# Disc dog training HELP



## SagePaw (Jun 26, 2014)

I have a puppy that I'm sure is part Border Collie about 6 months old. She likes the frisbee alot. She chases it and sometimes catches it..then she will lose interest sometimes, not completely just not very focused... I throw lots of rollers and try to keep her interested... I think she is tired out fast? It's summer so it's kind of hot outside. I give her lots of water and don't have long outside disc sessions. So does anyone know what I can do to make her more focused? I think if it's the heat that inside sessions would work? or shorter sessions? I don't know..i need help to make her more driven for the disc...sometimes she will seem interested but won't run fast for it or even grab it. what I am doing wrong ???
FYI she loves ball too and catches it every time so I know she it cable of catching..


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

Are you rewarding her retrieval of the item? Maybe the game just isn't exciting enough.


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## SagePaw (Jun 26, 2014)

What I do is encourge her to jump for it while I'm holding it, throw it and if she catches it I say "yay" or "good" then toss a roller. I can get her to do this maybe once or a few times for a session. Even so, it hard to get her to run fast for it.


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## BostonBullMama (Apr 20, 2013)

She's only 6 months old - jumping is pretty hard on their joints at that age. She'll probably jump more as an adult - and be better at it.
I would toss it for her and reward the retrieval with her favourite treats - this will make it fun for her because the sooner she brings you the disc (catches it) the sooner she gets the treat. 
Eventually it will become habit and you won't need to use treats every single time.

This is what we do with my bulldog.


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## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

I cannot speak for everyone but usually with games like disc you want getting the item to be its own reward. I agree with BostonBullMama first of all that you should not be having her jump at this point. Probably not until she is at least one though I had Remus wait until he was 18months to start jumping for a disc. To get him really into catching discs I used the disc as the reward (it helps that he has an incredible prey drive) we play tug with the disc before each disc session and after a good catch we tug some more. That would be my suggestion to you, teach your dog to have a higher toy drive, really get her excited about chasing, catching and "killing" the toy. It helps for many sports. I will say that Remus does not retrieve discs, he catches them and "kills" them then I toss another, pretty typical of what you would see at a disc demo. He retrieves a baseball or "Mr. Squeaky" or his water bumper. Discs are "flying" toys and anything that flies requires immediate death in his book.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

First of all, yeah, way too young to be doing a lot of jumping - there's a real risk of joint damage there. For her size probably 12-18 months for growth plate closure.

Second of all: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIFOZsn-bFE

This, once she's old enough to be jumping. The gist is to get them into the frisbee, get them picking up rollers (rolling on its edge on the ground) and then have them 'take it' from about eye level (to the dog) out of your hand. After that, you start very short tosses toward her, still about eye/mouth level. After THAT you can add more.


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## SagePaw (Jun 26, 2014)

I just got back from some sessions. I had switched the plastic disc I had with a softer plastic lead that resembled a disc.. and it flew better then the actually frisbee. I will not have her jump as much but I found that the low 'take it' works. And I agree that the frisbee is an award on it's own(with tug). AFTER the sessions I give her treats. Thanks all for the advice.


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