Don't Let Cheating Win: Reinforce the Fundamentals

Julie Bates emphasizes keeping retriever basics strong—marking, force fetch, the double T and the swim-by—so dogs give full effort and stop 'cheating' on marks or returns.

Using recent training examples and her puppy Faith, she explains practical fixes for on-the-line behavior, why retrieved items are the handler's, and how consistent, simple fundamentals lead to better performance in both training and tests.