Starting Out

Important. Consult your veterinarian before starting your dog on any form of athletic training program. You should verify that your pup has good hips, especially before attempting canine Frisbee, or else a potential problem of canine Hip Dysplasia could be aggravated.

Also Important. ALWAYS have water available for your dog while you are training them. Since dogs do not sweat, but expel heat primarily through their mouth and tongues, drinking water helps them cool down. Failure to provide water to a working dog can result in hyperthermia, which can be fatal.

The most important step in starting out is choosing the right dog! If this step is done right, then everything else is easy. One way to go about it is to acquire a pure-bred puppy of a breed that is known to do well at canine disc. The drawbacks to this method are that it costs money, you cannot really know how the pup will turn out, and you have to wait a year or more before the dog is able to train rigorously.

The second method of finding a good frisbee dog is to go to a shelter or rescue group and adopt an adult dog. This allows you to get to know the dog and test it for Frisbee dog aptitude. If the dog shows some interest in chasing the disc, then there is a good chance they will be a faithful, enthusiastic partner. The other up side to this method is that it is cheaper, and often the bond of a rescued dog is stronger than that of a dog raised from puppyhood.
Ideally, you want a dog with the following characteristics:

• Adult weight between 30 - 50 pounds.
• Lean build. Strong retrieval and tracking/chasing instincts
• Even temperament ( They will be off-lead with other dogs )
• Sound hips
• Another important step toward good Frisbee dog training is basic obedience. The main point of this class should be to teach the owner, not the dog. Once an owner gets a feel for teaching basic obedience, then teaching disc dogs comes naturally.

Discs

Characteristics
Here are several key characteristics of flying discs:

1. Shape
2. Weight
3. Material
   

The ideal canine disc is light, thin, and made of soft but rigid material Types Flexible/Floppy Flexible/Floppy discs are great for starting out, for dogs that have dental problems, or show dogs that cannot afford the slightest risk of a broken tooth. While tennis balls and bones pose more risk of tooth damage than Fastback Frisbee discs, some folks may still want to use these flexible types: WARNING: Cheap, hard plastics discs purchased at pet stores and department stores can hurt your dog and ruin their desire to play with them. They can crack and break into pieces cutting the dog's mouth or swallowed pieces can be fatal.

• Floppy Disc
  A cloth/nylon disc with a rubber outer ring. Nice because they float! These discs are very flexible, and some tricks that require a rigid disc are difficult to perfrom with them
  
• Nylabone
  These are closer to 'regulation' than Floppy Discs, and are probably just as safe. Be aware that there are some version of the Nylabone disc that are harder than others. Make sure you get the flexible, rubbery type. Note that there is a Gumabone model with a bone shape extending out of the top of the disc. While safe and easy for dogs to pick up, these discs fly like bricks.
  
• Frisbee Fastback
  This is the disc of choice for most Frisbee dog enthusiasts. The Fastback Frisbee disc is a 107 gram disc made out of a soft PVC type plastic that a person can actually mar with a fingernail quite easily. They don't last as long as the harder types you can find in pet stores, but that means they are less damaging to the dog's teeth. The lightness of the Fastback allows it to remain aloft longer than most discs, and therefore give its canine pursuer more time to catch it.
  
• Aerobie
  Aerobie discs come in three flavors: The Aerobie Superdisc, which is made from a transparent plastic with a soft rubber rim. This disc will fly a long ways, and is light enough and soft enough to be considered a good doggie disc; The Aerobie Sprint flying ring, made from a hard plastic coated with a softer rubber. While this ring can be used with dogs also, its low profile makes it easy to put a lot of velocity behind it, so use it for short tosses or long distance throws, being careful to not throw it directly at your dog; Finally, the Aerobie Jelly disc is a flexible disc that is great for puppies or folks concerned about tooth wear and damage. This disc is a little more rigid than the Floppy Disc, so tricks like butterflys are a bit easier to perform.
• Other discs
  Any other discs used should be soft, have no protrusions, and should not be much heavier than 110 grams. In other words, the hard, generic 'doggie discs' one can sometimes find in pet stores or be given as promotional items should be avoided, as should 185 gram freestyle discs and especially golf discs.

Where to buy discs: