Frisbee Training ?

freedomdreams

Well-Known Member
Hey there everyone,

I wasn't quite sure where to post this but I felt this might be appropriate since it is a dog sport.
I have a fond interest in frisbee competition, and agility.
Now I don't know very much about the bases itself in Frisbee, and I wanted to know if anyone here competes or at least practices with their dogs ?
I have had quite a few of my dogs attempt to play frisbee, but they have problems catching them which I am hoping to start teaching them so we can play more properly.

How have you gone towards teaching your dogs to play frisbee and catching it ?
How about tricks ?

I'm just interested in knowing how you might go about this or about others who already involve their dogs in it.

I have to say just watching videos though. Such as the disc-connected k9's some of their tricks are absolutely amazing ! I'd love to know how they get the dog to do a flip in the air like that.
 

Dice Smith

Well-Known Member
I always wanted Kodi to compete in frisbee, but he was never good at catching them. I was under the impression that all dogs knew how to catch them and to instinctively retrieve. :LOL: But once we started training he turned into a wonderful frisbee catching, frisbee loving dog. :) Some things that worked for us are:

1) Get a frisbee (I prefer the rubber kind because they are much easier on my boy's mouth and don't cause scratches on his gums. I always worried they might crack when he caught them and cut his mouth. Plus he doesn't like the plastic either lol.) The desicion is up to you, though if you plan to compete I think the hard plastic discs are mandatory in competitions. Then start feeding him his meals out of the frisbee like it's a bowl. Soon he'll get really eager when he sees the frisbee.

2) Only use the frisbee for frisbee. Don't let him have access to it all the time, this way the frisbee becomes more high value and when you get it out to play he'll be really excited.

3) To get him interested in chasing the frisbee you drag the frisbee around the ground and have him chase it and then start tossing it to him from a really short distance while he's standing in front of you. Sorry if that doesn't really make sense, I suck at explaining things. But if you type introducing a dog to frisbee or something along those lines on youtube I'm sure you'll find lots of helpful videos with trainers who are good at explaining and can actually show you.

4) Play tug with the frisbee and get really, really excited!! Then, I would shake the frisbee in front of Kodi and sort of tease him with it. Then I would hold it up in the air and encourage him to jump up and grab it and praise him everytime he grabbed it with another game of tug. He started to make the association that jumping and catching the frisbee was what I wanted, then we started working on short throws and progressing over time to longer throws over more of a distance.

As for cool frisbee tricks I haven't taught Kodi that many yet. I prefer building the basics of solid frisbee catching first, but that's just my preference. We are currently working on the backstall. I was teaching him the cool backflips like you mentioned but then I stopped cause I was afraid he would hurt his back. Hahahaha I'm a very overprotective dog mom! :rolleyes: But I found tons of positive videos on youtube that showed how to teach cool frisbee tricks.

And if you go to Pam's Dog Academy she offers Disc Dog video titling so if you have a reactive dog or no competitions in your area you can still work towards and earn Disc titles. Kodi and I are going to give it a go this summer since he's reactive and there are no competitions where we live (assuming I can get the money :unsure:).

Good luck!! I hope this helped you somewhat. I know soon you'll become frisbee obsessed like Kodi and I are. It is such a fantastic sport! :)
 

Dice Smith

Well-Known Member
I also forgot to mention, you should watch some video tutorials on the proper way to throw a frisbee. I always sucked at nice consistent throws but after watching some videos I got better, though I'm still a work in progress. :p I think Kodi's glad I can throw better now too! :ROFLMAO::LOL:
 

freedomdreams

Well-Known Member
Haha yay now there is someone else to talk about how much I love it. Honestly when it comes to watching Frisbee dogs on YouTube I've become a junkie.
Thanks for the tips! That's awesome :)
I really don't have the best consistent throw either so it's definitely going to take some work on my part as well.

