Today, I worked his 8 directional drills . Always nails it. ALWAYS ! Well he started perfect but when I would send him on his back over left he would keep running straight back. He's never done this before. I'm trying to fugue out why he's doing that. He does his back over right no problem. All his other directional is perfect, just wouldn't do that. So before I lost my mind I threw a few fun bumpers fed him and put him up.

What are u calling back over left a angle back to the left


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I took it as "back" sit at a T and then over to the left? Maybe I am wrong and he is talking angle back which would make sense withe 8 directions.

Only work on the left side

Over back to sitting in front of u
Angle back to sitting in front of u
Then over back to sitting in front of u
Then angle back to sitting in front ofu
Then left back to sitting in front of u

Then repeat seperating each cast


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Yes sorry.

Kinda get what ur saying might just wanna reword that, A for effort jk lol. I get what ur saying mostly

If you've never really done a lot of literal casting (experienced), it is a good idea to stand in front of a mirror and see if your left and right literal casts "mirror" each other. If not you'll get results that at the time don't make any sense. For example, if your elbow (flies out first) the dog may take that motion as an angle cast even though eventually your hand ends up vertically. The farther the dog is away from you the more critical your precise arm motion becomes. Make sure the dog is seeing what you want him to see.

Along those lines, in what position do you keep your hands and arms when the dog is headed away from you (between casts)?

Also during training slow down and take ur time during casting u r still teaching not messing with a finished dog


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Along those lines (casting mechanics).

Try to keep your elbows tucked into your body. That way, the dog doesn't turn and see you standing there with "wings" (your elbows jutting out). Tucked in elbows improve your economy of motion and let you simply project your hand/arm out for a clean cast.

I generally try to have my hands cupped around the whistle with my elbows tucked in for a nice clean cast. It takes some practice, and feels awkward at first, but once you get the hang of it, works well. Try it in front of a mirror both ways and you'll easily see what I mean.

With young dogs, I often walk a cast to emphasize it. In other words, I may give an angle back cast and step toward that side. It seems to promote the proper rotation.

HOWEVER....as a dog's understanding and accuracy of casting improves, I try to phase the walking out as much as possible in TRAINING. It's the dog's job to turn and focus on me for the cast, so I try to phase walking a cast out.

In a trial, test or hunting....do whatever it takes to get the bird. Within the rules, of course (for test/trials).

Opinions vary on this, but that's what I do. .....

Went back over the directional today, and he nailed it, but I'm goin to over it to keep refreshing him. I went over each side of his directional first by the way like y'all suggested. Thanks got the tips.