It's a bird, it's a plane - No, it's a flying disc dog

So much stuff going on and I have been negligent in getting back to my blogging.  Now that I have some Friday’s free for the next several weeks I’m going to try to get back to this and maybe get ahead of the game. 

When I last blogged, I talked about heat stroke in dogs, a summertime issue we all need to be aware of and take steps to avoid.  This time I’ll focus on something fun to talk about.  Dog sports.  My newest issue of Dog Sport Magazine features one of my new favorite dog sports – flying disc competitions.

We started attending some flying disc competitions in our area this year because my husband, Rick, was looking to add pictures to his portfolio of dog sport photos.  We quickly became hooked.  Part of my enjoyment, I must admit, is the fact that I don’t vend at these events.  It is a rare dog sporting event that I can sit on the sidelines and just enjoy the fun involved in watching dogs and their people have fun together.  Now I don’t compete in flying disc, or any canine sporting events for that matter, as I am the proud Mom to a Golden mix who is 13.5 years old and has never had an interest in anything other than greeting people.  As a senior she should be employed as a Wal-Mart greeter.  My other fur kid is a 14.5 year old Aussie/BC mix who we adopted when she was 3.  She would have been a good agility dog, I think, but a bad knee sidelined her career and she will not chase anything.  While I love them both more than I can say, Rick and I have always been a little disappointed in the sporting area, but I digress.

Let's go back in time to 1974 and a young man named Alex Stein and his dog, Ashley Whippet.  Stein smuggled Ashley into a Dodgers’ baseball game and then snuck out on the field during a televised game where they put on an incredible show for the crowd.  From that act, Stein and Ashley Whippet became famous for starting a new craze in dog sports.  Today, named after that original dog, the Ashley Whippet Invitation is one of sports premier annual events.  Here is a video of Stein and Ashley preforming.  Do you remember the fashions of the 70's?

Start your dog early in developing an interest in the fun of flying discs.  As Frisbee is the registered trademark of Whamoo, we will refer to them as discs or flying discs.  Get your puppy interested by serving treats or food on the disc.  You can roll it along the floor and toss if for short distances.  Puppies under 6-8 months don’t need to put too much strain on little joints and ligaments, so it is best to entice fun but keep their little puppy paws close to the ground until they are fully developed as joint injuries can come easily to puppies causing small tears that heal with scar tissue.  These injuries might not show up for years.  Conditioning is key to flexibility and keeping your dog injury free.  Core strength is very important in these dogs, as you can see from the pictures, each time they go for a catch the body twists and flexes, putting stress on the spine and core muscles. 


Look at that stretch





Flexibility is key for the spine to twist



 Soft tissue injuries of hips and shoulders are fairly common in the sport of flying disc, as in other dog sports, so conditioning is very important.  There are some fun ways to work on conditioning and flexibility using exercise balls similar to yoga.  This may be another article in the future.

Flying disc is a great sport that you can participate in at any age.  We have watched a 4 year old throw a disc (much better arm than I have on my best day) and watched people toss a disc that appear to have no athletic ability (not a criticism, as I have none myself).  Everyone can participate and have FUN.  That's the name of the game in all dog sports and in anything you do with your dog.  HAVE FUN!!!

Equipment for starting out in flying disc is relatively inexpensive, although I would recommend that you not go cheap.  Cheap plastic discs from pet stores, toy stores, or promo discs are not dog friendly as their rims may be sharp and can slice gums and tongues.  The quality of plastic can also be sub par causing it to crack or break and injuring mouths.  Look for a flexible plastic used in quality discs.  Two major manufacturers of top competition discs are Hyperflite and Hero.  Both companies make discs in various sizes for smaller dogs and bigger dogs; various flexibility levels for puppies and softer mouthed dogs who are just starting out; to super tough discs for more experienced dogs who grab hard and can go through other discs quickly.  Prices range from a few dollars to $15 to $20 for some of the tougher discs.  For starting out you would just need a few to keep the game going.  For competition you need many for the same reason. 

Once you start to compete with your dog there are various levels and types of competition.  Distance/Accuracy and Freestyle are two of the basic competition.  People will start out doing distance and accuracy.  The field is marked off in yards and you will start behind the line and toss for…..distance and accuracy.  It doesn’t matter how far you throw the disc if your dog can’t catch it.  Start slow with good accuracy then build up distance.  Events are timed so the number of throws you get in that are caught means points. Other factors that add points are if the dog catches with his feet on the ground or catches it in the air, but this is just an overview so we will stick with the basics.  At some point you will want to move on to something a little more complicated and showy.  You’ve seen it done on TV and have been amazed at the team that puts their moves to music, has the dog vaulting over the person throwing the discs and catching an endless stream of discs thrown from various positions.  Incredible.  They make it look so easy, but the amount of effort that goes into this is also incredible.  Think that’s fun, you can move on to doubles freestyle and use another human partner making it even more complicated, but it’s twice as fun to watch. 

See even a quick overview of a dog sport takes a lot of space.  I would suggest that if you are interested in learning more about canine flying disc events or participating in them yourself that you look on-line to see if there is a club in your area that is dedicated to canine flying disc.  I live in Clearwater so I’ll give a shout out to a local club, the Central Florida Dog and Disc Club.  Check them out at http://www.cfdiscdogs.com .  You can also check out the information at Skyhoundz (http://www.skyhoundz.com/) and Ashley Whippet Invitational (http://www.ashleywhippet.com/) .

As always remember…….ENJOY LIFE – HAVE FUN WITH YOUR DOG