by Jack Lynch » Mon 20 Mar 2006 5:50 pm
Joanne,there is a lot that you can do to teach a dog to mark- without a thrower-and by yourself.Firstly,your dog has to be placed on a (stay) and facing in the direction that you are going to walk.From this position, pick a spot at the distance that you are going to send him to, taking into consideration what the dog is going to see from the position that you are going to leave him at, e.g. background- so as to which colour of dummies to use.Now walk to that position,turn and face your dog,give him your command to (mark)and then throw the dummy,after a pause(so as to keep him steady) give him your (fetch) command.On completion of the retrieve do the same again but from a different position, varying the distances and backgrounds and dummy colourings to suit.Start at VERY SHORT distances untill he gets the idea and then gradually increase the distance and degree of difficulty.I regularly use this method.Kind regards, Jack.