back casts

[superfish2]

I am just starting to work on casts with my dog. I have a question on how to teach the directional back casts. I have been having the dog sit in front of a tree then throwing the bumpers with my left hand on the left side of the tree and right hand on the right. Then getting her attention and using the same hand as to signal back.

Is there a better way to teach this? I just kind of made it up. It works fine around the tree. When I try to do it without the obstacle she always spins to her right.

Should I get the back and over casts down well then work on the left and right? I would think I should get the back cast down perfect first.

Any ideas?

Joe

[LABS4ME]

I would work on simple baseball first (back, right over, left over, dog sitting on the pitcher's mound) and then begin to work on angled casts and so forth.

It'd take a lot of writing to lay out a training regimen for handling. If you desire to have a finished handling dog, I recommend you read a book or two and follow their regimen. A good book to work on handling is "Training Retrievers to Handle" by D.L. Walters. It is actually more in depth than most guys need, but most will benefit with the intoduction to handling and the walking baseball patterns.

Good Luck!

Ken

[superfish2]

Thanks labs4me.

I will work on that first. I will also look at that book. What do you think of the smart works books for teaching handling?