Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso/answers/dogs-faq/training

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From: [e-mail] (Cindy Tittle Moore)
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Subject: rec.pets.dogs:  Training Your Dog FAQ
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Summary: Discusses how to obedience train your dog.  Tips on good books,
         differences in methods, etc.
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Archive-name: dogs-faq/training
Last-modified: 05 Dec 1993

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This article is Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 by Cindy Tittle Moore.  It may be
freely distributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice
is not removed.  It may not be sold for profit nor incorporated in
commercial documents without the author's written permission.  This
article is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Cindy Tittle Moore
Internet: [e-mail]           USmail: PO BOX 4188, Irvine CA 92716
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TRAINING YOUR DOG.

  Prologue.
  A.  Questions About Training.
  H.  Comments on Obedience Training.
  I.  Attention.
  J.  Corrections.
  K.  Using Food.
  L.  Training and Corrective Collars.
  M.  Learning to Sit.
  N.  Down, Stay, Off.
  O.  Heeling.
  P.  Learning Recall.
  Q.  Beyond Basic Obedience.
  R.  Gaming Dogs.

Prologue.

First, you should understand that there are two components to
"training".  There is the kind of training that solves *behavioral*
problems.  There is also the kind of training that creates a
command-response pattern.  It is perfectly possible to have a dog that
heels, sits, and stays perfectly and digs out all your marigolds.
Conversely, you may have a dog that does not destroy things in your
house but does not sit or heel.  "Obedience training" does not
necessarily cover both of these aspects of training.  In fact, they
usually just teach a command-response pattern and that's it.  You need
to be aware of whether your dog needs behavior modification (where you
will have to find out the underlying reason why your dog digs and not
just put chicken wire over everything) or obedience training to
understand commands.  Certainly, the two may be related: a dog that
digs because it is bored may become less bored with obedience training
and stop digging.  It is important, however, to understand that the
dog stopped digging because it was no longer bored than because it now
knows how to heel.  You will need to modify your approach, or select a
trainer to help you, with behavior vs. training in mind.

That said, good books on how to train your dog include:

Baer, Ted.  _Communicating with Your Dog_.  Barron's, New York. 1989.
ISBN 0-8120-4203-4 (oversized paperback).
  Heavily illustrated with color photos.  A sensible approach to
  laying a good foundation for extensive obedience training (even if
  you don't take the dog any further than what's outlined in here).
  Simple instructions for teaching a 20-word language, with emphasis
  on understanding and building on previous work.

Bauman, Diane L.  _Beyond Basic Dog Training_.  New, updated edition.
Howell Book House (Maxwell Maxmillan International), New York.  1991.
ISBN: 0-87605-410-6.
  Emphasis is on training a "thinking" dog rather than a
  pattern-trained dog.  Extensive manual on obedience training.
  Communication and understanding are discussed.  A well known and
  often recommended book.

Benjamin, Carol Lea.  _Mother Knows Best: The Natural Way To Train
Your Dog_.  Howell Book House, New York. 1985.  ISBN 0-87605-666-4.
$15.95 hardcover.
  She uses praise, contact, play and toys to motivate puppies, but she
  does not recommend food training a young puppy.  She does recommend
  crate training and she also recommends sleeping in the same room
  with the puppy.  She provides methods to teach no, OK, good dog, bad
  dog, sit stay heel, come, down, stand, go, enough, over, out,
  cookie, speak, take it, wait and off to puppies. She talks about
  canine language and talks some about mental games you can play with
  your dog such as mirror games, and copying your dog and having him
  copy you, chase games and even playing rough with your puppy.
  Most training methods rely on the foundational relationship between
  an owner and his dog, and this book provides some ideas on
  establishing that relationship while the puppy is still young.

Brahms, Ann and Paul. _Puppy Ed._.  Ballantine Books.  1981.
ISBN:0-345-33512-0 (paperback).
  Describes how to start teaching your puppy commands.  This is a
  thoughtful book that discusses in practical detail what you can and
  cannot expect to do with your puppy in training it.  They stress
  that by expecting and improving good behavior from the start, later,
  more formal training goes much easier.

Burnham, Patricia Gail.  _Playtraining Your Dog_. St. Martin's Press,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. c1980.  ISBN 0-312-61691-0
(trade paperback).
  An excellent book that describes how to use play to motivate your
  dog through obedience training.  She focuses on how to teach each
  exercise in the AKC Novice, Open, and Utility classes.  Her
  philosophy, though, lends itself to any type of training.  Well
  written and informative.  For you greyhound lovers, all her dogs and
  inside photos are of greyhounds.

