Disc Dog Training
- Thread starter Linds
- Start date
What's everyone's disc maintenance routine like? Cohen is pretty light with the discs but they're still getting pretty rough. Maybe I'm just not throwing them very well, but I swear they're not flying as nicely either. When do you know when it's time to replace a disc?
My favourite disc thus far has been a Jawz Softlite, but at $toomuch, I'm probably not going to be buying them in bulk.
My favourite disc thus far has been a Jawz Softlite, but at $toomuch, I'm probably not going to be buying them in bulk.
I bought 80 fastbacks at the beginning of this season, we are down to 7. I don't mind punctures or ragged edges, but the girls have been snapping rims nonstop. I've been throwing away 2-3/session. So I switched to Hero Air's, which are a bit more flexible. They don't break rims on these, they are cheap enough that they are considered a throw away disc and they fly nicely. I also switched the girls recently over to Sonic Xtra's because they need a smaller diameter (the 235's are too big for them). I also use Hero Super Aero's if I'm just in the backyard throwing the disc. They are lighter weight than Jawz but just as sturdy.
I keep my discs in groups of 7, always make sure I have a few sets of 7 set aside for comps. I never use used discs in a comp, always fresh.
So pretty much, I use the Air's or Sonic Xtra's for normal practice. I have a fresh set for each comp and use the Super Aero's for dinking around.
I keep my discs in groups of 7, always make sure I have a few sets of 7 set aside for comps. I never use used discs in a comp, always fresh.
So pretty much, I use the Air's or Sonic Xtra's for normal practice. I have a fresh set for each comp and use the Super Aero's for dinking around.
I got Hero Air's last time and like Sara said, they don't crack as easily but mine are completely punctured and deformed. I keep using them because that's all I have but my god are the sad looking.
Didgie is super hard on them though, Traveler who is might softer does really well with them.
I ordered Super Hero's that should be here tomorrow, hoping those hold up to my alligator dog better!
Didgie is super hard on them though, Traveler who is might softer does really well with them.
I ordered Super Hero's that should be here tomorrow, hoping those hold up to my alligator dog better!
Depends on what I'm using it for. I use practice discs until they hurt my hands during tugging. You can use a propane torch and smooth the sharp edges down if you want to keep them for longer.
I do keep a set of discs that are inbetweeners that I can do serious practice with without them messing up my throws.
I do keep a set of discs that are inbetweeners that I can do serious practice with without them messing up my throws.
Ok, I had one last practice play session in a field today and I'm feeling much better. It's all working. It might a little short but I have some things I can easily add in towards the end to take up some time.
But mainly, the discs are were I want them, Didgie knows what to do and she's bringing them back to me.
So she's going to get a few days off and then the comp is on Saturday. Glad I'm feeling better. Things don't need to be perfect but I like feeling prepared.
But mainly, the discs are were I want them, Didgie knows what to do and she's bringing them back to me.
So she's going to get a few days off and then the comp is on Saturday. Glad I'm feeling better. Things don't need to be perfect but I like feeling prepared.
Yay, I'm sure you guys will do fantastically!
I took some more video this afternoon, and put together some clips. Very new to trying "reverse" with the disc (instead of food). This was our first time trying more than one in a row.
All in all I'm pretty pleased with how she's doing, of course I really don't know what I'm doing at all so we are muddling along. Any tips are always much appreciated!
[YOUTUBE]B6GwAFmV3wY[/YOUTUBE]
I took some more video this afternoon, and put together some clips. Very new to trying "reverse" with the disc (instead of food). This was our first time trying more than one in a row.
All in all I'm pretty pleased with how she's doing, of course I really don't know what I'm doing at all so we are muddling along. Any tips are always much appreciated!
[YOUTUBE]B6GwAFmV3wY[/YOUTUBE]
I've always thought disc looked like a lot of fun, and this thread is not helping!
I'm thinking about trying a bit of disc with Kili. We have some soft plush discs and one of those Chuck It! flying squirrels that she will chase fairly readily and has even snagged a few out of the air. My main concern with starting into disc with her is that I myself am an Ultimate Frisbee player and I always take my dog to games, practices, and tournaments with me. I think it would be pretty neat for a disc player to have a disc dog, however, I am weary of creating enough drive for a disc that she becomes a nuisance when I'm playing with my team. Right now my dogs just think that discs provide food and water and that's it.
So... questions....
