Jack Haskins: Teaching your dog to catch a Frisbee
Q. Your column on whether a beagle can be a Frisbee dog started me thinking. Luke, our 8-month Lab/boxer mix, loves to retrieve a ball. I’d love to see dogs leap into the air and grab a Frisbee. How do I teach Luke to be a Frisbee dog?
Doug, Scottsdale, Ariz.
A: First you learn to throw a Frisbee. If, like me, you cut all your college classes so you could play Frisbee with your friends, you already know. If not, you have to practice before you work with Luke.
Putting a Frisbee in just the right spot for a dog to make a flying catch is hard and you don’t want Luke to see all his dog buddies at the park laughing when you make a throw that duck-hooks and crashes into the ground 10 feet away.
Use a cloth Frisbee – usually called a “Dog Frisbee” – instead of a plastic one for training purposes. If a smart dog gets whacked in the nose by a plastic Frisbee he may refuse to fetch it. A cloth Frisbee solves the problem and is easier to throw for a beginner. Get one the size of a dinner plate, not one the size of a saucer.
Always throw into the wind. Wind moving under the Frisbee is what makes it hover in the air so dogs can jump for it. If Luke doesn’t figure out to jump for it on his own, add a practice exercise where you hold it above his head and say “jump” while he takes it from your hand. Do that five or six times every practice session, then when you throw it say “jump” just as he gets to it.
Labs are born with a master’s degree in Frisbee catching, but be patient if it takes Luke a while to perfect his skills. Treat it as play, not work.
Q. Your advice to make training a game was brilliant. Once I lightened up and started letting my pug, Sprinkles, have fun, she learned things immediately and loves it when we work on commands. The part she loves best is when I tease her about what command is coming next. It showed me how little I know about my dog. Thank you for the advice.
Alan, Lawton, Okla.
A: Dogs are the same as humans when it comes to training. They learn fast when they have a good time, lose interest when they are bored.
When someone comes to me with a problem training their dog I remind them of the wisdom of the great Chinese general Sun Tzu: “If words of command to the troops are not obeyed, the general is to blame.”
If you have a problem training your dog the blame falls on you, not your dog. And in most instances the problem is that you are teaching in a way that bores your dog. And probably bores you as well.
People are always surprised when they watch me train a dog at how much of the lesson is playing games and loving on the dog.
Training should be fun, and the fun is more effective when it is integrated into the process and used as an additional training tool, not a separate thing you do on breaks.
A trainer for more than 30 years, Jack Haskins has rescued, trained and placed more than 2,500 dogs. Send questions to theoldtrainer@gmail.com.
This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Jack Haskins: Teaching your dog to catch a Frisbee."