Tips and Tricks For Canine Frisbee

An Introduction to Frisbee
By: Dog Scouts of America


Frisbee Introduction

Frisbee is a trademarked name for a flying disc produced by the
Wham-o company. Originally, it was the name of the pastry
company that sold pies in tin plates with the name, Frisbee on
the bottom. People were taking the empty pie tins and tossing
them around, creating a new kind of catch game. Now, various toy
companies produce flying discs in all shapes and descriptions. We
usually refer to all of them as Frisbees, though it is the brand
name of only one such product. Some of the most interesting
things I have learned about flying discs was from a group called
"The Flying Aces Frisbee Team." Visit their web site at
www.flyingaces.com.


The ALPO Canine Frisbee Disc Competitions are events that are
held each year in communities all over the nation. The Community
Events are local competitions that anyone can enter. The discs
are provided by the ALPO company, and you will often get a little
packet of promotional materials including biscuits or chewies,
along with a free Frisbee to compete with. You are only allowed
to use their competition Frisbees in the event.


The Regional events are held in 6 different geographic regions:
South Central, Southeast, Southwest, North Central, Northeast,
and Northwest. In addition, there is an Eastern Open
Competition, and a Western Open Competition, for anyone who did
not qualify, or could not attend one of the Regional events. You
must place at one of the Regional or Open events in order to move
on to the World Finals which are held each year in Washington,
DC. The top dog and first and second runner-up become the world
finalists. There are some pretty nice prizes for the finalists
and winners in these contests.


The Community events usually consist of the basic throw and
catch, called, "Mini-Distance. For this, the field is marked off
in five yard sections. Points are awarded only for throws that
go beyond the first 10 yards (to avoid people trying to rack up
points at close range). Catches made in the 10 to 15 yard
distance are worth 1 point "on the ground," and 2 points "in the
air." On the ground means that any foot of the dog is on the
ground when he makes his catch. In the air means that all four
feet are out of contact with the ground when the catch is made.
Catches made from the 15 to 20 yard section are worth 3 or 4
points, and beyond the 20 yard point, they're worth 5 or 6
points.

For Mini-Distance, each team (dog and handler) gets 60 seconds to
complete as many successful catches as possible.


My 11-year-old dog was in her heyday ten years ago, and has done
much winning each year in the community events. I attribute this
to a couple of factors:


1. I try to make all of my throws hit the 18-yard line when they
are about 5 feet from the ground. By the time the dog catches
the disc, she's landing just over the 20 yard line. Therefore,
there is not a lot of time wasted running over yardage that we're
not getting extra points for. If your dog is spending less time
going and returning, you have more time for additional throws.
Karli's typical number of catches is 6 to 7 in one minute.


2. I try to compose myself and gear up for the next throw. I
don't let the time clock affect me. People do strange things
under pressure. A guy at a truck stop where I used to work
showed me a card trick one time, and he said he'd give me $100.
if I could figure it out and repeat what he did in 5 minutes. Of
course my mind was fried trying to "beat the clock." When my
time was up, I figured the thing out in about 15 seconds. It was
actually quite simple. People get flustered and just "throw the
Frisbee away," worrying about the time. I try not to lose my
concentration, keep my throw level, and breathe!


3. I prepare myself for the possibility of a Freestyle event,
even though I "don't do" freestyle events. I have an artificial
leg, and I'm anything but graceful, but I prepared a short
freestyle routine to some music, just for fun, and to showcase my
dog's skill and leaping ability. In my dog's third year of
competition (1993), she was in a three-way tie with two other
very excellent Frisbee dogs. The judges at the Community event
chose to break the tie by running the second round in the
"Freeflight" style (surprise!). Well, I was the only one who had
practiced this, apparently, and Karli won the freeflight round
with a score of 63. In competition that day, with his dog also
in that first place run-off, was a young man who became a friend
of mine, Brian Lamky. I think this was one of his first
competitions. More about Brian and Tatiana later...

The Regional events are for the people who are serious
competitors. Contestants perform in the Freeflight Elimination
Round, the top scorers of which go on to compete in the Finals,
which include a Mini-Distance and another Freeflight round. You
can't really succeed in the Regionals unless you've prepared a
pretty decent Freestyle routine. I competed in one ONCE, when it
was here in Southfield, Michigan, and we had to compete against
dogs which had performed in beer commercials and had become world
finalists before. My dog placed 9th, which made me quite proud,
but they only take the top 8 teams (I think it was seven back
then).

The top dogs from each Regional competition then go to the world
finals, where they will perform for television on the grounds of
the Washington Monument. The people and dogs who have come this
far are really fabulous, and I think you can purchase videotapes
of some of these performances. I have to tell you that I have a
couple of all-time favorite Frisbee dogs. Their names aren't in
the "history books," because they never got to first place, but
they were there in the finals repeatedly.


One is "Air Major." He has his own web site, which you can
visit. I saw a video of this dog, years ago, and I remember
thinking, man, this guy's moves are very innovative, and this
little dog is incredible. Air Major is not much bigger than a
Jack Russell Terrier, but he had to compete with a regulation
size Frisbee. The trust between these handlers and dogs is
amazing. The handler tells the dog to jump and catch the
Frisbee. The handler's body may actually be in the spot where
the dog is expected to jump. The dog trusts his handler, and
launches himself for a spectacular leap. Then, the handler does
some dynamic move, and suddenly the body is not there any more,
but there's a dog flying through the air with a Frisbee in his
mouth.


This is what impressed me also about Brian Lamky and Tatiana.
They are now 5 time world finalists! Brian has a really
incredible routine. He deserves a lot of credit, because he has
invented a lot of the moves that he uses in his routine. It's
easy enough to copy a routine that you see another handler and
dog perform, but it takes a lot of creativity to invent moves of
your own. [I invented a throw once. I was so proud! I thought,
wait till they see this one--it's almost impossible to catch!
Then I found out that someone else had already invented it--it's
called "The Butterfly."] In the old days, it was easier, because
the dogs could do what we call a "take." This involves the dog
taking the Frisbee from your hand held aloft, or from between
your feet, or out of your mouth. Now days, you don't get points
for takes. All Frisbees must be in flight at the moment the dog
makes contact with them. So you have to make sure you let go,
drop it, or spit it out right before the dog catches it! Brian
has created some throws where he bats one Frisbee with another,
and kicks the Frisbee with a foot. It amazes me that his dog can
catch all of these things, but she does, with style.


Tatiana is a dog with wings--she makes these huge leaps with all
four feet, like she was on springs. She can catch anything that
Brian puts into the air. The only times I've seen them falter
are when they're having a "bad Frisbee" day. I think nerves
might have something to do with it, too. The times Karli and I
have beaten Brian and Tat, I can attribute to Brian's nervousness
or a little bit of luck with the wind.


Karli has been a fantastic Frisbee dog, too, and I thank my
friends, like Brian, for helping me with some tricks and special
moves. Brain makes Karli look like another Tatiana when he does
the tricks with her. It gives me great pleasure to see this, as
these are things I could never do with my own great dog because
of my disability.


I've had a lot of fun with this sport, and I hope you will, too.
If you'd like more information, visit www.ashleywhippet.com, and
www.skyhoundz.com. You can get information on upcoming Community
events, and locations of the Regionals.


www.DogScouts.com
Copyright © Dog Scouts of America
5068 Nestel Road
St. Helen, MI 48656

The picture at the top of the page is Rudy. For more pictures of Rudy in frisbee competition, and for Rudy's home page go here:
http://www.netlabs.net/hp/lew/rudy/index053103.htm


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