Strickland, Winifred G. _Expert Obedience Training for Dogs_.  Third
revised edition.  Howell Book House (Macmillan Publishing Company),
New York.  1987.  ISBN: 0-02-615000-X (hardcover).
  Strickland is a well known dog trainer.  Covers all aspects of
  training and competition including the formal training for AKC
  obedience trials (novice, open, utility, tracking).  Includes some
  general care (health and feeding) tips.  Author has also written
  _Obedience Class Instruction for Dogs_.

Tucker, Michael. _Dog Training Step by Step_.
  Tucker is an ex GDB instructor and his books are easy to read and
  follow. His others are _Dog Training Made Easy_, _Solving Your Dog
  Problems_.

A.  Questions about Training.

1.  "I trained my dog to do all these things and now he won't do them!"

This is typical.  Think of adolescent rebellion in teenagers.  First
your dog learned and obeyed your commands because you were
unquestionably the leader.  Then, while your dog understood what the
command was, it was older and decided to test you.  This is where
corrections become crucial.  If you pass this struggle (and it varies
with the individual dog), you will generally get past this hump,
although each individual command may go through a mini-sequence like
this.

2.  "How long will it take me to finish training my dog?"

You should not think of training as consisting of some fixed set of
exercises after which the dog will always be "trained."  Training is
ongoing.  Dogs being what they are, they will take advantages of
lapses in training behavior.  If you train your dog to stay off the
couch and then subsequently forget or stop correcting it for getting
on the couch, the behavior will not go away.  You must continually
work with your dog on what it knows to reinforce it and keep the good
behavior.  Thinking of training as a lifelong process does more to
ensure a well-trained dog & a happy owner than anything else.


B.  Comments on Obedience Training.

There are a number of different training methods available.  None of
these methods are perfect and none are guaranteed to work on your dog
(regardless of what it says on the cover).  Each dog is different and
the interaction with its owner is unique.  Some methods work better
than others for *you* and *your dog*.  It will depend on your personal
preference (dogs are good at telling when you are hesitant or unhappy
with a particular technique) and your dog's temperament and ability.

People frequently disagree over which methods are "good" and even
which are "best."  This kind of argument is fairly pointless, as the
effectiveness of each training method is subjective.  Find one that
works for *you* and don't worry about criticisms.  On the other hand,
suggestions to help overcome specific training problems may be what
you need and you shouldn't reject it out of hand because it's not in
the method you chose.

A good expert shouldn't reject any other methods out of hand; the
Monks in their books point out that readers should consult other books
as well.  Being an expert doesn't mean being able to only use or do
one method.  The more methods you look at and try, the better data
base you have to draw from.  There are many methods for training dogs
out there.

What is best for your dog? This really depends on the temperament and
intelligence of your dog, and your own ability.  There is no one
method that works for all dogs since breed and temperment play a
large part in your dogs reaction to any particular method.

Good results in obedience training require large doses of consistency,
good timing, and patience.  You must be consistent: use the same word
for a particular command every time (e.g., don't use "Come" sometimes
and "Come here" other times).  You must develop a fine sense of timing
when introducing new commands and later correcting behavior on learned
commands.  Patience is needed: losing your temper is
counterproductive.  Get the whole family to agree on the commands, but
have only one person train the dog to minimize confusion for the dog.

Establish a daily training period, preferably just before dinner.  It
can be as short as twenty minutes, or longer.  Establishing a routine
helps.

Don't expect overnight success.  It can take up to two years of
consistent work, depending on the dog, for a properly trained dog.
(This is where the patience comes in!)

You must praise often and unambiguously.  A smile won't do it.  Give
abundant verbal praise, scratch your dog on the head, etc.

Try making the command word part of a praise phrase.  In this case,
whenever your dog is in the desired heel position, you could say
something like "Good heel!" in a praising tone of voice.  Note that
you only give the command *once* but that the command word is repeated
in the praise phrase for reinforcement.  That seems to satisfy the
objective of the proponents of repeating the command (i.e. letting the
dog hear the command often) without actually repeating it as a
command.  Further, because it is being said when the dog is doing it
right rather than during a correction the dog doesn't create any
negative association with the command as the latter is likely to
cause.

