At which age do I start playing disc dog with my puppy?

What to expect this time around?

If you read the first take, you may have found an opinion piece on safety in disc dog and the relation to spectacle. As there are different 'takes' or opinions, we don't want to limit ourselves to personal opinions.

In take 2 we will try to offer you an elaborate reply to some of the most asked questions about disc dogging from a scientific point of view, enriched by my personal experience. We may also make a side step to other sports and activities, but the focus will be disc dogging.

Everyone has an idea from his point of view and his experience. However, very few have the background, knowledge, and track record of forgetting "their" interest and looking at it with a birds-eye view.

There's the dog owner, scared of harming his pup and eager to protect his newfound best friend. Then you have the ethologist, claiming the behavior is the essential part of the pup. And what about the physiologist, who studied for years to keep a puppy healthy. He is also entitled to have a point of view and obviously.

Last but not least, there is the seasoned competitive player who has been down the path many times and has the experience of creating champions from all kinds of breeds.

All of them will say something different, even to the extreme, and they are all right in their way. What if you had access to all of these before you even started to play with your dog? Be it on a recreational level or competitive level.

Good thing you have this article, written by a canine physiologist with a degree in ethology and more than 15 years of experience as a dog owner and a proven track record as a competitive player, recreational player, judge at world level, and trainer/mentor of many European and even World Champions.

Just when you think you have seen it all.

A short while ago, I saw a table in an article passing by that stated the following:

Duration of the physical activity for your puppy
Age/ Activtiy	2 months	3 months	4 months	5 months	6 months	12+	18+
Walking on stairs	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Modestly	OK	OK
Going for a walk	15 minutes	20 minutes	25 minutes	30 minutes	45 minutes	1 hour +	1 hour +
Playing with a ball	5 minutes	10 minutes	15 minutes	20 minutes	25 minutes	30 minutes	45 minutes
Trekking	10 minutes	15 minutes	20 minutes	25 minutes	35 minutes	60 minutes	1 hour +
Frisbee	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	20 minutes	40 minutes
Agility awareness for pups	10 minutes	15 minutes	15 minutes	20 minutes	30 minutes
Agility	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	30 minutes	60 minutes
Biking with dogs	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	30 minutes	60 minutes
Canicross	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	30 minutes	60 minutes
Flyball	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	Forbidden	30 minutes	60 minutes

 

I was surprised by it and a bit scared (the ones in red were the ones that scared me, some others I may disagree with) as it showed many misconceptions and misunderstandings about disc dogging and many other canine activities.

But what amazed me the most were the times noted in the last two columns. People with some knowledge about dogs, in general, should be aware of the fact that doing any of the listed sports for more than 60 minutes is just insane at any age. Let alone at 18 months when a dog is barely fully grown.

Behavior vs. Physical integrity, two titans, cooperating, or not?

Let's get back to the two main parts that come into play when talking about disc dogs in general. I'm talking about behavior and physical integrity. For me, as a dog lover and – owner, the standard is that you love your dog to bits, and you'd do pretty much anything to keep him from harm. That should always be your priority when owning a dog!

From a behavioral point of view, the correct answer to the question in the title is straightforward. It would be best if you started playing as soon as possible. Some breeders already introduce discs when the eyes and ears are open and they start moving.

This way, a natural connection is realized, and the pup will never be afraid of the object. They don't know what to do with it, but a dog's instinct is to play with his mouth and not with his paws. Do you have a pup that scratches the disc but doesn't want to pick it up? You can avoid that problem already at this early stage.

Another argument could be that the best window for learning new things is between 5 and 8 weeks. Behaviorists refer to this period when they talk about the initial socialization period. It's at this stage in life where you little bugger learns what to be afraid of, what not, how to communicate with peers, and what it means to be corrected by mom.

A dog learns a lot of basic skills in this period. And by law, you depend on your breeder to take care of this. That's the reason why a well-behaved dog starts with a conscious and experienced breeder.

Although I don't want to exclude the rescues as most competitive disc dogs come from shelters. It's proof that there are possibilities without the care mentioned above. But I would advise this only for people with expert skills in dog handling and at least some experience.

Our first dog was a rescue, and the evolution you see is most rewarding and wonderful, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do it again. They say hindsight is 20/20. They are right.

 There is always a second chance at 8-12 weeks.

So what about starting at 8-12 weeks? The second socialization period where your pup is still very open to new things. The brain still works like a sponge, and life is always bliss. Is that the perfect time to start? It is an excellent period to start putting food and water in a disc and let your pup enjoy this very original bowl.

You also want to tell your future competitive dog that it's OK to touch your body during this period. For recreational play, it's better to teach the opposite if you don't want your pup to jump up on everyone. You can condition it as well if you have a bit of experience in dog training.

However, for me, Discdog is a natural sport of chasing and catching prey, not a thought sport of bringing back objects in flight.

The next step would be to start offering hand takes by waving the disc in front of the pup and await his natural response to a moving object. You may want to mimic the jump of a rabbit or the trot of a mouse to enhance the visual connection.

Sessions should be kept extremely short (maximum 2 to 3 minutes in total) and repeated about 3 to 4 times a week with a 'jackpot' of goodies at your side and an immense amount of praise.

I always say that 'no' doesn't exist for disc dogs. And if you do everything correctly, it's true. Don't forget that your dog will also offer you genetically programmed behavior. You can easily shape the offerings to what you want as a result in the future.

For example, most border collies will run around you in circles, whereas Malinois will prefer straight lines. Labradors will have a Humpty-Dumpty attitude about pretty much anything, and cattle dogs will always continue and go for the bite. Don't work against this natural behavior but use it to your advantage but stay in control.