Any other frisbee junkies ? We should make a thread.. "all about frisbee" for general talk like this :D or 'everything frisbee'
 

Dlilly

Honored Member
I also want to play frisbee with my Kelpie, but he just has no interest at all in the frisbee. He just totally ignores the disc. Maybe when he's older he'll notice the frisbee. :|
 

freedomdreams

Well-Known Member
Did he have no interest in the frisbee even when you replaced it feeding time ? Or if you referred back to the threads about getting dogs to play or become interested in tug of war.. that might help with tips on just getting him interested in the frisbee, knowing in the end he will get a reward.
 

orpheum

Well-Known Member
I don't feed my dogs out of the frisbee :whistle: . They do get to drink out of it, but no food.

1. I do start with playing by moving it fast over the ground to start a chase game. Do let the dog catch and win very often, because if he can't catch it, it's no fun for him.
2. Practice a "roller" without the dog at first.
This throw is easy to control and stil builds up on the chase you did before.
Throw it in the direction that the dog's nose is pointing or let your dog go around you. This way he doesn't have to make sudden turns and this is better for the back.
3. When the dog is eager to catch the frisbee, frequently hold the frisbee at his face height so he can take it out of your hand. NO throwing yet !!
4. Start with releasing the frisbee just before he catches it. Then build up to very short throws.
5. Make sure that your dog in the beginning can SEE the disc when you add distance. That's why I prefer the dog to go around. If not he needs to trace, lock with eyes and catch. With overexcited dogs in the beginning the trace part is often difficult.

Look up the tutorials of Mark Muir on youtube. They are good, going from basic to advanced.


This is one that I also like

Do keep in mind to train your dog's muscles before making him do insane vaults and tricks !!
Safety first for handler and dog !!!

Do keep in mind that if you do tugging games there is a possibility that your dog doesn't let go when you start using a second frisbee.
I personally use Jawz frisbees, because they are very durable.
 

freedomdreams

Well-Known Member
Okay !

A question.
I went to the store today to pick up some new frisbees ( I usually goto dollarama because my frisbees are used so often by the dogs they get lost but when we do get better i will invest in more expensive durable frisbees.)
I remember the comment about normal frisbees being hard on the gums and saw this one with rubber gripping, I grabbed one and a normal one. I want to know if others have used one like this before, you don't think it might make the frisbee fly awkward do you ? Here are photos. I'm going to test it out as soon as I can..
 

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freedomdreams

Well-Known Member
I had another question

Fozzie loves frisbee, but he can't catch it worth his life BUT he isnt what my question is about. Its Aliza, she likes chasing things I.e frisbee but she doesn't open her mouth, she won't even take a tennis ball. She only chases them and that's it. What can I do to encourage her to pick up the tennis ball or frisbee ?
 

barnhill

Experienced Member
Hi!

I am HUGE into Disc. I compete with my Aussie Bokeh and recently got a new BC puppy who is coming along great. She is 6 months old and already competed in her first competition.

First thing, start small. No catching until the dog learns to grab the disc. Start sliding the disc back and forth on the ground so it chases it like a toy. Once it gets going ROLL the disc on its edge. This called a Roller and is meant to use the dogs prey drive to get it chasing the disc and grabbing it. Mark the grab its self with a "yes" or whatever your marker word is.

Tugging is HUGE!! Play lots of tug using the disc as the tug toy. This teaches the dog to bite the disc and also increases drive for the disc. You can also use it to teach an "out" or "drop" as well another huge skill to learn in disc.

Most importantly is use the correct equipment, unfortunatly 99% of the discs you get from stores are NOT dog safe. The only exception I have found is the Jawz disc that PetPeople sells here in Ohio. They also have the all cloth discs, those are fine as well especially for training. I started both of my pups on the soft discs and once the adult teeth came in a slowly switched to plastic discs.

Here are a few websites for you:

Discs and Disc Bags:
http://www.herodiscusa.com/
http://hyperflite.com/
http://www.dtworld.com/category-s/5.htm

Training and clubs:
http://pvybe.com/
http://flyingk9s.org/
http://www.georgiairishdiscdogs.com/

Rules and competition formats:
http://www.skyhoundz.com/
http://ashleywhippet.com/
http://usddn.com/
http://www.ufoworldcup.org/
http://www.thequadruped.com/

Here is Bokeh and I at the 2012 USDDN World Championships in GA.
 
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