Frisbee/disc dog Training
Anyone have successfully trained a Frisbee loving dog? The puppy I found has little interest in Frisbee but I would love it if he played.
So far, I've been attaching the Frisbee to a string and letting him chase it around, serving his food from the disc, brought the disc out first whenever I give him treats, play rollers, and tug. I've even whispered "Frisbee" into his ears while he slept (I'm thinking of recording and replaying it on my phone... oh, and potty training.)
He does show interest in the Frisbee for a little bit but gets distracted with Eevee or just stops returning it. When this happens, I run to the disc and try to get him to pick up the disc and chase me back to the starting point.
Can anyone offer any advise? What age did your dogs show the drive for Frisbees? I want him to become somewhat obsessed where he would rather play with a Frisbee instead of receiving treats.
So far, I've been attaching the Frisbee to a string and letting him chase it around, serving his food from the disc, brought the disc out first whenever I give him treats, play rollers, and tug. I've even whispered "Frisbee" into his ears while he slept (I'm thinking of recording and replaying it on my phone... oh, and potty training.)
He does show interest in the Frisbee for a little bit but gets distracted with Eevee or just stops returning it. When this happens, I run to the disc and try to get him to pick up the disc and chase me back to the starting point.
Can anyone offer any advise? What age did your dogs show the drive for Frisbees? I want him to become somewhat obsessed where he would rather play with a Frisbee instead of receiving treats.
Comments
Though, even with practice, playing with the Frisbee may not your pups cup of tea. It's just like how some people enjoy playing video games, while others' prefer doing crossword puzzles.
At disc dog events- which we will never do- those dogs grab & spit most of the time, anyway.
And if we are having so much fun, even Reilly will come out and dance around for a disc- but she isnt a good catcher. Juno can tip it to herself and Sage makes NFL highlight reel end zone catches where you think he'll never get it but he twists and catches it on one fang behind himself. They both shake the bejeezus out of it after the catch instead of spiking it.
If your dog does not naturally show an interest in Frisbee, I wonder why you decided you wanted to do that sports with him?
Back to your original question - I do not do disc dog with my Shibas, but my guess is there are chasing, catching and retrieving the disc in the sports. You need to break things into smaller, manageable parts and slowly teaches each part to your dog. The smaller pieces have to be easily achievable, so the dogs can get a very high success rate and be heavily rewarded. You then back-chain pieces together to build a behavior.
For example, for retrieving, I teach my boy Koji to first show any interests in the object I want to use and reward him for looking at it, touching it and eventually, mouthing it. I then increase the criteria that he has to hold the object in his mouth for a bit longer, than raise the bar again to not only holding it in his mouth, but only release the object when I open my palm to get the object from his mouth. Then, I slowly add the distance of the object form me and how far he has to retrieve etc. As you can see, it is introduced piece by piece, so he understands each part, then link the pieces together.
I would also suggest you read up a bit on sound canine body structure. This would equip you with better knowledge to keep your canine partner fit and healthy for many years to come. With any sports/physical activity, there is always a risk of physical injury or unnecessary body wear and tear if the dog has bad build or not enough attention/caution paid to keep the dog well adjusted.
I did purchase this book a few years ago at a semi-local Skyhoundz sponsored disc competition (Disc Dogs! The Complete Guide by Peter Bloeme and Jeff Perry): https://skyhoundz.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=830309002258
I found the book very useful.