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I'm not looking to do formal disc dog or anything - my dog-activity plate is already overflowing!

 

But lately Dean has showed real interest in retrieving Speedy's frisbee.

 

I am worried about him flying into the air to catch it, though. What ends up happening is that I throw it so low that it ends up on the ground before it gets to him. I don't want him to hurt himself landing incorrectly.

 

Is there a way to teach a safe "jump up to catch and land safely" procedure? I'm looking for something pretty simple just for yard frisbee play.

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My oldest dog is a frisbee fanatic. We got him his first frisbee when he was only a few months old although we did not let him play hard until he was about 18 months. We first started in snow with low throws, I will try to post a picture. Without snow we would pick grass surfaces that had no faults such as holes etc. or obstacles. I was a little concerned at first. He would go up to get a high frisbee. It seemed the higher it was the more he got up there. He seemed however to figure out for himself where he should be, when he should jump and how he should land. He is now 6 and still plays hard and in all this time he has never taken an injury. It would be much better if your dog did catch the frisbee in the air and eliminate the problem of him trying to pick it off the ground at speed. I have a ball game I play with the dogs where they run out some distance and I throw the ball so they catch it on a bounce. We call the game shortstop. This eliminates the problem of them having there nose on the ground and taking an injury.

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The best way to control jumping is to pay attention to where you are putting the disc. This takes some practice. Lok, like many BCs doesn't pick up his back feet when he jumps and ends up dragging them along the ground or only picking them up a few inches and then landing on them. A four-foot landing is ideal, although I'm not overly-concerned about his rear-feet landings, since they don't seem to be hurting him. To encourage more of a forward leap (rather than a vertical leap) in which he will land on four feet, I try to keep the disc no higher than the tips of his ears. There are proprio-something (I forget the technical word) exercises you can do to teach rear-end awareness and encourage a dog to jump properly, but this is probably more work than you're looking to do. So the short answer is, try to place the discs in a position where Dean will be encouraged to jump safely, and obviously, as DTrain mentioned, keep the terrain in mind as well.

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I agree with Ninso. Its very hard and a lot of work to try and teach a dog to land properly! You really have to control the where the disc goes and make sure its not too high or too low so that they are catching unsafely. This means a lot of practice on your part! XD I have no other human to play frisbee with, so a lot of the time I find myself running around my yard, alone, practicing frisbee. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm crazy.

So if you can throw the disc at a good level for him then you shouldn't have a problem. Then with all the practice he'll get catching it properly, he'll be more likely to do so when you have a not-so-nice throw :rolleyes:

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I am worried about him flying into the air to catch it, though. What ends up happening is that I throw it so low that it ends up on the ground before it gets to him. I don't want him to hurt himself landing incorrectly.

 

I can relate to your worries, with Blue (only 8 months old) I use a soft disc that "only I" throw to him and I always keep it low where he need not jump to catch. I also use distance discs that is really just a fetch activity to get him some exercise. I usually let my son throw the long disc to Blue for fetch, they both enjoy it! Well just the other day while i was in the garage working on stufz I kept hearing my wife and son laughing and cheering? So curious I step out to see whats up, well Tanner is throwing the soft disc and Blue is literally vertical catching disc.....I'am like noooooo (inside I was like yessss) but he is way to young to be catching that much air. Anyway I have no useful information for you, think im in same boat just figured I get another post under my belt:)

 

The perpatrator:

 

tanner.jpg

 

 

The accomplice:

 

blu.jpg

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It took me a long time to be able to toss the frisbee. Half the work is in the handler. If you can throw a even, how do I word this?, flat toss..... about waist level. It's easier for the dog to catch, and just gives a little jump. You can even do this on puppies. It's not too much of a jump. It will end up about a few inches off the ground. It's all in the tossing. I couldn't throw a frisbee until I got my first border collie!!! LOL

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At the Skyhoundz website, they have a DVD on how to throw a Frisbee. I haven't watched it so I can't say how good it is. If you know anyone who does Disc Dog or who is just good at throwing Frisbees, you could always arrange for a lesson on how to throw it with better control. There is a lot that goes into it, when you start compensating for wind and whatnot. I've gotten much better over the past few years with tens of thousands of repetitions, but a few tips from a Disc Dog person back in January have helped me straighten out throws when they start going crooked. And there are ways of throwing the Frisbee I never even thought about, which was interesting. One thing I know Disc Dog people will do is practice throwing without the dog around.

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I think the frisbee itself is part of throwing well - so your dog can catch it well.

 

I personally like the Hyperflight Jawz purchased through skyhoundz.com. My ability to throw went up exponentially when I got it ($15) AND it really takes biting very well.

 

Throw short distances. Also try throwing right to Dean's mouth while he's facing you in close quarters - teach him 'catch'. That way when you start throwing, you can say catch and hopefully he picks up to catch it out of the air.

 

Probably the best (safest) catches are the ones when River grabs them from the air while running and just continues running. This is when I happen to throw them so it skimmed just above her head so there's not twisting and stuff. Also so the frisbee is ahead of the dog so there's no looking back on the dog's part.

