| Frisbee is an activity that people have been enjoying with their dogs for many years. Recently, frisbee has become another competitive dog sport. There are two kinds of frisbee competition. The first is catching, where the dog catches the frisbee in the air as far away from the handler as possible. The second is freestyle. This is the harder of the two to train and it also requires more creativity. In freestyle, the dog catches the frisbee while performing other stunts, such as weaving through the handler's legs or jumping off their back to catch the frisbee. Freestyle is usually performed to a song, similar to an ice skating competition. Some frisbee competitions require you to perform both types while others only require one. If your dog is good enough it could make it to national or world competitions. | How to Start Training If you want to start training but don't quite know which type of competition to choose, don't worry. Both types require the same basic training. 1. Make a list of the abilities your dog already has that could be useful in frisbee competition. You can do it mentally or write it down, but the latter is preferred. 2. Look at your list. Now, make a list of abilities that you want to train your dog to do or improve on. This will be a basis for your goals. 3. If retrieving is on your second list this will be the first thing that you will want to teach your dog. A frisbee dog that doesn't bring the frisbee back is no good. 4. The next skills you will want to train your dog are catching and dropping. These can be taught either way, but I believe teaching the drop command first is easier on you. **If you are training to freestyle you will need to come up with some unique tricks. Training these tricks is up to you! |