Catching a Frisbee
I have a rescue Bull Boxer but she is 100% boxer personality and she has always been highly motivated to play fetch and will return the ball every time and so catching a frisbee was a natural progression. Her big mouth is like a frisbee catchers mit!
Every dog is motivated differently and has different natural skills but this is how we taught Ginger -
1) We purchased a Kong rubber ball that bounces off the ground really well
2) For two months, we would specifically lob the ball about 30-40 feet out and let it "one hop" in the air to the height of about 3-5 feet
3) Very quickly, she got in the habit of jumping and catching the ball on the hop in mid-air and really having fun by swinging her hips sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right
4) After she was in this habit, (2 months) we introduced her to the frisbee as she was ready for something other than her red kong ball
5) We had her eat a few meals from the frisbee and she was ready
6) It was incredibly important for the first two weeks and forever to put the frisbee away before your boxer is ready to put stop playing
7) For the first week, we only played for 5 minutes at a time, once a day. We stood in our normal spot and threw the frisbee so it was about the same height as her bouncing Kong ball. She picked up the game immediately but it took her about 1 week before she was consistently catching them
8) She is now learning to catch the frisbee while facing me (She gets the about 60% of the time) which is a different skill than catching them while running in the same direction as the frisbee
9) Tricks are next
It is a complete blast and well worth the effort.
Russell
