“Catching in mid-air” means training the dog to jump up and catch objects in the air. This includes the dog owner’s snacks, small balls, biscuits, etc. What is the use of this training? This exercise is the basis of many subsequent exercises~~ For example, the subsequent “Catching Frisbee” training cannot be separated from it:
1. First, tear off a piece of bread, about the size of a lighter, and call the dog to come over. When it looks at you and the bread in your hand, shout: “Attention!” Stop for a few seconds, and then shout “Catch”. (If it is windy outdoors, you can also use heavier snacks such as jerky instead.)
2. Then throw a parabola to the dog. Because the bread is lighter, it will fall slower, which gives the dog time to react and make movements. Pay attention to throwing it about 10 cm above the dog’s head. Also, if the dog does not catch it and falls to the ground, you must stop it from eating immediately, but pick it up again and throw it again. This is very important! Tell the dog very clearly: If you don’t catch it, you won’t get to eat it!
3. At the beginning, the dog will only lift its front legs off the ground, because the height at the beginning is not very high, and the dog can catch it as long as its front legs are off the ground. If the dog can already catch it, then start to reduce the size of the bread to half the size of a lighter. If the dog can catch it very skillfully, start to press the bread with your hands and knead it into a round shape. This way, the object moves faster and faster, thereby improving the dog’s judgment and speed.
4. If the dog can catch an object as big as dog food, then the dog owner needs to throw it a little higher to guide the dog’s hind legs off the ground, and there is no need to throw it directly over the dog’s head: throw it on the left side of the dog’s head, and then throw it on the right side of the dog’s head. These can guide the dog’s hind legs off the ground.
5. As long as you train more, generally in half a day, the dog should be able to master the essentials of this training.
Training points:
1. Be sure to shout “attention” before throwing things. This command is very important and is to improve the dog’s attention.
2. Don’t do too many training times at the beginning, because this action requires a lot of physical strength of the dog, so about 10 times at the beginning is enough, and then slowly increase it later. If you find that the dog is not willing to jump, then stop training immediately.
3. When the dog finishes the action, don’t forget to give snacks as encouragement.
