Emma loves to play fetch. Everywhere we go, she brings a toy with her that we can throw for her. After watching her leap after toys that can bounce, we thought she might be interested in chasing frisbees. It took a little praise and excitement on our end to peak her interest in it, but we were successful.
Sammie watching her puppy.
Sammie’s only interested because Emma’s interested.
“Look what I’ve got, Mom!”
Now, the question becomes: How do we teach her to catch it? Emma wants to be right where her toy is, which makes it difficult for her to catch it when we throw it. Have any of you taught your pups to catch a frisbee? What is the “key” to their success? Any advice on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
Saving Sammie 
If you figure it out let me know I would love to teach my dogs how to catch a frisbee it always looks so cool watching people do it but our dogs never caught on. They can catch like balls and toys but never the frisbee.
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Same with Emma! Part of the problem is thrower error, I’m sure (I’m TERRIBLE at throwing a frisbee!), but part of it is also that I’m not sure Emma knows what we want her to do, so she just chases it.
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Yeah that could be it!
Good luck Emma!! -Hayley, Paisley & Alcide.
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It might be useful to know that dogs do not apparently see colors the way we do. In general they see many shades of yellow so a bright yellow is a very strong colour to a dog. Get a frisbee that is bright yellow and it least it will get a dog’s attention.
Offer the frisbee to the dog and try and coax him to take it in his mouth. If he does…… immediately treat him. When he lets goes of the frisbee, pick it up and treat him again repeat. Assuming he catches on, then offer “give” just before you take the frisbee off him. Hopefully he will realize that by grabbing the frisbee and giving to you = treats. If he grasps that, then throw the frisbee a very short distance and, as long as he catches on, slowly increase the distance. You can introduce the words “Fetch” and “Give” so that you can prompt if necessary.
It’s all great theory, but if you have a dog like Ray, it could be a very frustrating experience. He knows exactly how to play “Fetch” and will play when he feels like it. At other times he’ll watch me throwing it around and jumping up and down calling “Fetch!” (pointlessly) 🙂
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Thanks for the tips! That will be useful with Sammie, who doesn’t enjoy fetch much. Emma, however, plays fetch super well, but she’s struggling to catch the frisbee while it’s still in the air. Any thoughts on that one?
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Just practice. Assuming her eyesight is good and she can assess distance and speed accurately, it is just a matter of time however, we probably both know people who are perfectly normal and healthy who simply cannot get a dart in a dartboard (or equivalent)! Emma might just be one of those!
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You may very well be right!
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Mom always tries to teach me to catch things. I usually sit there and let them smack me in the face. I have no tips. I am an embarrassment to dogs everywhere.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
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Aww, Cupcake! You’re not an embarrassment! Some of us (myself included) are just not that coordinated. And that’s totally okay! ❤
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Fun! I’m always a little jealous of dog parents that get to play “Fetch.” Ru has zero interest. He loves to play chase, but bringing it back is not an option for him haha.
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Sammie is the same way!! She likes to pretend she wants the toy for Emma’s sake, but she just wants to run run run!
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Our younger shepherd, Eden, is a Frisbee fiend! For a dog with strong retrieval instincts, it can be a fairly easy thing to teach. I’m publishing a post about it in a few weeks, but in sum: (1) start small (by rolling it along the ground, short tosses), (2) use positive reinforcement when she catches it, (3) always work with TWO discs, so that she is motivated to always have one in her mouth and then to bring it back to you, because you will always have the other disc in your hand. Good luck! It’s a very rewarding game with dogs!
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Thanks for the tips!! I’m excited to put them into practice!!
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Snorts with piggy laughter. I love frisbee. How do you get them to catch it? I say have one human throw it and another human run and catch it in their mouth. You know to show how it works. Snorts – but that’s the little deviled ham side of me speaking . XOXO – Bacon
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Haha! I have a feeling that would hurt our teeth, but it would probably show her exactly what we’re trying to get her to do 🙂
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Sam, first off – I love your blog! I have been searching for dog blogs in Missouri/the Midwest and stumbled upon yours! I especially love Friday Funnys 🙂
I think it’s so funny that Emma doesn’t “get” the frisbee- my dog loves her frisbee so much that I turned it into motivation to teach her how to use the agility equipment at the dog park. I wrote about it here: https://theburgdogblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/smartie-pup-how-i-taught-my-household-dog-to-use-the-agility-equipment-at-the-dog-park/
I wish I had tips for using the frisbee to begin with!
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Thank you so much!! She’s gotten a lot better since I wrote this. We got a King flyer and that has made all the difference! She loves playing with her frisbee, and has even started catching it!!
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