If you have a puppy -- don't wait!  Enroll in a kindergarten puppy
class once its up on its shots.  Don't wait until the pup is 6 months
old to start anything.

Training before "six months of age" is fine if you see the puppy
having fun with these lessons.  Just remember to keep the lessons
short, don't loose patience when your puppy suddenly forgets
everything it ever knew, and give it plenty of time just to be a
puppy.  In the long term, the time you spend with your puppy
exploring, playing together and meeting new people is probably more
important important than your short "training" sessions, but both
activities are very helpful.

Remember:

  * Make it fun *for the pup*.
  * Expect setbacks.  Just because the pup understood what you meant
    yesterday, doesn't mean he'll remember it today.  This means
    *lots* of repetition.  Teach the basic commands: sit, stay, and
    come for now.

You may find it well worth your while, especially if you are new to
training dogs, to attend obedience classes.  Most places have local
training schools.  Be sure to check up on these places.  Call the
Better Business Bureau and your local SPCA for any specific complaints
registered with them.  Especially check carefully places where you
ship your dog out to be trained: many of these places are suspect,
because YOU must also be trained to handle your dog.  Beware of
advertising that claim LIFETIME warranties on the training, GUARANTEED
solutions, etc.  It is best for you and your dog to go through
obedience training together, so that you both learn from each other.

No matter what kind of class you're looking for: from basic puppy
kindergarten for your little puppy to basic obedience for an older dog
to more advanced training for a dog that's already done some work,
you'll want to pick the class out carefully.

First and foremost, pick out a class where you are comfortable with
the methods and the trainer.  If you don't start off with this
footing, learning anything positive from the class simply won't
happen.

Next look at the size of the class and how much time the trainer
spends with each person.  Ideally, the smaller the class the better,
although for puppy classes you want at least four or five dogs since
socialization is an important part of the class.  Does the trainer
allocate time outside of class for questions (either an extra several
minutes before or after class or giving you her phone number for
class)?  What sort of guarantees do they offer?  If they say your
pooch will be trained in six weeks permanently, no questions asked,
run do not walk away from this outfit.  If, however, they offer
followup help after the class is over or offer a few extra classes for
specific problems after or during the class, this is a good outfit.

Check out what their policy is with aggressive dogs in class.  It does
happen that one of the dogs attending the class frightens and
intimidates the other dogs.  There should be a clause for dismissing
such a dog (or better yet, going into private training with it), or
having it muzzled and otherwise restrained to minimize disruption to
the class.


H.  Attention

An important aspect of obedience training is getting your dog's
attention.  Your dog will not perform as readily if it isn't paying
attention to you.  There are a number of things you can do to get its
attention, and you should be sure to praise it for paying attention.

The Monks of New Skete stress this a lot in their book (with the
addition that in turn, you've got to pay attention to what your dog is
communicating to you during training).  If there's one piece of
definitive advice about dog training this must be it.

1.  Umbilical cords

Put your dog on a medium-to-short leash and tie it to your belt.  Now,
go about the house on your ordinary business.  Do not pay attention to
the dog.  It will quickly learn to pay attention to you to determine
when you are going to get up and walk around, or where you are going.
This is an especially effective exercise with puppies and also lays a
good foundation for learning to heel later.  Start with short periods
of time, say 15 minutes, and work up as your puppy gets older and more
familiar with this exercise.

2.  Watching

If you look up and catch your dog watching you (this is different from
the staring contests mentioned above because the dog is not "staring"
at you when it is watching you move around), praise it.

3.  Food in your mouth, spitting it at your dog

An excellent exercise for teaching attention.  It gets the dog to
concentrate directly on your face, not your hands or pocket.  Do this
as a separate exercise, until your dog understands that it must watch
your face.  Also, DON'T let them pick up the food from the floor or
ground.  If you do, they will learn that they don't have to catch the
treat.  They can just wait and pick it up.  And don't let them come
back later to clean up.

Do not, however, use food in general when obedience training.  See
Using Food below.

4.  Talking softly

Talk softly to your dog.  It will have to pay more attention to you.
This is especially effective when younger, and is a good habit to get
into.


I.  Corrections.

You should never correct when you yourself are upset, angry or
downright mad, especially at your dog.  Good correction depends on
timing, a keen awareness of what the dog is thinking, and quick
switching between correction and praise, all of which are difficult
when you are upset.  Stop the exercise until you regain your
equilibrium.  You will have much difficulty training your dog if you
continually get mad while doing it.  In fact, if you always or often
get mad when training your dog, someone else should train it.  You
will get absolutely nowhere yelling at your dog.

