to get some teeth on it, the disc seems to be flying back at them it dies so quickly.

This uncomfortable change creates some reservation for over-pursuit and pushes the dog back on her heels near the moment of the catch. This change at the time of the catch delivers an epiphany for the dog,”I need to pay attention to this thing when I’m getting close; it could do anything!”

Rocking back on the heels and looking at the target at the time of catch looks suspiciously like the act of collection: head up and butt down. Add to this position the disc dying quickly and seeming to fly at the dog’s face, and the dog collects earlier than normal. This reinforces proper collection, timing, and position for the catch. 

Say goodbye to over-pursuit, and premature ejumpulation. It looks, and feels silly to the dog. It simply cannot work and does not compute.

Mechanics and Placement of the Upside Down Toss

Any upside down toss will work, but a 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... will probably be the most useful and effective.

For maximum effect to reinforce tracking and proper collection the disc should be thrown 20-30 yards in upside down fashion. This distance allows the dog to build up some speed and gives plenty of tracking time. The breaking of stride into collection happens at a fairly high rate of speed, which is good for creating the epiphany you’re looking for to change an already pattern trained dog’s prediction and generalizes the skill to high prey drive situations. A variety of distances is of benefit as well, but shorties will probably not slow down a habitual over-pursuing dog and will not reinforce the tracking behavior as well.

At the time of catch, the disc should still be driving forward. If the disc falls back towards the handler or fades/hyzers out too aggressively, it will not work.

Try Throwing Down a Hill

Another way to force a late read and get the dog to track and collect well before the catch is to throw from the top of a hill and let the disc Wylie Coyote out, due to the effects of gravity. Much like our favorite super genius, the disc will fly out off the “cliff” and then stop, nearly dead in it’s tracks before fading hard, hyzering out, off to the left (for right handers). The only thing it will be missing is the little puff of smoke that happens right after Wylie waves to the camera or puts up his sign. (If you don’t know Wylie Coyote, please consult Wikipedia or Youtube…)

This situation is almost comical for many dogs. The dog gets the early read on the disc, recognizes the pattern, extrapolates, and promptly runs off to the right, where the disc is supposed to be. Only to be genuinely shocked when the disc winds up 10-20 yards off to the left. Many dogs don’t even see it change directions, or even see it at all, and are shocked to hear it land over to the left somewhere.

Mechanics, Topography, and Placement of the Downhill Toss

Ideally, the topography of the area is a hill roughly 5-10m high sloping gently down to a flat area that has 20-30m of usable field and is free of obstacles. The distance from the top of the hill to the flat area should be 10-15m.

A 20-25m throw is made with a slight anhyzer angle, just a bit more than flat, so it starts to turn (right for right handers) a bit. This slight turn will grab the attention of all the dogs that are extrapolating from pattern recognition and put them on a path 30 yards away, slightly to the right of front (at 1 o’clock) for the right handed thrower. The disc will land at 20-25m, well to the left of the handler, at about 10 o’clock.

Similar to the upside down toss, the disc should not fall back towards the handler. The disc should slowly, but surely drift down and away from the handler, maintaining its forward momentum.

Marking Then Cuing Tracking and Collection

Lots of handlers scream LOOK!™, WAIT!™, or EASY!™ at their dog during toss and fetch, but not many handlers actually have that WAIT!™ on cue. It’s just noise to the dog and may or may not work.

Throwing down the hill can reliably create tracking and collection. When you can reliably create and mark a behavior, you can put a reliable cue on it.

Once your dog is reliably tracking the disc, looking up and changing direction to follow it, you have tracking and collection; the dog knows the disc is going to do something funky and is looking and adjusting stride to make the catch on a squirrelly disc that is acting weird. If you get the throw right, that slight anhyzer toss, a LOOK or WAIT cue can be given and you can be sure it will be followed by the dog doing both behaviors.

Be careful with this. Only do it if you know you got the throw right and the dog is reliably performing the behaviors on this type of throw.