 

You can also teach 'go around' your body for the next catch instead of your dog bringing the frisbee facing you then you pick it up and they have to quickly 180 to go again - I specifically taught this to River first to prevent injuries - it only took about 5 mins using the frisbee as a lure around my body.

 

That said, I've had REALLY crazy throws when I was learning to throw and River hasn't hurt herself in the past 2 years.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, Dean seems to have figured out the proper way to catch on his own!

 

When I was teaching up at GHF a few weeks ago, I saw dogs doing frisbee and I noted how they were catching. When we got home, I watched Dean and saw that he is doing it properly - he's doing what River does - he jumps up to catch them while running and then keeps running. It's pretty cool to see, and he apparently loves to do it.

 

My throws are another story, but I do the best I can!

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If you bring the dog behind you before the toss, they will track it forward rather than running ahead and turning to face it - that's when injuries happen most. Teach him to come, drop, and turn around behind you - while you pick up the disc and lob it ahead of the dog. If you ever did toss-n-catch competitions (long distance), this is the way you get the most throws in, too. Patrick could get five to six throws in between 50 and 75 feet, with Ben, and consistently could do six right at 60 feet with Trim - what was the time, one minute?

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If you bring the dog behind you before the toss, they will track it forward rather than running ahead and turning to face it - that's when injuries happen most.

 

Interestingly, he won't go out ahead. Speedy does that with the ball and he and I play a game where I do a "fake throw", he runs way out, and then I throw it an entirely different direction. Dean doesn't like that game and he has developed the habit of holding back until the ball or frisbee is actually thrown.

 

I'm glad to know that is a good thing with the frisbee.

 

Teach him to come, drop, and turn around behind you - while you pick up the disc and lob it ahead of the dog.

 

Do you mean drop as in a "splat down" or drop the frisbee? He always brings the frisbee and hands it right to me. Is that a good/bad thing?

 

He does know the circle around back from Musical Freestyle, so we can definitely do that.

 

In fact, I often make him do his Freestyle moves before I throw the Frisbee. Circle is one of his moves. In Freestyle, I usually have him do a full circle and stop facing me, but when we play with the frisbee, I toss it ahead just as he comes up on my left side.

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Drop as in drop the frisbee.

 

The go around behind you is good for preventing injuries - if you are throwing in fast succession. If you're taking your time - or your dog turns on his heels slowly, then not a big deal, (you already said he also waits for the throw) but going around is safest for the dog.

 

River 'going around' in summer 2006

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I teach my dogs to go around by taking the frisbee, and turning myself while showing the frisbee. Be persistent. Teach the dog that they have to follow your hand around with the frisbee, for you to throw it. Soon you can just tap your hip with your disc, and the dog will circle you and take off for it. All my dogs learned this fast this way.

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Interestingly, he won't go out ahead. Speedy does that with the ball and he and I play a game where I do a "fake throw", he runs way out, and then I throw it an entirely different direction. Dean doesn't like that game and he has developed the habit of holding back until the ball or frisbee is actually thrown.

 

I'm glad to know that is a good thing with the frisbee.

 

To encourage Dean to run out for the disc, I would teach him a "go" (start running) command--maybe he already has something like this from agility? I would start by sending him around behind you and then when he is by your side say "go" at the same time as you throw the frisbee. If the "go" is paired with a frisbee throw every time, he will learn to associate the word with running out for the frisbee. As he starts to make this connection, begin to delay the throw little by little. It may take a little while to overcome the effects of the fake-out game, but he should catch on quickly.

 

Awesome that Dean does a retreive to hand, that's definitely a good thing! Wish my dog did!

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To encourage Dean to run out for the disc, I would teach him a "go" (start running) command--maybe he already has something like this from agility? I would start by sending him around behind you and then when he is by your side say "go" at the same time as you throw the frisbee. If the "go" is paired with a frisbee throw every time, he will learn to associate the word with running out for the frisbee. As he starts to make this connection, begin to delay the throw little by little. It may take a little while to overcome the effects of the fake-out game, but he should catch on quickly.

 

He does know "go" from Agility. But if I say it and he doesn't see a piece of Agility equipment in front of him, he'll stop since he doesn't know where I want him to "go". He's particular that way!

 

I might use a different word for the frisbee since he might understand chasing the frisbee a bit differently.

 

Awesome that Dean does a retreive to hand, that's definitely a good thing! Wish my dog did!

 

I taught him to bring it right to my hand at the same time I taught him to retrieve. I learned my lesson with Speedy who won't be convinced under any circumstances that dropping something 5 feet from me, backing away, and staring at it is not exactly what I mean by "give it"!

 

When Speedy first learned, I wanted him to be excited about chasing the ball. I figured I'd teach him to give it to me later. Ha!

 

So, I actually taught Dean to take something in his mouth and give it before I started throwing things. It paid off. He will give it to my hand or drop it on the ground on cue.

