Yin and Yang, Light and Dark. Black and White. Interdependent counterparts of the whole that define each other through their exclusive differences; you can’t have the black without the white. Without darkness no light can exist. Bad is defined by good. And in disc dog flatwork, you can’t stop moving clock if you can’t move counter.

Duality, “you can’t have this without that” is inescapable reality and yet so many people continue to ignore the dark side of things, pretending that the flip side of the coin does not exist, and that one can stop the yin without dealing with the yang.

Clock and Countering Clock

People who have dogs that circle clockwise over and over seem to only be concerned with stopping them. Well you can’t stop the dog going clock without first moving in the counter clockwise direction.

Stopping clockwise movement requires the ability to go counter clock on cue; a counter clockwise signal that has a strong reward history is required.

When is the last time you explored the Dark Side of your game?