Go-Around: Disc/Toy Behavior for Safety and Better Setup (Patreon)

One of my Patreon folks asked for info on how to teach a go-around (or behind) when playing with your dog. The go-around has the dog circling behind the back and then leading out to catch a disc (or other flying toy). 

Teaching this behavior not only prepares you for disc competition like Updog or Toss and Fetch, but it also can help prevent both acute and repetitive injury caused by your dog facing you and then doing a quick 180 degree turn in front of you to go for a ball that has been launched over their head repetitively. 

I wanted to show you this on a dog that didn't already know the behavior so I met up with a Patreon member who happened to be close to where I was staying to work with her pup. This pup hadn't met or worked with me before, and playing with a stranger can be really challenging, but Juno warmed up quickly! 

Note that Juno wanted to return her discs to her mom. With your dog, the ideal situation/end goal is that your dog comes back at you, drops the disc in front of you as they continue around your back in a fluid motion (see Whip's video of demoing disc tricks as kids camp). 

In this video, Juno already has a lot of disc/play skills so I used the discs to lure around in a circle, then graduated to flashing the disc from my left and throwing with my right. If your dog doesn't yet have toy skills, or you want to start teaching in your house, you can also teach this using food and then tossing the food in front of you for them to pick up. 

Please let me know if you have any questions! And a big thank you to Eve for letting me borrow Juno, her awesome little disc dog with big ups!