 

Now when Speedy drops something 5 feet from me and stares at it, I can cue Dean to "get-it" and "give-it" and he picks it up and brings it to my hand. It's nice!

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Sorry to hijack... but I noticed for throws that Jersey jumps for, she lands with her back legs. I've heard that's really tough on them, and it's ideal for them to land on their front. Is there a way to teach this to Jersey?

 

The ideal landing is all four feet--I have a foster who has very nice landings, but she jumps more like a cattle dog. Border collies who do disc commonly have poor jumping form, not jumping very high and landing on their back feet. Lok does it too. You can help correct jumping style by teaching rear-end awareness exercises--e.g., backing up stairs, stepping through a ladder, etc. I haven't been able to do much of this with Lok, so I'm not sure if it helps. After almost a year though, he has suddenly started to become a more stylish jumper who actually picks up his feet now and again, so . . . who knows. I think really working "overs" (dog jumps over a part of your body to catch the frisbee) may have helped. At first, he really had a problem with dragging his feet--and I had perpetual bruises to prove it! His jumping style was fine with no frisbee in the picture, but add the frisbee and it was like he didn't have the coordination down to catch and jump at the same time. Lots of practice with low jumps (one leg while sitting on the ground) and he gradually learned to pick up his feet. Now we are starting to do some higher overs and he's been flying right over lately. So I think that may have something to do with it.

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Zac George posted a recent training video on Youtube and the subject was conditioning your dog. He provided a recommendation that I think might work well for your situation. The recommedations was to through the disc uphill so the dogs are running up a grade to get to the disc.

 

In your case if you made a level throw, but the direction was up a hill, then the disc is traveling flat and the dog is actully getting closer to the disc as they run up hill. They might not even have to jump depending on the timeing and steepness of the hill.

 

One suggestion.

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Here he is doing his thing! Had I snapped a split second later, I would have captured him all four feet in the air with the frisbee in his mouth. I'll catch it someday!

 

Frisbee.jpg

 

My throws are usually tilted like that, but he really made a nice catch. You can't tell from the photo, but he is taking off toward the frisbee in the same direction that it's flying.

 

He likes this new game!

 

Frisbee2.jpg

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Great pics and glad he's having fun. You can tell he's loving the new game!

 

Btw, typicallly discs that are tilted from a throw like that indicate that you're using "too much arm and not enough wrist." A snap of the wrist is pretty key in ensuring a nice level toss.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Some puppies just seem to do it naturally......

 

 

Not our best effort, but shows her early on in her career (just shy of 2 y.o. - now just over 2) landing most of the time nicesly on all 4 no matter what the jump. My Avatar shows one of her more spectacular leaps caught on film.

 

Other puppies take a LOT of work to get to land properly.

 

 

this is my boy at about 18 months - the night after the video above. i still spend a lot of time doing rear end awareness exercises and core strength exercises with him and getting him to jump over my legs while I am sitting and having him catch the disc about 3 feet from me. This makes him land on all 4. Since the video was shot he has really begun to get the whole landing thing and develop a LOT more drive. He'll never be a nutter like my girl, but we have managed to get him very keen and playing safely.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I personally like the Hyperflight Jawz purchased through skyhoundz.com. My ability to throw went up exponentially when I got it ($15) AND it really takes biting very well.

 

You can also order the Hyperflite Jawz uglies from the skyhoundz website for 10.95. http://skyhoundz.com/discs.html They are the same as the 15.00 but the printing is off, or something else silly. The disc itself is safe. I have ordered at 10 of them and have never had any flaws in the actual disc.

 

I wanted to also mention that my dog Hammie competes in disc dog and the disc does make a big difference. We would practice with cheaper frisbee's when we started and he was always bitting his tongue because the edges of them are big and would push his tongue into his teeth. Since we started using the hyperflite we haven't had a problem with it. They were designed by disc dog champions who work with dogs everyday so they made them to be easy on the dog, not to mention the Jawz last a very long time.

 

We are going to be competing at Purina Farms in St. Louis Sept. 13th and 14th. If anyone else is going to be there, let me know.

 

Tammy

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I'm really really not trying to start an argument here....just a decent discussion. Related to the OP - landing seems like the key to doing this 'sport' correctly. Kudos to everyone concerned, training and practicing that!!

 

But just curious....how long does a frisbee/disc dog do this sport? If they start early? If they start late in life? What are the oldest dogs competing and still doing reasonably well?

 

thanks.

 

diane

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I'm really really not trying to start an argument here....just a decent discussion. Related to the OP - landing seems like the key to doing this 'sport' correctly. Kudos to everyone concerned, training and practicing that!!

 

But just curious....how long does a frisbee/disc dog do this sport? If they start early? If they start late in life? What are the oldest dogs competing and still doing reasonably well?

 

As with any sport, it depends on how safely its practiced and whether the dog is physically sound when it starts. I do see a few older dogs competing, but I don't know how long they were competitive at the sport.

 

I see some people jumping their dogs way too high on some of the vaults and I wonder how long those dogs will hold up physically. Time will tell, I guess.

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