1.  Young puppies

The dictum "don't train before 6 months of age" doesn't make any sense
unless you're talking about the *correction* involved in formal
obedience training.  If you think about it, you train your dog all the
time whether you realize it or not.  Dogs are great at picking up your
body language and tone of voice.  Even if you're not trying to train
them, they're "training" themselves using the clues we give them (and
many "problems" are classic cases of the dogs misunderstanding their
owner's signals).

If possible with a young puppy it is best to use the "correction" of
distraction.  When you deny the puppy something, try to replace it
with a positive activity rather than just being negative and oppressive
all the time.  Otherwise, limit your corrections to a verbal "no."

2.  Older dogs

There comes a time in training any dog that it must do what you ask
just because you asked the dog to do it.  You have been helping your
dog with this particular task for a while and you see the look in its
eye that says, "Yes, I know what you want, but I don't want to do that
right now."  This is very different than the look that says, "Huh???"
You do have to know the dog you are training and be able to tell the
difference between these looks.  That is just part of being a trainer,
and no one can really teach you this skill, but you do have to learn
it.

Always praise the dog immediately when it listens to your corrections.
Again, this gives the "jekyll and hyde" feel to dealing with your dog.
But it is very important to immediately praise your dog for listening
to you.  This helps build confidence and keeps the dogs from having
that "hang-dog" look when performing.

3.  Proofing

Proofing is a method where you make sure your dog understands a
command, *after* you have taught the dog the command.  It isn't fair
to proof a dog on a command when it is still learning what it means.

For example, you teach your dog to stay.  After making it stay in a
relatively distraction-free environment, you step up the pressure.
You throw balls up in the air and catch them, squeak toys, have
someone stand near your dog and talk softly to it.  If your dog gets
up, gently put it back.  If after doing this for a while, the dog
still gets up, then you start putting him back less gently, i.e.
taking your dog roughly by the collar and putting it back, escalating
to picking your dog up by the collar so that its front legs come off
the ground and VERY slowly putting it back in its place, escalating to
picking the dog up by its skin so that its front legs come off the
ground and VERY slowly putting it back.  Some dogs get the idea more
quickly than others; stop your correction when it stays down.

When your dog passes this step, increase the pressure by throwing
balls all around him, bouncing them on the ground, etc.  Also, someone
else should try to offer him food, make strange noises such as
clapping , barking like a dog, meowing like a cat, using toys or
things that make strange noises.

When your dog passes this step, increase the pressure by putting it on
a stay and having someone shout in a loud voice "ROVER, COME!" (do not
use your dog's name), "OK", "DOWN" (if doing a sit stay).  If at home,
put him on a stay and go and ring the doorbell.  It should take
several months (6-8) to work through all of these distractions and
care must be taken to not blow the dog's mind by putting him in a
situation that he is not ready for or by never letting the dog "win"
(i.e., successfully perform an exercise).

Always let the dog "win" on the last exercise in the session.  That
is, end the sessions on positive notes, with much praise.  This keeps
your dog interested in the work.


K.  Using Food.

According to the last chapter of Diane Bauman's book _Beyond Basic Dog
Training_ there is more to dog training and to trainer-dog
relationships than just the dog performing for food and toys.  The dog
should have a relationship with you and work to please you and work
for your praise.  That should be the important thing in your training,
the relationship.

Remember, the goal in obedience is consistency.  If you have a
hard-charging dog when you train with treats and toys, but have a
slow, depressed dog when you take the treats away, getting any kind of
consistent performance out of the dog will be VERY difficult.  Sure,
with a slow dog you may loose a few points for lack of "Utmost
willingness" but if the dog does every sit correctly, every front
correctly and works confidently, you will still do well in the show
ring.

Further, there are many cases of dogs trained using these techniques
that are "ring-wise."  They know they will not be corrected nor will
they be rewarded "properly" for their performance, so why should they
work?


L.  Training and Corrective Collars.

There are several kinds of collars.  There are the plain flat buckled
ones for everyday use available in a wide variety of colors, sizes and
fastners (from buckles to quick-release).

Note that puppies do not need corrective collars.

