Newbie training question on Casting- Help??

[Dskup]

Hi all. I'm new to the forum, and new to dog training. So greetings from Minnesota.

I have a 14 month old lab, my first hunting dog. She is extremely enthusiastic about retrieving. She went through obedience and force fetch with a professional trainer, with loads of re-enforcement by myself. We have the basics down, and now I'm taking a stab at teaching casting myself. I am working from "home plate", with her on the "pitchers mound", throwing dummies to the side and back, teaching hand signals. Side to side is no problem. But when I throw behind her, she turns and looks at the dummy every time and will not look back at me. She is fixed like a heat-seeking missile on that dummy. I can't show her the "back" signal because she's not looking. Obviously I messed up a some point. She does sit on whistle, and generally looks back at me when it's blown, unless of course she knows there's a dummy out there.

Can anyone lend any advice as to how I can correct this issue?

Thanks!
Dan

[gonehuntin']

It was nothing you did, it's a very common problem with dogs. There is a little drill you can do that is not associated with bumpers to teach him to look at you. Put a 50' rope on him. Tell hin to sit and blow the whistle. Back off 5o' at s 90 degree angle from his front, right or left. Give a jerk on the rope and say HERE. When he gets up and starts for you, blow one blast and command sit. Now walk around him anohter 90 degrees. Same thing. In a very short time, you will be able to walk 90 or 180 degrees, give a tug on the rope, and he'll square up to you.

Now you're ready to go back to the diamond. Put out three piles of dummies and establish the piles by throwing a bumper to each, then sending him. Now just send him on a line without throuwing the bumper. Never at this point move the piles. Keep them all in the same place every time. Now, sit him facing you with you about 10' from him, his back to the pile. If he even BEGINS to turn his head command sternly NO! and give a sharp jerk on the rope. Every time he looks back, sharp, short tug and NO! Don't send him if he keeps looking back. Keep his sitting there and jerk him every time his eyes move, even right or left.

When he'll sit there and start at you, raise you hand for the back, step toward him quickly, and command BACK!!. That should do it. It's a matter of patience on your part and learning on his.

[Dskup]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I greatly appreciate it. I will follow up later to let you know how it goes. Thanks again!!

[Swampbilly]

What Gonehuntin' said
To add a little-
Don't get caught up in a "routine" of casting your dog to the same place, MIX up your casts.You don't want him anticipating which way you'll cast him, even if it means casting to a different pile other than the last bumper thrown.
Once he gets a grasp you should be fine.

[EvanG]

Any chance you might post up some video of what you typically do in daily training?

EvanG