Load the pup/pups up their own crate with the other dogs you are working that day. After they have watched a few rounds of dogs working. We will take them out of the crate and carry them down the track to the cart.
With a leash on them set them down in front of the cart. Tell them to turn, while we spin/turn them and then call them forward. With puppies I will use a high pitched, happy voice and take off running while telling them to "work/lets go" whatever you are going to use as a command.
Sometimes it helps in this stage to have another person at the end of the track clapping or hitting the end of the track to give them a focus point. When they get to the end of the track we use "Over the top, neighbors think you are crazy praise" LOL Be loud, over happy & excited!!! That way there is no doubt in their minds they have made you happy Pick then up, love on them some more, take them to the crate. Give generous cookies and load them up.
Continue to work the other dogs a few more rounds..... Then repeat the above "work" for the puppy again. At this stage they have the attention span of a pecker knatt, so this is all you will do. During the next couple of weeks, repeat this about 3 or 4 times. But we only do this work about once a week. No cart at this point. You are only walking them up to the cart, turning them and taking off running while calling them.
We don't do anything with the pups other than the one day a week \That way they learn to like the work. They equate it to attention, cookies and praise.... "An all positive experience". We will work with them on other things like the basics....sit, down, stay etc.... but that is all away from the track. Just a flat collar at this point, no harness yet. You are teaching them that the track is a fun place. They will see that the other dogs get attention & they will want it too.
No drag work at all until much later. Only after the fully understand their job and all the terms associated with it. My female Gracie, didn't see any drag work until March/April, she was a year old by then.
How's that for being different...LOL And even then, she was only worked on track once a week. You want a confident dog. A dog that believes there isn't anything they can't pull.
If you hook a green dog up to a cart.... They don't know what you want or expect of them. They simply do not understand. So the person immediately corrects them. They learn the track, is a scary place. If you have followed the above steps for a puppy for at least 3 weeks, you will have a puppy that will immediately turn and be ready to go & happily run down the track. AKA...The turn & burn.
Next phase... Repeat the same steps as above but now put a harness on the puppy. You will not attach the harness to anything... You will let the pup watch the adults work on track, Then take the puppy out. Carry it down the track and repeat the above steps for 4 to 6 rounds. Making sure to use happy, happy sounding voice. We do not ever tell pup "NO" if it stops while you are running down the track....just give a little tug on the leash (attached to the collar) and say excitedly "Lets go/work". If they come off track. Pick them up and tell them "On track" they get happy with them and say "Lets Go" They need to associate the words with the commands you will be giving them Repeat this for a couple of weeks.
Dogs want to please us. They have to understand what you want of them. They need to understand when they have done what you asked and be rewarded for it. We don't use real corrections on our dogs. If you tell one of our dogs "Bad Dog" that is almost a "Come to Jesus" for them....lol I always tell people "Would you want to go to work every day for someone that was always riding your ass the yelling at you"? The answer is no. And neither does your dog.
For our next phase in training, you will need two people. Once you have done the above for a few weeks, we will use a "Good, Cop Bad Cop" approach. The person that is going to be handling/working the dog will be the "Good Cop" you are the happy, praise giver that calls the dog, treats the dog, and loves on the dog. The "Bad Cop" is behind the dog and never says a word. Their only job is to hold onto the back of the dogs' harness and occasionally stomp their foot on the track behind the dog. This person will hold tension on the back of the dogs harness. If the dog is putting forward pressure in the harness going towards the handler...the "Bad Cop" will add a little more pressure/resistance. Again, puppies do not have a long attention span so you will only do this 2-3 times and load up the puppy. Give plenty of praise and treats and load the puppy after a few times. You will repeat this phase, with a leash on, until it gets to the point that the "BAD COP" has a hard time holding increasing pressure/resistance on the back of the pups harness Here is a video of Ripley during this phase....