1. Can I develop disc drive without making my own Ultimate games a source of stress/frustration for her. I do NOT want to leave my dogs home when I play because there are whole weekend tournaments and practice can be a whole evening after I've already been at work all day.
2. What disc should I get and from where? I was on the hyperflite website and there are SO many options. Should I get puppy discs to start with? And is there a size that would be ideal for a greyhound just starting out?
I think we could be awesome at distance catches if she can become reliable at catching. Super fast dog and a handler who already plays Frisbee? (Except, I'm actually the dog when I play... I've never been an amazing handler... I much prefer to catch!)
Thanks guys!
I'm thinking about trying a bit of disc with Kili. We have some soft plush discs and one of those Chuck It! flying squirrels that she will chase fairly readily and has even snagged a few out of the air. My main concern with starting into disc with her is that I myself am an Ultimate Frisbee player and I always take my dog to games, practices, and tournaments with me. I think it would be pretty neat for a disc player to have a disc dog, however, I am weary of creating enough drive for a disc that she becomes a nuisance when I'm playing with my team. Right now my dogs just think that discs provide food and water and that's it.
So... questions....
1. Can I develop disc drive without making my own Ultimate games a source of stress/frustration for her. I do NOT want to leave my dogs home when I play because there are whole weekend tournaments and practice can be a whole evening after I've already been at work all day.
2. What disc should I get and from where? I was on the hyperflite website and there are SO many options. Should I get puppy discs to start with? And is there a size that would be ideal for a greyhound just starting out?
I think we could be awesome at distance catches if she can become reliable at catching. Super fast dog and a handler who already plays Frisbee? (Except, I'm actually the dog when I play... I've never been an amazing handler... I much prefer to catch!)
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys. I just called my agility trainer because I know they have had someone in to do disc dog workshops in the past... thought maybe they'd know where I could get some discs. She said they will definitely have more workshops this fall and they are hoping to actually host some competitions too. So that's exciting. She gave me the name and number for the lady who does their workshops (Katherine Ferger?) and told me to call her and ask about what kind of disc she would recommend for Kili, and see if she had any I could buy.
Other than getting them from someone or from your club, did you guys just order them online to start with? I was looking at those Hero Aeros because they're nice and cheap! Which is always good when starting out.
I'll be interested to see what I can do with Kili. I think if we enjoy it that we could get into doing some leg and back vaults... but I cannot see a 60lb, long, lanky dog doing flips and chest vaults (or whatever the technical terms are!
). Or maybe I should say... I cannot see ME having a 60 lb, long, lanky dog doing flips and chest vaults off of ME. lol
In fact, I'm going to go and do a google/youtube search for sighthounds doing disc. If there are any I'd like to see how those bodies do those cool things. It's hard for me to picture it. Linds, are you planning on a female? What are the weights and sizes on the dogs from the breeder you are going with? My next retired racer I'm going to try to get a tiny, almost whippet sized female.
ETA: THIS is not happening.
Other than getting them from someone or from your club, did you guys just order them online to start with? I was looking at those Hero Aeros because they're nice and cheap! Which is always good when starting out.
I'll be interested to see what I can do with Kili. I think if we enjoy it that we could get into doing some leg and back vaults... but I cannot see a 60lb, long, lanky dog doing flips and chest vaults (or whatever the technical terms are!
). Or maybe I should say... I cannot see ME having a 60 lb, long, lanky dog doing flips and chest vaults off of ME. lolIn fact, I'm going to go and do a google/youtube search for sighthounds doing disc. If there are any I'd like to see how those bodies do those cool things. It's hard for me to picture it. Linds, are you planning on a female? What are the weights and sizes on the dogs from the breeder you are going with? My next retired racer I'm going to try to get a tiny, almost whippet sized female.
ETA: THIS is not happening.
Katherine Ferger has a Coolie!
I'm really really excited that you are going to be trying this! Everytime I've tried to talk to someone about doing disc with a grey I get told they don't know anyone that does it and skeptical faces but I think it could be fun.
Good luck youtubing! I tried and didn't find much, just a couple video's of some dogs playing a little bit so if you find anything post them here or send them to me pretty please! And that video totally needs to happen
I actually was hoping for a male but really am good with anything. I think a female would be better for sport but a male temperament is more what I was looking at for my big cuddly boy dogness.
Her female that she's breeding is on the big size I believe, I can't remember what she weighs off the top of my head but I know she's not a tiny race line girl. And she hasn't found the right male yet so I'm not sure what he'll be.
