Starting out with Disc training

Jasper1 · Jan 30, 2014

I have a 7 month old pup who plays frisbee a little bit that I've been working with from time to time. He catches it occasionally and in general gets the point of the game. He still has a puppy mentality in that he tends to play for five minutes then go sniff some things and play for another five. At what age do most shelties begin to really start blossoming and become focused on games such as frisbee and agility? I doubt we'd ever enter any competitions or anything, but I'd like to have some good games with multiple catches where he can get some good exercise.

Jess041 · Jan 31, 2014

I honestly couldn't tell you when it happened with my dog.. maybe a little after a year? She used to catch a few balls or Frisbees, then lay down or go sniff somewhere. Eventually she was able to build up her endurance and drive for the Frisbee that she rarely ever lays down or wanders off.

Also, I'm not sure what kind of disc you're using, but we started out with a fabric disc and that made the game more exciting because she can tug on it. And no, she doesn't tug on the plastic ones. She seems to know the difference.

Also, if you haven't already, I think it's a good idea to find a disc dog club or group in your area to join. They usually have tons of tips and once your dog gets good enough, they have in-club competitions. I'm in Houston, and my family is a member of the Houston Canine Frisbee Disc Club (it's a mouthful). I don't know of anyone in the San Antonio area, but I can ask around. I think there is only Houston, Dallas, and Central, which meets outside of Austin.

corbinam · Jan 31, 2014

I think what might be helpful right now is to keep training sessions really short. To keep interest in a toy, you want to leave the dog wanting more. So when you get the frisbee out, GO CRAZY. Act like an idiot, dance around, make it seem like the most fun thing in the world. Throw it just a few times for your pup--keep him interested and engaged. If he even starts to slow down, game over, put it away.

It will build interest and keep him wanting more As he gets older I bet the time he's 100% engaged will increase!

Toffee's Mom · Jan 31, 2014

yayyyy, disc dog!
It is imperative to get a good disc, nothing better than a proper disc

I found it helps to start with rollers, and get them to chase it before trying to consistently throw it...
Toffee took quite a while to build up value for the disc, I fed him water in there and treats and actually shaped it with a clicker to pick up the disc, then he got to chase rollers then retrievals.. all of a sudden it clicked in his head he could chase it ( I threw it kinda low ahead of him)... He's now he is VERY focused on the Frisbee, he is mr reliable and he will be my discdog, Spruce loves to jump a lot more but not as crazy about long distance throws, he will be a freestyle dog, if I ever get to that level lollll
You most definitely need to ensure you keep sessions super short, but a few times a day, I found out it's a good idea for me to always end when I want to throw JUST ONE MORE lol

Jasper1 · Feb 3, 2014

We started with cloth frisbees and he did well with those and now we are incorporating a hyperflite puppy frisbee in there. It took him a while to be comfortable trying to grab those out of the air but he seems to be happy with them now. If I can throw a perfect throw right in front of him he's pretty consistent at catching it but he still has puppy coordination as far as chasing down discs, and to be quite honest, he is kind of slow haha. I'm trying to get him to look at me before I throw it so he is looking for the disc rather than thinking they just magically appear in front of him after he runs around me and out into the field.

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Starting out with Disc training

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