All Things Dog Blog

Part II in a series of V

by Chris Engel
Team-Bandit

(c) photo copyright Kristie Moser
Kota was Adopted
Because of His Love for the Frisbee

This article is Part II in a series entitled Frisbee Dog 101, by guest writer Chris Engel. Today Chris will share his thoughts on selecting a dog for Frisbee training. If you missed Part I, you can read it at Frisbee Dog 101 .

As I mentioned before, ANY dog will do as a disc dog, but there may be some things to think about, such as ... You really don't want a dog that is too big. Bandit is 50 pounds and while he can run really fast and jumps really well I don't think I really want him jumping off me because he would gain too much height and velocity to land safely. He might just take me out if he hit me at full speed. Each person has their own comfort zone, but for me an athletic dog around 20 to 30 pounds does quite nicely.

Also, a dog that enjoys leaping and does it for fun is going to make things much easier when you are trying to channel that energy into a controlled sequence that includes some leaps. Herding dogs do rather well, but again ... I really must stress ANY dog will do, so don't get caught up with having to find a specific breed because you think or have heard they are better than others.

If you select a puppy make sure you do not do ANY leaping or vaulting training until your puppy is , at the very least, 12 months--and preferably 15 months--of age. Let your puppy's bones grow enough so that you will not do any harm to him by asking him to perform stressful athletics before his body is ready for it.

If you just have to get started immediately, I suggest you find a dog that is old enough and ready to start learning with you. There are TONS of rescue organizations out there, so choose one locally and tell them what you are looking for. They already have a lot of experience, so USE IT !!!!! You don't have to pick the first dog ... just pick the right dog! Doing some homework and reading up on the types of dogs and their general charateristics will help a lot as well.

I’ll be back soon with Part III of my series, Frisbee Dog 101. If you’d like to learn more about our sport, you can visit my site at Team-Bandit.