Upcoming Disc Pup

You soon figure out Moonshine, Shelties can do everything!:winkgrin: You can live with them too. That's why I love them.
 
Sca has a canvas one that he loves and catches even at night sometimes. He doesn't like hard ones but when I put on the frisbee hat he goes nuts (hey it is cold out there). I had some ultra soft ones when he was a pup but he was getting hard on them and they did not throw real well.
 
That is so cool. I've never seen a Sheltie do frisbee before. In my agility class there was a young woman (high school age) who went to China with her dog this past year. They weren't so hot at agility, but watch out when it comes to frisbees. Or should I call them discs?

I tried with Miko when he was a pup, with the fabric soft ones. He wasn't big on catching those, but he loves to catch balls. I love that I can throw it at him like a baseball and he'll catch it. He won't go far away either, so definitely no disc dog here.

Can't wait for pictures. I'm always so impressed with disc dogs. They're absolutely amazing!

p.s. I'd try with Koji, but when the handler sucks at throwing, there's not much you can do.
 
Yeah disc is a really neat sport, I've never done much agility at all, and find myself always impressed with agility teams a lot so we will be trying that out I'm sure.

I've seen a couple shelties do disc, the ones that I know are fairly driven, but values of drive for the disc go up and down even for BCs and Aussies.

The way Whiskey is driven you can see his body go into stalker mode, and he will chase the disc on the ground until he's exhausted. The big deal to me though is that he's already retrieving it for me, this is not something I could coax either of my aussies to do until they were nearing six months old they would chase it but loose interest after the prey stops moving, but Whiskey learned quick that if he brings it back it'll run away again. And to top it off he's bringing it back even though he has to hold it to the side so he doesn't trip...it's quite cute, but the pup discs should be here soon. :lol:

Oh, and as far as throws? I spend more time throwing the disc alone than with the dog usually, just because a badly thrown disc can lead to an injured pup. Its all about body movement and line up. I'm not the tallest guy on the planet so I don't have the luxury of just flicking my wrist and throwing 40 yarders I use my shoulder and all.
 
Bailey does that do. I'll throw it and she'll pick it up from the ground. she'll carry it around in her mouth. sometimes she'll drop it near me and sometimes not near, so I have to go and retrieve. How do I get her to jump and catch it in her mouth? If I throw a soft toy straight in the air, she will jump and catch it.
 
Take,
When I train a catch its just a natural progression for the pup. You also don't want them jumping before about 14 months of age though, you can cause damage to the joints if the growth plates haven't closed yet.

But in order to train a catch this is my method:

Step 1
I get my pup very very interested in the disc, rubbing it on the ground to build prey drive, allowing the dog to grab it and tug at it for a second. At this stage any interest in the disc should be followed quickly by a party thrown. (Note: I make my disc the most high value toy in the house, the disc only comes out when "I" play with my pup, and so when he see's the disc he's like :eek2)

Step 2
After he's crazed for the disc and going after it like a mad dog, you do what I call a "roller". This is rolling the disc on the ground by its edge (coin method), what this does is work the herding instinct to "chase" while also getting the dog used to "catching" the disc by the edge where he would be catching it in the air.

Step 3

Introduce a "floater". You throw the disc putting a heavy amount of spin on it with a light amount of force so it "floats" in the air teasing the dog almost with its presence, at this point very driven dogs that want that disc badly after so many rollers and so much tug will just jump up and try to snatch it.

Another method is grabbing an unsuspecting observer and forcing them into a game of frisbee and tease your dog until eventually he leaps up and grabs that disc from between you. :lol:


Just a side note, sometimes this can take months...to get a catch, but any attempt for me is a catch and any attempt at catching the disc is treated as if that dog has just won best in show in crufts. We have a party and that makes the dog try all the harder to get that next catch...! Good luck with trying it!
 
I was out just yesterday with Zak and a small frisbee, he was having great fun and it tired him out-- well for a while anyway. I am so happy to hear Whiskey is having fun with the disc, I can't wait to see pics of him. He sure is a wonderful puppy. How old is he now?
 
MoonshineDad said:
Take,
When I train a catch its just a natural progression for the pup. You also don't want them jumping before about 14 months of age though, you can cause damage to the joints if the growth plates haven't closed yet.

But in order to train a catch this is my method:

Step 1
I get my pup very very interested in the disc, rubbing it on the ground to build prey drive, allowing the dog to grab it and tug at it for a second. At this stage any interest in the disc should be followed quickly by a party thrown. (Note: I make my disc the most high value toy in the house, the disc only comes out when "I" play with my pup, and so when he see's the disc he's like :eek2)

Step 2
After he's crazed for the disc and going after it like a mad dog, you do what I call a "roller". This is rolling the disc on the ground by its edge (coin method), what this does is work the herding instinct to "chase" while also getting the dog used to "catching" the disc by the edge where he would be catching it in the air.

Step 3

Introduce a "floater". You throw the disc putting a heavy amount of spin on it with a light amount of force so it "floats" in the air teasing the dog almost with its presence, at this point very driven dogs that want that disc badly after so many rollers and so much tug will just jump up and try to snatch it.

Another method is grabbing an unsuspecting observer and forcing them into a game of frisbee and tease your dog until eventually he leaps up and grabs that disc from between you. :lol:


Just a side note, sometimes this can take months...to get a catch, but any attempt for me is a catch and any attempt at catching the disc is treated as if that dog has just won best in show in crufts. We have a party and that makes the dog try all the harder to get that next catch...! Good luck with trying it!
Click to expand...

Excellent advice! Thanks a lot. I actually am doing a lot of the things you recommend. I don't leave the frisbee out. I only let Bailey play with it every once in a while, because she chewed up her last one. She does love it. The second she sees me take it out, she goes bonkers. I've never tried sliding it across the floor though. I will try that tonight. I'm sure she'll go crazy for it. I don't plan on competing or anything, but I'd love for her to jump and catch it when she is old enough ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top