# Proper jumping...?



## RICO (Oct 11, 2011)

Alright, so my dog LOVES playing frisbee more than anything else in the world. My concern is the fact that he doesn't jump well... He doesn't bring his back end up and I'm starting to worry about the effect this will have on his shoulders. He doesn't wait for the frisbee to come down to him, he feels the need to leap into the air as high as he can every time... Thus landing pretty hard on his front legs. There's even been times where he'll try to catch it on the way up, not down. I'm wondering if there is a way to make him jump properly so he's landing softly on all 4s. I was thinking about having the husband build a hurdle, as that's the only thing I can think of to teach him to get that back end up... Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!


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## Gharrissc (May 19, 2012)

I would try throwing it lower to the ground so that he can't jump to get it. A couple of my dogs are crazy about balls or Frisbees and will also jump dangerously high to get whatever you throw. Another thing you could do is teach your dog to wait until you release them to get the Frisbee. I've had a few close calls with dogs doing acrobatics high in the air to get a ball. Luckily it wasn't anything some crate rest couldn't fix.


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## RICO (Oct 11, 2011)

I usually try to throw them low, but sometimes it goes high, whether it was a bad throw, or the wind catches it, ect. It's more so when friends and family throw it, they don't throw frisbees often and don't do it well, lol. He's never injured himself or anything like that, I'm just worried about his joints in the long run.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

I know what you mean - I'm a big party pooper whenever someone else wants to throw the frisbee for my boy. "NO, not like that" "Not too high!" etc...lol. I use a Chewber, so it's much heavier and the wind hardly grabs it. I also taught my dog to run to where I'll throw it, so he's leaping up mid-stride to grab it, and then still running with it once he's caught it. I try to keep it fairly low for him so he's not jumping too high.


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## RICO (Oct 11, 2011)

Blanketback said:


> I know what you mean - I'm a big party pooper whenever someone else wants to throw the frisbee for my boy. "NO, not like that" "Not too high!" etc...lol. I use a Chewber, so it's much heavier and the wind hardly grabs it. I also taught my dog to run to where I'll throw it, so he's leaping up mid-stride to grab it, and then still running with it once he's caught it. I try to keep it fairly low for him so he's not jumping too high.


Haha, I do that too! But at this point all I can do is throw it low, but sometimes that doesn't work out, lol. That's why I was thinking about building a hurdle to teach him to get his back end up when he jumps. But I typically try to stick with the fabric frisbees... When my dog misses the catch, he claps his jaws so hard and fast it really sounds like an alligator, lol. So with anything else I worry about him damaging his teeth.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I would be careful with it. One of my dogs injured himself jumping for a bounced ball and won't ever be the same. I would throw it low or roll it, or throw it far enough where by the time he catches up it's pretty low. You can train proper jumping technique in the context of agility, flyball, formal retrieves...but frisbee, I'm not sure it transfers. The dog is in drive and wants to jump and catch. For some breeds it's not a problem. Even my small 27lb dog I will be catching in my arms once I have her jumping over 48". I also do flyball and agility with my dogs but don't like the nonstop jumping straight up to catch something and not thinking about the landing.


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