Minnesota Disc Dog Club Forums

Hey guys,
Soo another question,
Me and Whinnie have a little routine/sessions we do and it seems to be working but what do you guys all do for your dogs?
What we do is,,

Once in the morning do some sprints for a few mintues with a chuck it.
Once after lunch - ish hours do the same.
Then in the evening when its a bit cooler out do 2 - 3 sessions, each of 5 - 7 minutes of disc related stuff out on the field near our house. ( With waiting like an hour between them or so.)

Do you guys think the sessions with the discs could be longer, because sometimes I feel like I could make them longer, but I'm not sure! Is there an average amount of time for a disc session, and how many sessions do you guys out there do before wearing out your dog, which I know is when you dont really wanna stop playing, you should end when they are more hyped up. grrr.
I WANT to spend more time doing disc related things with her butt..Im just not sure if Im doing it right with the whole session issues. Let me know! Thanks!

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Emma&Whinnie.

every dog is different and you will know your dog best. Most drivey dogs will probably be ok to play "fetch" with the disc every day as long as you want. When you start adding in freestyle, tricks, things that make the dog think, they will get worn out much faster.

My first dog would play all day every day, and would work for me forever. He had that much drive. I was new and didn't know anything and worked him way too hard, playing every day for half and hour (with breaks to catch his breath). He did it, but over the long term I'm sure it would have burnt him out. I think he would have been fine on a schedule like yours, but I would limit it to 4 days a week, not every day.

My second dog is a lot more talented, but a lot less drivey. Last year I played a few times a week for 5-10 minutes. It was too much and she started quitting on me towards the end of the season. This year we do one freestyle session (about 5 minutes) and one Toss and Fetch session (can be longer, depending on the heat) per week. Unfortunately, we are not accomplishing a lot, but she is staying engaged and happy and that is most important.

My third dog who is LOW drive plays for 10-15 SECONDS maybe once a week!!

I make up for the lack of dog play by doing hours of throwing by myself without a dog. This is really important for every handler!

And feel free to do as much exercise/conditioning with the dog outside of disc play as you want!

And look up some youtube vids of Chandler Curtis, Kirby MacIlveen, and Preston Dean! They are around your age and winning world championships!

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Tania, Lok, Jun & Elo

WOwww those guys are amazing..O.o
thanks for the vids!

Ive always just thrown at things I use as targets and such, now Im working on throws hahaaa..

Do you go to competitions? And who are your dogs?

Lately the weather has been really way to humid or just plain stormy so no disc.. but Whinnies enjoying her break , maybe Ill try not doing it everyday like you say and seeing if it helps her want to play more or just be more awake and attentive at my sessions I do.

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Emma&Whinnie.

My second dog competes. She is a deaf border collie named Jun (avatar dog). My first dog did compete, but went blind a year after we started. He is a border collie named Lok. And my third dog doesn't compete yet because he gets too distracted and is not drivey enough. He is a cattle dog mix named Elo.

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Tania, Lok, Jun & Elo

Jun is very pretty Do any shows this year? Well im sure you and Lok will pull through and do great

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Emma&Whinnie.

We usually do 4 out of state competitions a year, but this year I am broke and we are just competing locally. You can find a list of the local competitions under the "MNdiscdog competitions in place" forum. Coming up, we have one in August, two in September and one in October.

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Tania, Lok, Jun & Elo