For training purposes, there are choke collars (also called training
collars), pinch collars and prong collars.  Used properly, there is
nothing wrong with any of these collars, although they often look
rather alarming.  The point is that these collars are for control, not
for pain infliction.  Yanking savagely on these collars is
counterproductive; firm corrections get the point across without
injury.  Try this experiment: wrap each of the collars around your arm
in turn and have someone experienced with corrections give a
correction to your arm.

To prevent your dog from injury from corrective collars, do not leave
them on when you are not around.  Its usual collar should be a plain
flat bucked collar; save the choke and prong collars for actual
training and when you are around.


M.  Learning to Sit.

Command, "Sit!".  Pull straight up on your leash (do not jerk),
simultaneously push (do not hit) down on the dog's rump.  After the
dog knows the exercise, a tap on the rump is appropriate if the dog
refuses to sit.

Another way is to have the dog focus on your hand.  Say "sit," move
your hand over its head so that it must sit to keep it focused.
Praise it when it is sitting.


N.  Down, Stay, Off.

One caveat is to be sure that you are consistent with "down" and
"off."  Do not use them interchangeably, you will only confuse your
dog.  "Down" should be the classic "lie down on the floor" command,
"off" needs to be "get all your paws on the ground (and off me or off
the chair) NOW!"

Traditionally, you start by putting the dog in a sit position.  Then,
using your hand, or a toy, guide its nose down until it's in a down
position.  Once it understands "down" try to eliminate the sit-down
sequence, or else your dog will start to "down" when you say "sit"!


O.  Heeling

To make the process of learning to heel easier, start when your dog is
a puppy.  Don't expect it to heel, but discourage from the beginning
any forging (lunging) or lagging on the leash.  Keep the puppy focused
on you when on leash.  This may mean constantly talking to your pup to
keep its attention.  Pretty soon, you'll have a pup that stays pretty
close to you on leash and doesn't pull in any direction.  The umbilical
cord approach suggested for attention can be a good way to start and
maintain this.  Don't worry about "perfect heeling" for several months
yet; it is too much to ask of a puppy right away.

When you and your dog are ready to learn heeling, there are several
approaches to take.

  * Try binding, where you have only a few inches of slack on your
    leash.  Hold the lead like a baseball bat handle, with your hands
    almost on his collar.  "Plaster" you arms against your body.  When
    you start off (with your left leg) tell him heel and hold him
    right there at your side.  If he pulls ahead, add pressure in the
    lead backwards and say "get back".  Once he stops pulling tell him
    "good boy". Stop and do about four straight lines first (no turns
    yet). Just counter any way he pulls with either "get back",
    "get-up" "get-in" or "get out".  When he is in the right spot,
    tell him he's good.  Just do a few short heels first and increase
    length. As he learns where heel is, he should stop pulling then
    you can let more leash out and do the same thing.  If he starts
    pulling again, go right back down to just a few inches.

  * Put your dog on a 6 foot leash with either a choke collar (not
    prong) or flat collar.  Hold the loop of the leash in your right
    hand and keep your hand against your waist.  Loop the slack over
    the thumb of that hand.  Walk around the back yard and when your
    dog walks past you and is not paying attention, turn 180 degrees,
    drop the slack from the leash and RUN!  Your Dog will get turned
    around and will have to follow.  As soon as the leash is slack
    STOP moving.  Say "good <name>," pick up the slack and walk around
    the yard again.  Whenever your dog goes ahead of you and it can't
    see you, drop slack, turn and RUN again.  Don't jerk the leash
    like a correction.  You want a constant pull and if you keep your
    hand against your waist a jerk on the leash won't happen.

  * Practice your foot work.  Make sure you are clear with your
    about-turns, left-turns and right turns.  Bauman illustrates the
    way to turn with photographs in her book.  Being clear with your
    turns helps clue your dog into when you are going to turn.

  * Along with foot work is timing - count out loud "1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2"
    and keep each pace the same length.  When going slow it's "1 and 2
    and 1 and 2" same length paces but at 1/2 time.  Fast is "121212"
    again but twice as fast and with the same length paces.

  * Simple direction changes help as well: do an "about-face" turn
    whenever the heel starts disintegrating.  That way, your dog has
    to stay closer to you to watch where you're going.


P.  Learning Recall.

First of all, the golden rule of recall:

*******************************************
NEVER PUNISH YOUR DOG WHEN IT COMES TO YOU!
*******************************************

It will not want to come to you if it associates that with punishment.
*Always* praise a dog for coming to you.  Remember its associative
powers are limited, and it will only understand that it was punished
for coming to you, regardless of what it just did before that.

