“Nail” the Dog in the Down Position

We are sure you have seen at competitions that when the judge asks the Handler to call the dog from the Down position, the dog runs to his Handler before he even has the chance to call his dog?

Or another example is, the Handler takes a deep breath getting ready to call the dog, and without the words coming out from his mouth the dog is already on its way?

In the video, you can see Tobias even take a step sideways, spin around, or pretend that he is about to run. The dog almost jumps up, Tobias uses Negative Marker and tells the dog to lie down.

You will do the same thing when you take a deep breath or pull your shoulders up, and the dog tries to take off.

Once the dog does first recall, he gets very excited and does not do as well in the second part of the session. Having a ball tossed in the line of sight would be difficult for any dog.

We can have an Assistant to be a Judge. The Judge will talk, wave his hands with a clipboard, or move around. If your dog gets up – use your Negative Marker and get him back into the Down position – 04:03 sec. First, the Judge moves around and, after that, starts speaking.

You can be quite creative but do not overdo it and stress the dog. There should be a balance between proofing your dog and allowing him to succeed.