Over the top

The next stage of distraction can really test the dog. Set up a simple seen retrieve as per the previous exercise, but this time, as the dog is coming back to you, throw a dummy directly over the top of the dog’s head – again, be ready to enforce the recall whistle. I like the dog to watch the distraction and ‘mark’ it down – I don’t even mind if it stops and watches it land. But be on your guard that it doesn’t drop the dummy it is carrying to go out after the distraction.

Increase the difficulty by throwing out a dummy as the dog comes back

Be ready with the recall whistle to regain your dog’s attention