1.  Starting young

Understand that teaching a 1 year old dog the recall is not the ideal
situation.  Your dog should be taught the recall by 4 months or so,
and when the dog is younger, it is much easier.  By the time the dog
is a year old, and starting to exert its dominance, the recall should
be a well-established habit and a few relatively minor corrections
should re-establish that habit in case there are minor lapses.

2.  On leash

Make a fun game of it, get your dog to understand what that command
is.  With a puppy, call its name and "COME".  Get down and open your
arms wide as your pup comes in to "funnel" it toward you.  Make a big
fuss over it.

Sit your dog down, on a lead, and make it stay.  Walk to the end of
the lead and say "<name>, COME" and give it just a little pop and run
AWAY from your dog.  As your dog gets to you, make it sit in front of
you.  PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE!!  Work on this way until your dog starts
coming before you can give the little pop.  Then get a long lead (15
feet or so) and do the same thing.  Then progress to letting it drag
the 15 foot lead around.  Call your dog as you are working in the
yard, or doing other things.  Always praise.

Make your dog sit every time it comes to you.  This avoids the later
common problem of the dog running past you when you call it.

Only call your dog once.  If the dog disobeys, don't call again,
just correct the dog.


Q.  Beyond Basic Obedience.

It is, of course, beyond the scope of this article to discuss any more
advanced obedience exercises in any kind of detail.  However, there
are many resources if you are interested in further obedience
training.

1.  Classes

There are a number of classes, public and private, offered for more
extensive obedience training.  Especially if you get to know an
experienced handler/trainer well, you can learn a lot from that
person.

2.  Books

There are a several books available that devote a good deal of
discussion to training dogs, above and beyond what most dog books do.
These are:

Bauman, Diane L.  _Beyond Basic Dog Training_.  New, updated edition.
Howell Book House (Maxwell Maxmillan International), New York.  1991.
ISBN: 0-87605-410-6.
  Emphasis is on training a "thinking" dog rather than a
  pattern-trained dog.  Extensive manual on obedience training.
  Communication and understanding are discussed.  A well known and
  often recommended book.

Strickland, Winifred G. _Expert Obedience Training for Dogs_.  Third
revised edition.  Howell Book House (Macmillan Publishing Company),
New York.  1987.  ISBN: 0-02-615000-X (hardcover).
  Strickland is a well known dog trainer.  Covers all aspects of
  training and competition including the formal training for AKC
  obedience trials (novice, open, utility, tracking).  Includes some
  general care (health and feeding) tips.  Author has also written
  _Obedience Class Instruction for Dogs_.

3.  Magazines

Front and Finish
P.O. Box 333
Galesburg, IL  61402-0333
1-309-344-1333
Obedience related information.

4.  Mailing list

There is an electronic mailing list devoted to dog obedience issues.
This is not for the novice, but for the person starting on advanced
obedience training, as well as those experienced with these
techniques.  It is a good forum for discussing particular problems
that may come up in the course of training your dog.  The list's
volume is moderate, with occasional peaks and valleys, depending on
how "hot" the current topic is.  For more information, send email to
the list maintainer at [e-mail].

G.  Gaming Dogs.

1.  Flying Disk, aka Frisbee, Dogs

From:    Andrew L Mouser <[e-mail]>

Flying Disc Dogs do more then fetch a flying disc.  They do leaps,
weaves, vaults, takes and any variety of tricks imaginable.
Currently, there is only one association that titles competing flying
disc dogs; The Flying Disc Dog Association (FDDA).  FDDA events are
usually held in conjunction with other events such as pet fairs and
shows, agility events, and other events where the added spectator
sport of these dogs are beneficial.

The format for competition involves 3 levels.  Level 1 is the Timed
Toss & Catch (TTC), Novice Freestyle, and Advanced Freestyle.  At all
levels, competitors generally supply the discs, which are required to
be free of defects and obstructions.  Multiple discs are allowed with
the exception of the TTC where only 1 disc is allowed on the playing
field.

Timed Toss and Catch: In the TTC, each team is allowed 1 disc on the
playing field.  With a time limit of 60 seconds, the handler/dog team
attempts to make as many tosses and catches as possible within the
time limit.  Points are scored in relationship to the distance that
the dog catches the disc and whether the catch was on the ground
(OTG), where the dog is touching the ground with any part of his body
when the catch is made, or in the air (ITA), where the dog is
completely off the ground when the catch is made.  Catches made 10-20
yards are worth 1 point OTG and 2 points ITA.  Catches made 20-30
yards are worth 3 points OTG and 4 points ITA.  Catches made 30+ yards
are worth 5 points OTG and 6 points ITA.

