What are your standards on a water mark?

My standards include: getting in the water at the proper location, getting out of the water at the proper location, making the swim, and fighting a crosswind.

Let's talk about Exits. My favorite drill to work on this is the Angle Exit Drill.

The angle exit drill teaches dogs that they must stay in the water and exit the pond on line to the mark. It emphasizes the need to approach the shoreline at an angle and ignore the urge to square out of the water to shorten the swim.

This drill should be done immediately after reinforcing the swim-by and revisited at the start of every water work season, or whenever you see that your dog's standards for exiting the water correctly have deteriorated.