First of all, the average amateur's standards are not nearly as high as an experienced pro.  We can focus on our dogs all day long.  Now you might think that can be to our advantage, but how much time does your dog spend where the standards are a little looser? Truthfully?  A pro's dogs get out to air, trained and maybe a little run but they are either closely supervised or confined.  The amateur dog is less supervised and OB is not 24/7. 

Pro's that take in a new dog to train rarely find OB where they want it.  For example.....one of the rules for starting force fetch is to have solid OB skills.  What does "solid" mean?  Pretty good on a leash is not enough.  

If you can walk to the holding blind, sit your dog and leave.......that's a start.  If after you leave the blind, you can ask your dog to heel and sit. That's better.  If on the way to the line, you can take a step back and your dog responds with a backward heel.......that's almost there.  If you change your pace going to the line and the dog does, too. Good for you! If you get to the line together and your dog sits beside you without a command.  That's the standard. 

But if you can casually make it to the line (both you and the dog) while not doing any of the "dances" I just described and look cool doing it........you are no longer a "grasshopper". 

Kooly passed his third AKC Senior hunt tests Saturday, but I am still a "grasshopper" and the dog is misnamed.      

Kevin Costner could do a sequel called "Dances With Ducks".

Congrats Kwick!

Is it the 2 step or more like disco moves?

Zeke
PS - Love the nicknames in ( )

Sometimes a person's expectations are clearly understood by a dog. I attended an informal dog training seminar awhile back. A pro I know was helping out Badger State HRC with a morning presentation relative to the members' questions and concerns on training. As usual, the subject of line manners was a hot topic. He provided some key ideas about expectations and standards plus demonstrated a few techiques. Handlers were then encouraged to bring their dogs to the line and get some specific advice while running single marks.

Well, one particular member of the club has an HRCH titled dog that comes to the line on his hind legs, likes happy feet, forges ahead and is just plain a handful. He's been that way a long time. It wasn't long before Brian was asked......no really it was more like a challenge......to bring the dog from the holding blind to the line. With a couple of short crisp pops of a choker tab and a reminder of the heeling stick (all of which the owner was using to no avail) the dog calmly walked beside Brian to the line and sat......still.......solid.......no movement. Almost to a person, member jaws dropped and.......you could see that mentally they were saying, "You've got to be kidding me!"

To me this was an interesting validation of Julie's Tip of the Month. It's not so much just about training as it is about expectations (handler and dog). I keep thinking of a variation of the order that Colonel Klinck used in Hogan's Heros, "You "vill" walk to the line calmly........and you "vill" like it!"