Last week I published an article setting out the very first steps in teaching your dog to cast back.
The video above is an illustration of the set up and procedure for your first back cast sessions.
It isn’t intended to demonstrate the learning process from scratch, as the dogs featured in the video, have already been through the process.
Rather the video is intended to accompany the article, which does explain how to go through the process with a dog that is new to casting back
You can find the article with instructions here: Basic Back Cast Step 1
Retrieve v Place
The method used above is a traditional one and uses retrieves to move the dog around in different directions.
It was interesting to discuss this with members of the Positive Gundogs group. We have quite a few members who come from an obedience background and who teach casting using placemats or boards, rather then the retrieve.
There are advantages to teaching casting using Placeboards, not least of which are the fact that you don’t have to wait until your dog is steady and has a good delivery to get going.
If you are thinking of having a go with some ‘Place’ training we’ll be looking at Placeboards more closely in another article.
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Excellent video to accompany the written description. After just 3 sessions my Lab could cast left and right this morning, I changed the command to “Get Out”, then dropped it altogether. Totally Gundogs, Positive Gundogs, and Total Recall are transforming training in ways I didn’t think possible. Thank you for the time you put into this.
Thanks for your comment Andrew, glad you have found these resources helpful 🙂