Directional Control
What if you and your dog were sitting on a hill over-looking a beautiful pond when a totally unique emergency transpired? Could you and your dog save the day?
Well, that's exactly what happened some years ago when I was working at Camp Gone to the Dogs in beautiful Vermont. My buddy Anja and I were watching a ""hunting retriever" class. A herd of Labrador Retrievers were practicing their water retrieving skills. A starter pistol would be fired and each dog would take a turn swimming out to retrieve a frozen dead duck that had been tossed far out in the pond.
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My Anja dog was a very talented girl who excelled at earning Dog Scout Badges. She earned both her "retrieve badge" and her "directional control badge". No, that's not a real frog in the photo.
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All of a sudden, there was a crash of thunder and all the Lab owners started rushing away to the safety of their cars. None of the Labs would retrieve the floating dead duck. They were all pattern-trained to to respond to the sound of the gunshot before retrieving.
My Anja dog had never met a dead duck before but was able to swim out in the direction and distance I asked her to go. The duck was floating low in the water and I don't think she was able to see it while swimming toward it. She found the duck and brought it safely back to shore. Her directional training saved the day!
My Anja dog had never met a dead duck before but was able to swim out in the direction and distance I asked her to go. The duck was floating low in the water and I don't think she was able to see it while swimming toward it. She found the duck and brought it safely back to shore. Her directional training saved the day!
The videos on this page show the steps I take to train my dogs directional control to qualify for the Dog Scouts Directional Control 1 Badge. For this badge, the dog needs to be able to run out to platforms or mats as they are directed by their human partner. The for the Level 1 badge, the dog is directed to various positions in the form of a baseball diamond with the bases being 25' apart.
Go to Your Table
The first step in being able to learn this task is to review your dog's "go to your table" trick. If you've never done platform work with your dog, this may be a new trick for him. You'll want him to be familiar with getting on it and waiting there until you suggest his next task.
Work on being able to direct him to the table verbally and using your hand motion to send him to it.
Work on being able to direct him to the table verbally and using your hand motion to send him to it.
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In the first video, you probably noticed the official dog training platform. You can also teach this skill using some other type of marker that your dog can see in the distance. My dogs seem to prefer the raised surface as their target. At the right, you can see Benny using both the platform and a colored mat. (If you'd like to join the world of platform users, let me know since I can order them for you at a discounted price.)
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Pitcher's Mound to 2nd Base
Eventually, you'll be standing at "home plate" to direct your dog around the course. For beginning the training, you'll stand close to the pitcher's mound. I've found this training is most easily achieved if you start by teaching your dog to "look back and go some more", the movement of moving from the pitcher's mound to "2nd base".
In the beginning, I'll have Benny wait while I place a treat on "2nd base" and then send him to get it.
Once he seems to understand the trick, I gradually move closer to the pitcher's mound.
I've repositioned my camera so you'll now be seeing the behaviors looking toward "home plate".
Adding "1st and 3rd Bases"
Now, I'll work from "home plate" and start sending Benny to one of the side bases and then back to the "pitcher's mound".
Final Trick
Benny is practicing the whole trick but with the bases only about 12' apart. Daisy loves this game!
Daisy Mae is already an expert. She is doing the behavior with the bases over 25' apart.
