The other post about ths survey for Right/Left handedness of flyball dogs brought up some interesting points and got me thinking. How many different ways do we go about determining a dogs turn direction before starting box work? Do you train the direction you want the dog to go without determining a direction first?

With our dogs, we mostly have the dog retrieve a dropped ball and see which direction it turns most often.

I found this interesting with my dog Zeb. I assumed he would turn right, because he nearly always turns right when retrieving a frisbee. I was surprised to find that he consistently turned left on the drop-ball exercise. I wonder if it has anything to do with how tight he turns (tighter for a ball retrieve and wider for a frisbee) or if it has to do with the difference between retrieving from the ground vs. in flight.

This should make for interesting discussion. What are your thoughts?

Interesting subject.

Mandy is a BC/Lab mix. she has, and still does, obedience training. We started Flyball a couple of months ago.
I'm left handed but started box work with her right handed.
It was a little awkward for me at first, but like most left handers, we adapt pretty fast and learn to use both hands pretty good.
I started her right handed because it was easier for people in the club to remember (most of our dogs are right handed). I also felt that if a dog was taught one way from the start, that is what they would adapt to.
I started to notice when on the tug, she was moving more freely to the left. Being very early in her training I switched her to left handed and she now seems more natural and faster in the turn.

When you watch a dog run--not just trot, but really run, they do so by leading with one foot. As they hit top speed, it can look like both front feet are hitting in unison, but if you watch as they are decelerating, they go back to leading with either left or right. You can also watch a dog and determine which foot they initiate forward movement with more often. They do this in horses when determining striding and approach to jumps. Incidentally, studies show that more male horses are left-handed and more female horses are right-handed.

One would have to view many dogs turning on the box in slow motion and record which foot they lead with and which direction they then turn for meaningful comparison. I would suspect (with my limited knowledge of physics) that the dog would want to hit the box so that the foot they lead with is higher on the box and on the outside of the turn to counteract the centrifugal force of the turn.

Now, the difinitive study would take a huge number of dogs of both sexes and many breeds, record which foot they tend to initiate movement with, which foot they lead with while running, and which way they turn then see if there is any correlation.

I would also suspect that because the turn on the box is a trained behavior, there are probably many dogs that are left-handed but are turning right and vice versa because that is the way they were trained and not because of a personal preference.

All that said, my club watches how a dog retrieves a dead ball and uses the 80% or better rule to determine turn direction.

I am right handed but left footed (learned behavior from injury while playing soccer).

I have 4 dogs that are trained in flyball. 3 turn to their left and 1 turns to their right. I went with the deadball retrieve method (I usually will place the ball up on the couch, box, or even in a corner, etc... to see which way they turn).

For dogs in my training classes who will get a ball, we do the deadball retrieve but for some we try them both directions and see what looks more natural.

In order of when trained
1. ACD, female - turn left (natural turn - she taught herself)
2. I had a bc/mix that also turned left and was female.
3. Toy Poodle - turn right
4. Borderjack, male - turn left
5. BC, female - turn left

So with my dogs who knows if it is trained or if it is natural for them. My acd and borderjack have quick turns. OK the acd does not have a quick turn anymore but she is 10 yrs old and has had 2 TPLO surgeries in the last 3 years.

I know someone who has bcs, bc mixes and a jrt and they all turn to their right. Now the guy is right handed.