Yeah, okay, Dogblr. Matilda is making it extremely clear that she wants to play disc more than any other thing we do together: she wants to play disc so badly that she will attempt to conscript any human who holds still long enough to release her outside where the frisbees are, and then also come out and throw them.
She has already taught herself to leap 2-5 feet in the air, sometimes while twisting and flipping, to catch a Frisbee sailing through the air. She will bring me discs or drop them as asked. I am a mediocre thrower but I get a lot of practice these days. We are using cheap shitty PetSmart frisbees mostly with a couple of Chuckit Paraflights for her training go bag. I'm open to purchasing better discs but they have to be sturdy: my dogs aren't allowed to chew Frisbees, but Benton tends to get hyperfixated by digging at frisbees in the dirt and it's not always possible to immediately get them back. I am also poor, so budget stuff is great.
I listen to my dog--I already had plans to enroll her in a disc class next summer--but while I know the kinds of things that help set up a puppy for agility well and that a puppy absolutely should not do, I do not know those things for disc. Matilda is 10mo: still definitely growing. I don't think I can stop her choosing to jump for things, even flippy jumps; she's frankly too fast and too determined. She does not give a shit about wipe-outs or falling. She wants a chance to catch a flying disc above basically every other reward in her universe.
What should I know about disc to keep my puppy from injuring herself and to help us elaborate the game she loves together?
I will be starting with MN Disc Dogs as a reading guide but does anyone know of good disc dog resources? Their getting started page is for people struggling with a different problem than I have: teaching the dogs that the Frisbee can be fun to catch in the air. Matilda knows that the Frisbee is fun and has been known to steal totally dead Frisbees off tables and present them to someone to throw. Are there any good disc dog resources predicated on wandering into the sport because your dog is extremely motivated and you are a hapless naif?
She's ready. Throw the Frisbee.