ETA: Found it! She's 70 lb.
I'm really really excited that you are going to be trying this! Everytime I've tried to talk to someone about doing disc with a grey I get told they don't know anyone that does it and skeptical faces but I think it could be fun.
Good luck youtubing! I tried and didn't find much, just a couple video's of some dogs playing a little bit so if you find anything post them here or send them to me pretty please! And that video totally needs to happen
I actually was hoping for a male but really am good with anything. I think a female would be better for sport but a male temperament is more what I was looking at for my big cuddly boy dogness.
Her female that she's breeding is on the big size I believe, I can't remember what she weighs off the top of my head but I know she's not a tiny race line girl. And she hasn't found the right male yet so I'm not sure what he'll be.
ETA: Found it! She's 70 lb.
Well, I found this site which is kind of interesting, but it talks about a sighthound specific disc dog sport. I haven't really read into it in detail, but I will for sure. Thought I'd share.
70 lbs is probably fairly typical for a female show bred greyhound. That would be considered large for a race bred female. My retired racer is considered an upper end of average male and he weighs in around 75lbs. Mind you, I keep him TRIM, and probably trimmer than a lot of folks keep their greyhounds. I would also say that in my experience so far, most show greyhounds are kept a little more padded than I like for my personal dogs. My dogs would probably be seen as a little under condition in the show ring (under condition on fat, I don't think anyone could suggest they are underconditioned for muscle). Kili is 14 months tomorrow and is just flirting with 60 lbs (hasn't broken it yet). When she decides on a mature weight I suspect she'll stabilize around 60. 60 lbs would probably be considered average for a race line female, and a little under for her show line breeding. Her lines tend to be fairly average in size, though I have never actually found listed weights and never bothered to ask her breeder... they're also not listed on greyhound data.
Most people in the greyhound world will tell you the same thing for ANY dog sport. When I first got Summit I put aside my dream of an agility dog. Thankfully I stumbled onto a wonderful blog about agility greyhounds :hail: and realized the greyhound adoption world was crazy. I've never looked back. There are certain things I can see being difficult for a large sighthound. Summit can catch a soft frisbee in the backyard for fun. I would probably never attempt any tricks with him. He's big, long, and kind of awkward (unless he's running... then he's poetry in motion). It's not that he couldn't ever do some of those tricks... but he's too big to do the tricks with ME and honestly I would worry about him getting hurt. Kili is smaller and younger and has a slightly different body type. But I still have a hard time imagining her doing any sort of flip without hurting herself.
The girl's got hops though! (Boyfriend has the lure whip in his hand out of frame, sorry it's out of focus a bit, not my best shot)
70 lbs is probably fairly typical for a female show bred greyhound. That would be considered large for a race bred female. My retired racer is considered an upper end of average male and he weighs in around 75lbs. Mind you, I keep him TRIM, and probably trimmer than a lot of folks keep their greyhounds. I would also say that in my experience so far, most show greyhounds are kept a little more padded than I like for my personal dogs. My dogs would probably be seen as a little under condition in the show ring (under condition on fat, I don't think anyone could suggest they are underconditioned for muscle). Kili is 14 months tomorrow and is just flirting with 60 lbs (hasn't broken it yet). When she decides on a mature weight I suspect she'll stabilize around 60. 60 lbs would probably be considered average for a race line female, and a little under for her show line breeding. Her lines tend to be fairly average in size, though I have never actually found listed weights and never bothered to ask her breeder... they're also not listed on greyhound data.
Most people in the greyhound world will tell you the same thing for ANY dog sport. When I first got Summit I put aside my dream of an agility dog. Thankfully I stumbled onto a wonderful blog about agility greyhounds :hail: and realized the greyhound adoption world was crazy. I've never looked back. There are certain things I can see being difficult for a large sighthound. Summit can catch a soft frisbee in the backyard for fun. I would probably never attempt any tricks with him. He's big, long, and kind of awkward (unless he's running... then he's poetry in motion). It's not that he couldn't ever do some of those tricks... but he's too big to do the tricks with ME and honestly I would worry about him getting hurt. Kili is smaller and younger and has a slightly different body type. But I still have a hard time imagining her doing any sort of flip without hurting herself.
The girl's got hops though! (Boyfriend has the lure whip in his hand out of frame, sorry it's out of focus a bit, not my best shot)
