Training Question

[870 express]

I am working on baseball and T drills with my 15 month old and have a couple questions. He has been ff and has good ob. and has been trained with e collar.
When working with the baseball drill and i cast him back to get the (2nd base) bumper he does fine it's when i cast him back and intend for him to go (1st , 3rd) that he begins to cheat and not cast back to (2nd). He does this only when he figures out there is no bumper at (2nd). How do i stop this before it gets to be a bad habit? He picked up about 75 ducks this season and has learned well, most of his faults are due to my training!

[mharville]

[870 express]

Thanks for the response. Yes i did mean over. He does pretty well with left and right on the over command. I have been working him to a back " point" on the back command then stopping him on the whitsle and casting him over. Problem is after i send him to the back point he somtimes wants to go to the other points.

[BucksandDucks]

[870 express]

I have tried it both ways (from home and pitchers mound). Here is an example: I put 3 bumpers at 2nd and 2 each at 1st and 3rd. I sit him in front of me and move to "home plate" he will cast back great for the 3 bumpers at 2nd. If I try and cast him back the 4th time its like he knows there's not a bumper there and trys to pickup 1st are 3rd. Should I not be casting him back when there's not a bumper there? Thanks for the help.

[CF]

Cast him only if there is a bumper there...


...you can use 1 bumper on each "base" and replace each time you pick it up. This will also help avoid other issues that may crop up with having mre than one bumper on each pile...


my 2 cents...

[jdaves]

Never cast to an empty pile. Part of teaching a dog to handle is that he's got to trust you and know that you know where the birds/bumpers are. If you're sending him to empty piles he'll start 2nd guessing you and you don't want that.

[870 express]

Thanks guys for the responses. All the info has been helpful. This sure aint easy but it is fun!