First of all it is very important to take each step of obedience training slowly. Complicated exercises such as the directed retrieve over jumps should be broken apart into components with each part taught and rewarded separately. In this exercise there are 3 primary parts: the go out, the turn and sit, and the jumping. Many dogs fail to qualify (NQ) on “go outs”. Why is this? It is difficult to convince your dog that leaving the comfort zone of your side is a good idea. There is nothing attractive about the opposite side of the ring as far as the dog is concerned. When the dog successfully completes a correct go-out, how do you reward the dog, as the dog is then 40 feet away? If the three components of the directed-jump exercise are put together too quickly, many handlers will unknowingly discourage their dogs by allowing a negative reinforcement such as defeated facial expression or sagging posture to creep into their training sessions. Body language is very important when working with dogs. For example, the slump of your shoulder, the size of your eye when you look at them, your tone of voice all communicate more to your dog than any words you might use.

Introduce the go-out in small, easy steps. Set up a situation where the dog cannot fail, thus allowing positive reinforcement of desired behavior from the very beginning. Extinguish incorrect responses by ignoring or never allowing the dog to be incorrect. Slowly increase the difficulty of each step along the way. If you encounter problems, simply return to the previous small step and re-pattern the correct behavior before moving to the next increment of the exercise. Teach the dog that “go out” means: “trot directly away from me until I give you another command”. To motivate a response in training, I use a food as a lure. This "start slow, small and easy" philosophy requires only a tiny crumb of favorite food as a lure, not a full seven course meal. The goal is to convince the dog that it is highly likely that a reward is waiting at the other end of the ring. No need to display a plate of lasagna. In fact, an obvious display of food is counterproductive, because no visible lures are allowed at trials or matches. I would also not suggest that a laser spot be used to mark the go-out position for much the same reasons as not using a visible food lure. Even more important, lasers are capable of doing damage to your dog's eyes.

At no time along the way do you correct the dog, raise your voice, or express any frustration. There is no reason to become frustrated. If you hit a roadblock, go back to the previous step and allow your dog to have a success. Reward his honest effort and start at an easier step at the next training session. Do not skip ahead too quickly, but don’t feel that you must do any phase of this exercise a set number of times before moving on. Each dog I have trained had different learning curves. Delay a step too long and you will bore a quick learner. Increase difficulty too quickly and you will discourage a slower dog.