Finishing for the ball

The hardest thing about the military finish is inducing the dog to get its body turned all the way around, so that it is parallel with its handler. In the beginning we do this by getting the animal to spring well back past its master in order to give itself room to turn. Later, when the animal is a polished obedience dog, we will expect it to do it by “flipping” to heel–jumping into the air toward its handler’s left shoulder, flipping its hindquarters around under it and landing like a cat at the master’s left knee.

Both of these methods of returning to the heel position depend upon one thing, energy, and that is where the ball comes in. Once the dog is finishing well with little help from the handler and shows a good understanding of exactly where the heel position is, we begin to work with the ball.

The handler plays with the dog, gets it very excited and wound up and then abruptly sits it. Before the dog’s excitement wanes the handler steps quickly in front of the animal to the come‑fore position, shows it the ball in his right hand and commands it to “Heel!” while simultaneously sweeping the hand up and off to his left. The dog will leap after it, its momentum carrying it well behind its handler, and then turn around and jump forward to the heel position. The handler sits the dog precisely on the right spot by raising the ball up high near his left shoulder, lifting the dog’s eyes and head and dropping its hindquarters.