Devon and Erie, 3 year old BC from USA

Yes, that was a cool start! She developed nice speed with all kinds of rewards. It is good to know that she values Frisbees that much! We can totally use that as jackpot. I would like to add 2 more elements to these games before you move it to agility obstacles, but the way this first session looked like, it is not going to be that far away. 🙂
So the 2 things are:
1. Try to establish the predictable up and down dynamic – so she knows to first follow you and than continue on straight ahead. That way we will avoid some herding behaviour she displays, not being entirely sure where and when the next throw will happen. So throw in one direction, turn your back to her and run away – only check back a little, so you know when she is almost catching up with you. At that point throw the next one straight ahead and as soon as she passes you, turn around and run the opposite direction again. You can go in rounds from 2-5 throws and than stop to catch your breath. 😀 Also I don’t ever do too many food/ball throws in one sessions because the stop&go’s are quite physically demanding on the dog.
2. Include start line stays in this mix. Start with a couple of fast tricks that you reward with some “small scale” throws (meaning you don’t have to run across the field for those). Than ask for a sit and as you walk away, keep tension… show her the treat with the reward, look at her and you can even say something like “ready…. readdddy, steaddddy….. ready, steady GO” If you think that will make her break the stay, you can repeat the cue but with voice that promises action and creates anticipation. Stay… staaaaay, staaaaaaaay, GO! Once you release, run full speed ahead and do throws as suggested above.

Your movement is still not quite what I had in mind. 🙂 With an exception of a short bit in the beginning. Most of the time he (sorry Erie thought you were a girl!) has no troubles locating food, so you don’t have to wait for him to get it. As soon as you see he saw where you threw it and he passed you can turn around – all the way, your back to him – freeze frame the video at 0.23 and you will see what I mean. Let’s get this done correctly with food first. Remember to run away asap and keep your back towards him at all times. Make sure the hand on the side of the body you want him to come to is slightly extended, so he has that information when he turns around and sees you running away from him full speed. Like you are handling a straight line in agility. Always throw with the hand on the side of the body he is at. You can always start by restraining him with one hand and throwing with the other to send him away. Than immediately turn and go…

“I tried to work in some tricks and some sit stays. Stays for us seem to have a lot of conflict. And Unfortunately I’m usually alone so I can’t do restrain excerises.”
You can always start with a throw in the opposite direction. But his sits in this exercise were nice! Fast and he kept the enthusiasm and focus. So I am pretty sure we will be able to fix those stays quickly.

Yes, that is better! Sometimes still waiting for him a bit too long, but than again – indoors you have nowhere to really run to.
I would start doing this game through a straight tunnel or a single jump – mainly so it helps you keep the line and just try to focus on creating as much distance between you and the dog as possible – because distance makes him run for real.
Sit&stay – as soon as you ask for it out of an active trick or movement he is very keen to listen and it doesn’t bring him down. I would still do some rounds and reps without a stay, but this way you can definitely include it sometimes, even on obstacles.

He wasn’t super fast because he didn’t need to be. 🙂 The throws were short and you are still not running away as quickly as you could – which is basically as soon as he is no longer behind you but just about to pass you on the way to the treat. So still some room for you to improve although the jump helped you keep the line and turn completely not only halfway. Overall the goal of doing this for you is not to get max speed (I am sure we can get it with Frisbee!) but more just about getting a hang of this game, the movement and the continuation. When using food try to use even bigger and bouncier treats (really big pieces of hot dog saussage work great for that purpose) so you can throw them a bit further away. That will give you more time to work on your timing. But really, try to remember to not watch him go after the treat and by all means do not watch him eat it. He can do it on his own and by the time he looks up you have to be far away already, running full speed.
I would also throw in some stays in such session.
And yes, the jump – not full height, 30 is fine, even 45 cm (18 inches) would probably be fine.

I can see that he started to overthink – he was thinking “this must be a trick, it can’t be that simple”, but he reacts well to your encouragement and movement so it got better throughout the session. What helps him the most is when you are running full speed ahead of him and call/cheer, so there is no doubt for him what he is supposed to do. Continue using big treats and you don’t have to throw them very far and you can also use “get it” cue or anything he is familiar with that means he is allowed to go get something. When you can see he saw where the treat wen’t and is confidently going there to pick it up like at 0.31 you can easily turn around and your timing there was pretty good. Just don’t get insecure no matter what his reaction is when he turns around. You just keep running, the faster the better and call him with a happy voice. 0.45 was another example of good starting reaction, but you don’t have to wait for him at the jump, you can easily be on a landing side already when he is arriving. And be moving. When you are waiting he is waiting.
When you include sits, try to keep some tension the whole time as you are walking away. You can say ready… steady… and walk away with some tension, like Jerry trying to get away from a sleeping Tom. 😉
You don’t have to obsess with this exercise either. To give him a little mental break you can do one session of straight tunnel with Frisbees and than try the food throws again, but without overthinking it.

Haha well yes, but you made it work well! He was having fun I think, mostly had great stays, just one slightly reserved start. Perhaps I would try to add a bit more diversity in his training now – I feel like he sometimes starts to overthink if something goes on for too long. So for the next training build that U setup I am using in lesson one and try to do the U in both directions crazy balls style – when you reward the first U call him back without stopping and directly back into u from the other direction. Than switch to some brainiac lesson 2 stuff, than maybe one round of crazy something through the straight tunnel and pause.

Awesome training! I don’t think asking for a stay was a mistake, he just wasn’t expecting it. But kept good focus and started fast anyway (he was closer to the jump and starting form 0 speed so it couldn’t have been as fast as with a throw. The way you stopped him suddenly worked before, so it was just a thing of a moment, but if you are feeling insecure about it, you can do a couple of spins and other tricks before asking for a stay so he won’t have to make a full stop for it.
I would make this training in a similar fashion, even throwing in some turns in the sequence, crazy balls style.