All Things Dog Blog

Showing posts with label disc dog. Show all posts

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Super Dog Sunday Presents Buckeye

by Carrie Boyko, CEB

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Frisbee Training Begins...

Part IV in a Series of V

by Chris Engel

Team-Bandit

(c) photo copyright Kristie Moser

Kota Demonstrates his Talent

Welcome back to Frisbee Dog 101. This is Part IV in my series of V. If you have missed the first 3, you might want to go back and catch up at these links:

Part I

Part II

Part III

From here training becomes much more specialized, depending on your dog. If your dog has no interest whatsoever, or does not know what a Frisbee is, try this. Start with a Frisbee upside down on the ground and move it back and forth in an effort to get your dog to chase it. If he does chase, then by all means let him catch it and praise him when he does. Continue this until you feel comfortable your dog knows his job is to go after the disc when it comes out. He must also learn to release it when asked. I use the command "drop it" with both of my dogs.

Bandit used to want to keep the disc and play tug-of-war, which I refused to do, especially if I asked him to drop. I would turn my back and wait for him to drop. Once he did drop, I would praise him profusely; then we would resume play. Every once in a while he tests my resolve and refuses to relinquish the disc; however, once I show him my back, it's aways at my feet in just a matter of seconds.

Kota, on the other hand, didn't care if I turned my back. She would simply walk around front. We went in circles for about a week till I figured out all I had to do was show her another disc and she would drop the one she had in a second. I adopted a method of saying drop then producing a second disc, which got her to drop, and then I would praise with food. After about 2 days she was dropping anything and everything from as far away as she could hear!

Next step for me was short tosses, first just a foot or two. When Bandit caught it I went berserk ! It kinda freaked him out, so I scaled back my animation and within a week he was catching 50% of the throws I was putting up in the air .... till he hit a telephone pole and I felt TERRIBLE (although it didn't seem to phase him one bit).

This was when I learned I had to really pick and choose where I throw. I also needed to have complete control over my discs and know where they were going to go when they left my hand. Remember, not every throw has to be a touchdown. You can make a LOT more points in a competition if you are consistent, rather than connecting on a few big throws.

Be sure to watch for part V of my series, when I will help you out with choosing Frisbees. Even if you’re just in this for some backyard fun, you need a Frisbee that is safe and works well for your dog. It’s not as simple as a trip to Petsmart, but I’ll give you all the tricks of the trade. Hope to see you then.

Chris Engel

Team-Bandit

Watch for All Things Dog Blog's next post,

when I will air video of Kota's very first public event.

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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Getting Your Dog Ready to become a 'Disc Dog'

Frisbee Dog 101: Beginner Training

by Chris Engel

Team-Bandit

Bandit is Catching on Quickly

Thanks for joining us today for Part III of Frisbee Dog 101, by guest writer Chris Engel. You can read Parts I and II at these links.

The absolute best foundation you can build on a great Frisbee dog has absolutely nothing to do with Frisbees at all. I went to a puppy pre-school with Bandit where I learned about socialization, proper methods to train and handle dogs, and this was where I learned probably the most important thing which I had no clue I even needed to learn. It was all about how to communicate with my dog.

You will build a very strong bond between you and your dog as you go through this process. You must learn how to give your dog the tools it needs to succeed. There are millions of ways to get there and you must figure that out with your dog.

How? You could hire a pro for a while if you feel you are not progressing at a level you need to be at. Maybe join a message board of like-minded trainers or enthusiasts where you can bounce ideas around and get tips and pointers. Also, find people locally who have the same interest so you can train together. Sometimes it's best to have another set of eyes looking at a sequence or routine. Your training partner may be able to shed light on why an expected behavior is not happening.

Training sessions should be kept short and you should always end on a positive behavior and reward. If you train too long your dog may become bored, and if your dog is never rewarded, he may lose desire to train altogether.

Find that special item that your dog will go nuts for and then use that as a reward for performing proper behaviors. My dog, Kota, will take a bullet for a food treat where Bandit could care less about food, but might just take that same bullet for a chance to chase a Frisbee and catch it.

Whatever that reward is, make sure it remains special and do not over stimulate and make it become just another item. If it's Frisbee training you are after, you can also get the dog used to it by using your disc as a food bowl or water dish. Never leave them out so they become a chew toy. By only bringing them out when it's time to play (or train) they will begin to know exactly what is going on and training will then become the reward.

At my next post, I will help you begin the process of training your dog to chase and catch a Frisbee. In the meantime, you can visit me at Team-Bandit or check us out at Youtube.