Disc dog is a game or a sport where everything revolves around teamwork. Both parts of that team need to rely on each other, and it's always more fun when you work with a colleague that has a good mood and offers you solutions than having to do something with him because you have to do it. High pitch voices and cries of joy are everyday things when having a good time together.

What is the next step in the process when the dogs are between 3 and 6 months?

The first few months are more about getting used to objects, surroundings, and circumstances. After that crucial period of "100 hands and 100 places", the time for some actual physical activity arrives.

Short and very repetitive at first with sessions of only a couple of minutes, preferable a few times every day, and straightforward exercises which will later in life serve you in the warm-up routine before playing, training, or competing.

Your puppy should be able to snatch the disc from your hand on every occasion. A short-throw, with the dog sitting in front of you at half a meter, shouldn't be an issue anymore. 

The task at hand now is to get some variation in the throws. You can choose to work on different releases. There is also an option to increase the distance gradually or introduce different directions.

If you realize that resting is more important than activity, you will allow the brain to process this new information besides daily commands and communication.

We're almost there; from 6 months to 12 months, life gets easier.

So, you now have a Discdog that can play for anything from 3 to 4 minutes without a break. You can play in the park and have a good time without too much going wrong. If there are still issues with catching or distractions, now is the time to work on those.

Introduce more and more variation if you have a dog asking for it. Some dogs like just to run up and down and catch some plastic. The emphasis should be on capturing, not on chasing the disc. The game is only fun for your dog if the prey is also caught and gloriously returned.

To keep the brain active, you can always put variation in the distance. Throwing short and long will keep the eyes and the brain busy and avoid a dog running blind, waiting for the disc to fly over.

You are now chaining behavior and creating blocks of 4 to 5 throws and moves in the freestyle realm. Keep the dogs low and build up from there. No real vaults up till now and primarily work to do on the throwing side.

You arrived at the final stretch – 12 to 18 months.

In this final period before your puppy becomes an adult dog, you can increase the intensity and begin fine-tuning. If you want to prepare yourself and your dog for competitions, this is where you start to work on stability and consistency.

Always make a priority of enjoying yourself on the field. The more stressed you are, the less fun you have. And since your dog is an expert in picking up your signals, he will notice you're nervous and start behaving differently.

That's why it's so vital that you feel good on the field and that you are used to making mistakes and setting them straight. You can ask any champion out there, but the best competitors will all agree that they took their prizes when they were most relaxed.

Even with a grown-up dog, sessions shouldn't be longer than 5 minutes, but recovery periods decrease in time, and about 2-3 short sessions per day with 2-3 hours of rest in between are possible.

Now the time has come to resume that table we started with:

Duration of the physical activity for your puppy
Activtiy	2 months	3 months	4 months	5 months	6 months	12+	18+
Walking on stairs	Not advised	Not advised	Not advised	Not advised	Modestly (*)	Modestly (*)	Modestly (*)
Going for a walk	15 minutes	20 minutes	25 minutes	30 minutes	45 minutes	1 hour +	1 hour +
Playing with a ball	Get used to it, no chasing	Get used to it, no chasing	Get used to it, no chasing	Use it as a water toy to swim	Use it as a water toy to swim	Use it as a water toy to swim	10 minutes
Trekking (**)	Not advised	Not advised	Not advised	Not advised	Not advised	30 -60 minutes	1 hour +
Frisbee awareness for pups (***)	2-3 minutes	2-3 minutes	2-3 minutes	2-3 minutes	2-3 minutes	3-5 minutes	3-5 minutes
Agility awareness for pups	Get used to it, explore	Get used to it, explore	Get used to it, explore	Get used to it, explore	Get used to it, explore	Start running without jumping	Start jumping and other impact obstacles
Biking with dogs (****)	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	5-10 minutes, build up gradually	10-20 minutes	20-30 minutes
Canicross	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	5-10 minutes running	10-15 minutes	15-30 minutes	30-60+ minutes
Flyball	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	Socialize with the gear/field	A few runs at low speed without jumping	A few runs at low-speed low jumps	Build up the number of runs, speed, and jumps

 

(*) Unless you have a Lundehund, a Finnish breed that is very rare, your dog wasn't designed for climbing. Modestly in this table means that you try to avoid it as much as possible, but you won't injure your dog by doing it for a short while. I wouldn't advise going any higher than ten flights of stairs.

(**) Trekking, for me, is an activity where you need to get over obstacles and mostly on mountainous terrain

(***) Frisbee is a sport best-practiced off-leash. Make sure your dog is allowed to be off-leash where you want to play. How to do the awareness is explained in the text above and as of now considered basic knowledge

(****) In some countries, this is only allowed on private terrain. Always look into local legislation before engaging in any activity. When it comes to running and biking, I don't include sled dogs. These breeds love to do long distances at a high pace, so good luck getting them tired in only 60 minutes.

Some final insights.

In the end, it's your puppy, and you are responsible for the well-being and safety of your precious best friend. I can only advise you from my own experience and what I've seen during my years of seminars, shows, and other adventures.

There is no 'waving finger' and no 'you can't' from my side. The only thing I want to ask is to use your brain. Dog's live in a different world than humans do. They act by instinct first, emotion second, and when you have an intelligent dog, maybe also by using their brain.

Don't expect your dog to tell you when to stop. Most dogs will continue to follow their instincts; whether it is the will to please or the hunting instinct deep inside, you always have to be the smarter one.

I hope you found this a helpful article and maybe you will even consider taking some of the advice, but that is your free choice.

In one of our next articles, we will go deeper into the physiologic aspect of preparing your puppy to become a healthy and happy dog with controlled energy levels.

I'm very grateful you already made an effort to get to this part, and I wish you and your puppy a long life together in good health. If you go to www.k9-disc.com, you'll be able to find at least one tool to assist you in keeping your dog happy and healthy in under 5 minutes a day.