How to Train Your Dog to Catch a Frisbee

Hello Chuwen, First, if you can find a free puppy play date class attend one of those with him so that he can learn how to control the pressure of his bite by playing with other puppies. Petco and some other pet stores with training offer free puppy play classes if you call and ask for the schedule. A puppy kindergarten class that has part of the class dedicated to off-leash puppy play time is also good. If you have any friends with puppies under 6 months of age, set up play dates with those puppies too. Moderate the puppies' play and whenever one pup seems overwhelmed or they are all getting too excited, interrupt their play, let everyone calm down, then let the most timid pup go first to see if they still want to play - if they do, then you can let the other puppies go too when they are waiting for permission. Second, check out the article linked below. Starting today, use the "Bite Inhibition" method. At the same time however, begin teaching "Leave It" from the "Leave It" method. As soon as pup is good as the Leave It game, start telling pup to "Leave It" when he attempts to bite or is tempted to bite. Reward pup if he makes a good choice. If he disobeys your leave it command, use the Pressure method to gently discipline pup for biting when you told him not to. The order or all of this is very important - the bite inhibition method can be used for the next couple of weeks while pup is learning leave it, but leave it will teach pup to stop the biting entirely. The pressure method teaches pup that you mean what you say without being overly harsh - but because you have taught pup to leave it first, pup clearly understands that you are not just roughhousing (which is what pup probably thinks most of the time right now), so it is more effective. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite When pup gets especially wound up, he probably needs a nap too. At this age puppies will sometimes get really hyper when they are overtired or haven't had any mental stimulation through something like training. When you spot that and think pup could be tired, place pup in their crate or an exercise pen with a food stuffed Kong for a bit to help him calm down and rest. Also, know that mouthiness at this age is completely normal. It's not fun but it is normal for it to take some time for a puppy to learn self-control well enough to stop. Try not to get discouraged if you don't see instant progress, any progress and moving in the right direction in this area is good, so keep at it. Commands that increase self-control in general and teach pup calmness are also good things to teach. These commands will take time to teach of course, but they can also be a great way to create your own puppy class with pup. If you have other friends' with puppies, why not invite them over, sending them the following videos and articles too, and practice it all together - allowing puppies to learn and be socialized. Place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omg5DVPWIWo Thresholds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-w28C2g68M Heel article - The turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Down-Stay: https://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-your-labrador-to-lie-down-and-stay/ Leave It: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Out - which means leave the room: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-teach-a-dog-the-out-command/ Finally, check out the PDF e-book downloads found on this website, written by one of the founders of the association of professional dog trainers, and a pioneer in starting puppy kindergarten classes in the USA. Click on the pictures of the puppies to download the PDF books: https://www.lifedogtraining.com/freedownloads/ Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

June 16, 2022

Hello Steve, Catching a hard plastic frisbee can hurt if pup doesn't know how to catch it carefully. I would look into purchasing one of Kong's floppy frisbees. Start by wiggling it around like an animal to get pup excited to chase it and bite it - so pup sees that it doesn't hurt. If pup can't catch a ball or floppy toy yet, toss those just a couple of feet at pup. If pup still can't catch those, toss treats for a couple of weeks just to practice pup's coordination with catching, then go back to the floppy toy or ball, then transition from there to the floppy frisbee. Once pup can catch in general, go back to the floppy frisbee, and at first simply throw the frisbee next to pup, so it flies about 1-2 feet beside pup at the level of their muzzle, from 5-10 feet away from pup. Try to throw it slower - too slow and it won't fly but practice an even throw. Most dogs will at least attempt a catch if they know it won't hurt, you throw it in the right spot, and you get them excited about it right before the throw by moving it around and getting pup chasing after it a bit. Once pup is great with the floppy frisbee, you can stay with that indefinitely or work up to a flexible chuck it type frisbee that maintains it's shape and floats a little better, but I would avoid a hard plastic one. Check out Zach George from Canine Revolution on Youtube if you are still struggling after applying the above suggestions. He has a lot of videos on teaching fetch, frisbee catching, and general toy motivation and engagement. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

April 22, 2022