# How do you teach your dog to catch a frisbee in the air?



## gsd_lover (Aug 22, 2010)

Hi folks,

I'm wondering how to teach my dog to catch a frisbee in the air.....and bring it back to me without chewing it to death?? She is learning to fetch balls and sticks but I'm curious to know how to have her jump up (not too high) & catch a frisbee. 

Any thoughts/suggestions are appreciated, thanks!


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I went to a flying disc dog demo and the guy there explained this method to me. 

How to Teach a Dog How to Catch a Frisbee: 7 steps - wikiHow


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Command her to wait or stay while you run away with the frisbee, then throw it to her and tell her to catch(or whatever) and bring. After the dog gets the hang of the game, you can toss it and they will anticipate the throw, & start running for it.
I use the soft nylon ones but they don't last long. 
I also have the Jawz hyperflite, they are harder on the mouth/teeth and don't float. But they last forever!
When I do play frisbee, I have two so the dog will bring the frisbee back to me, release it as I throw the other one. They know that the game will continue only when they bring it back.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I'm not sure how to "teach" it, masi just does it...I use the cloth 'chuckit' frisbees, and she only gets it when we are playing frisbee, cause she will carry it around 24/7 , and either end up gnawing it up, or bugging me constantly

I get her the 99cent petsmart ones, to 'destroy'...
here's her plastic 'destructo ones"









here's what happened to her rubber one









and here's her chuckit one, that is now a hollow shell, so she has a new green one









not a good shot, but here she is


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## vat (Jul 23, 2010)

All 3 of my dogs just learned on their own as they got older.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Saturday, I bought a triangle floppy by Jawz for $2.99 at Marshalls, Kacie immediately chewed off one corner so it won't fly right. Now it is missing(I think DH tossed it in the garbage)
My dogs carry them like taco's too, Diane!


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## gsd_lover (Aug 22, 2010)

Wow, thanks guys for your help and suggestions! Our girl is still a pup (4.5 months old) so I won't be allowing her to jump up too high right now. But I'd like to try the frisbee before the snow flies this fall.

It's good to know they make certain frisbees that won't damage their mouth. I will check out Petsmart for the soft chewable kind as well.

Thanks so much. When I get her to do it I'll post some pic's!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh just started catching it in the air- he's just 8 months- I floated it right to him to where he had to catch it or get bopped in the head. Once he has it, I call him, tell him to drop it. Now we're so used to the game that he runs out, catches about 5 of them, piles them up and then runs back the other way. He's close to 80 lbs so getting airborne is challenging and I don't encourage it. I've bought several types of frisbees but the PetsMart $.99 ones are still his fav. He's a fiend for the frisbee


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## Myles (May 23, 2010)

Max is now a pro at this. Basically first you just get em interested you know just like with a ball throwing it close "god boy good girl" Throwing it farther ect ect then if they have prey drive when you throw it far they will just chase it. And catch it after awhile


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## kaiservbismarck (Aug 24, 2009)

Kaiser will chase it and retrieve ...but refuses to catch it in the air! he's 1 yr 5 months..


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I started by saying 'ready?' so he knew it was about to come his way. Now he does the lowered head, death stare until I throw it.


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## frillint1 (Sep 2, 2010)

My dog smokey never did that. He never got into toys, balls or frisbees. I hope my new pup does.


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## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Wolfie just ran after it and caught it in the air the first time I threw a frisbee to him. He was playing catch with a ball before, so maybe he just did the same with the frisbee. All of Chief's life I tried to get him to play frisbee and he never would.


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## DonP (Apr 13, 2009)

We started with very close, easy throws. A good spin makes it float and easy to catch. They also love to chase it when you roll it across the ground if you're concerned with jumping.


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## vomlittlehaus (Aug 24, 2010)

Ruffwear has a wonderful frisbee. It is a durable cloth type. Soft and flexible, yet not easily chewed. Wish I could post a video of my dog and her endless want to chase the frisbee. She did take about a year to get her to bring it right back to me. Her obedience training helped.


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## will_and_jamie (Jul 8, 2006)

My GSD just randomly started catching balls in the air, so I moved on to a frisbee and she's loved it since then. No special training required for us. Good luck.

We started with the Nylabone Frisbee with the bone to grab it easier, but now we use the black Kong frisbee with no frame of any kind in it that can be bent or broken.


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## latonia631 (Oct 18, 2010)

I've seen something like that in Youtube. I don't know the whole url but you can just do a search and you'll find a lot of them there. It's not that hard to teach your dog to catch a frisbee though=) Good luck.


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## Stogey (Jun 29, 2010)

DJ just kinda picked up catchin it out of the air on his own. Gettin it away from him has been a challenge, he likes to play " Keep Away " !!! Grrrrr !


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

DonP said:


> We started with very close, easy throws. A good spin makes it float and easy to catch. They also love to chase it when you roll it across the ground if you're concerned with jumping.


Did the same, starting in the house with small throws guaranteeing success, then bigger and bigger until we had to go outside. The jumping comes naturally.


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