weird catching

[Jan244]

He loves the frisbee but will only chase it (that is, he waits for me to throw and then follows it). Then the silly pup stands on top of the thing and tries to pick it up with his mouth! He's still trying to figure out why he can't lift it!

I have to tell you that just picturing that, I started to laugh. What a cutie Bacca is.

 

[Narmowen]

All of mine catch stuff with their feet!

 

[tehluhlah]

Bacca definitely isn't dumb, what a cute game he made up for himself

I have to throw out there that if you're interested in disc and so is your dog don't be discouraged because your dog isn't a perfect catcher. We were taking Smoke to disc dog competitions for a year before he ever made his first catch. He would either try to catch with his feet or just patiently wait until it landed, then pick it up and bring it back to me. I guess he didn't see any reason to jump up and grab it when he knew gravity would eventually do its thing We kept entering him because it absolutely became his favorite thing to do -- he loves to play retrieve and he loves to have people watching him and cheering him on. He always thought he won every time, and we didn't tell him any differently

Jessica, if you decide you're interested in giving disc dog a go, you might check out the Southern Ohio Flying K9s

http://www.flyingk9s.org/main.htm

We go to a lot of their events and they are a great group of folks.

I promise I'm done rambling on about disc dogs now!!

 

[OntarioSheltie]

One weird thing though that makes Bacca a little less dumb...

He plays fetch with himself. He has a couple of rope toys. He has learned how to throw the toy into the air and then run to catch it. If you've ever seen dolphins play, it looks exactly like that! I sure wish I had a video camera to capture it!

I've often thought that Sadie is like a cat, she loves batting things around with her feet. Someone told me though that this is a sign of intelligence.

Bacca may still get the hang of the frisbee, standing on it while trying to pick it up may just be part of learning. It took Sadie a long time to figure how to pick it up, she used to stand on it too.

Sadie also plays fetch on her own. Often she'll throw her toys in the air and then go and catch them. She'll also bring her ball over to cushions and furniture and drop it down the side so that she can chase after it as it rolls away. She figured this out when she was about 5 months old!

 

[Chris]

If I throw a toy for Layla, she gives me this look that says, "If you wanted it so badly, why did you throw it away?"

 

[JessicaR]

One weird thing though that makes Bacca a little less dumb...

He plays fetch with himself. He has a couple of rope toys. He has learned how to throw the toy into the air and then run to catch it. If you've ever seen dolphins play, it looks exactly like that! I sure wish I had a video camera to capture it!

Belle does the same thing except she uses a tennis ball. she doesnt catch it, but she does throw it so she can chase it!

 

[k9kreationz]

Oh how I know this. I'm trying to get Koji to catch things, he's kinda getting it. I make him watch Miko, who's an expert at catching things. Here's what I did.

First, like someone else mentioned, I bought one of those soft material frisbees. I don't think Miko liked getting bonked in the head with the harder plastic ones. I did use the plastic one to roll on it's side though, so he'd learn to chase it and really want it.

Secondly, and this is how I heard to teach them to catch. Play keep away with another person. Don't allow the dog to grab it from you, nor grab it off the ground. they have to learn to grab it "in the air". I typically would let Miko have it if he's close. That way, he's not frustrated. However, by playing keep away, he started jumping for it more, really wanted it more. Wanted to GRAB it OUT OF THE AIR.

I'd try playing keep away and see how how she does. Miko loves to catch (more so than fetch). And DH loves throwing things at Miko for him to catch (usually it's soft plush things). You throw it like a baseball, and he'll catch it (strangely though, he won't catch food, go figure).

Good luck.

 

[hrs0005]

I totally need to jump on this bandwagon. Lexi loves the keep away game but only i'm throwing it into the air to myself. She also absolutely refuses to retrieve anything. She's just over a year old and i've been trying since at least 4 months. To her it's a totally different game.. in her world she loves chasing and running after things.. the thing is she will run after a ball or Frisbee but will nip at it then run back to me.. and never brings it back lol.. but the suggestions have been awesome and i can't wait to try some

 

[mikebdub]

Cali used to do that when she was learning to play frisbee. Every now and again she will do it, but after she figured out it was easier to catch it in her mouth and not her chest she stopped doing it! Considering she used to be scared of the darn thing and would only chase and bark at it, it is very rare for her to miss a throw now! I need to see if I can find a frisbee club or something in my area for her to join.