Novice Freestyle: In the Novice Freestyle, each team has a maximum of
90 seconds to perform a freestyle routine with a maximum of 10 discs
that consists of a minimum of the following compulsories; One ITA
catch of greater than 10 yards. A controlled retrieve where the dog is
placed on a down-stay or sit-stay until the disc comes to a complete
rest.  An Out where the dog brings a retrieved disc and drops it in
front of the handler without any physical assistance from the handler.
A Through-The-Leg where the dog must run under and through the legs of
the arch made by the legs of the handler to catch a thrown disc.  One
Back Over where the dog leaps over the back of the handler to catch a
thrown disc.  Additionals are tricks that are added to the routine to
generate additional points to be added to the overall score.
Additionals may be any trick the team may desire to perform.

Advanced Freestyle: In Advanced Freestyle, each team has a maximum of
120 seconds to perform a freestyle routine with a maximum of 10 discs
that consists of a minimum of the following Compulsories; An ITA catch
of greater than 20 yards.  A Mouth Take where the dog takes a disc
from the mouth of the handler.  A Leg Vault where the dog catches a
disc with the added assistance of "vaulting" off the leg of the
handler.  A Front Vault where the dog catches a disc with the added
assistance of vaulting off the front of the handler and going over the
handlers head (the handler may be in a kneeling position to compensate
for smaller dogs) to catch a thrown disc. A Back Vault where the dog
catches a disc with the assistance of vaulting off the back of the
handler and going over the handlers head with kneeling optional to
catch a thrown disc.  A Back Over where the dog leaps over the back of
the handler to catch a thrown disc.  A Back Flip where the disc is
thrown close and just over the head of the dog where the dog leaps in
the air, catches the disc, and lands in a position of 180 degrees or
greater from the starting position.  One Butterfly catch where the
disc is thrown in such a way that the disc is spinning end-over-end.

Titles:

Flying Disc Canine (FC) - A dog may earn the title of Flying Disc
Canine after earning a minimum of 250 points in the Timed Toss and Catch
competition.

Flying Disc Canine Excellent (FCX) - A dog may earn the title of Flying Disc
Canine Excellent after completing 3 qualifying rounds of Novice Freestyle
competitions at 3 separate tournaments.

Flying Disc Canine Champion (FCCh) - A dog may earn the title of Flying Disc
Canine Champion after completing 3 qualifying rounds of Advanced Freestyle
competitions at 3 separate tournaments.

For more information write:

Flying Disc Dog Association
1471 LaSalle Street
Burton, Mi 48509

2.  Flyball

Thanks to Ian J. Hogg for the original section and S. George for emendations.

Flyball is a team sport for dogs.  It is a relay race with 4 dogs on a
team.  The dogs jump over 4 hurdles spaced 10 ft apart and then
step/jump/throw themselves into a spring loaded box that shoots out a
tennis ball.  The dog catches the tennis ball and then runs back over
the 4 hurdles.  When the dog crosses the starting line the next dog
goes.  The first team to have all 4 dogs run without errors wins the
heat. The first jump is 6 ft from the starting line and the box is 15 ft
from the last jump, so the total distance is 51 feet each way.

The dogs earn points towards flyball titles based on the teams time:

  less than 32 secs:       Each dog receives 1 point
  less than 28 secs:       Each dog receives 5 points
  less than 24 secs:       Each dog receives 25 points.

The titles the dogs can earn are:

  FD   Flyball Dog              20  points
  FDX  Flyball Dog Excellent    100 points
  FDCH Flyball Dog Champion     500 points

The very best teams run around 17+ seconds.  The hurdles' height are
dependent on the height of the dogs in the team -- 4" below the
shoulder height of the shortest dog.   8" is the minimum height, and
16" is the maximum height.

Anyone with a dog that loves balls can give it a try.  Check to see if
obedience schools in your area have teams.

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This article is Copyright (c) 1992, 1993 by Cindy Tittle Moore.  It may be
freely distributed in its entirety provided that this copyright notice
is not removed.  It may not be sold for profit nor incorporated in
commercial documents without the author's written permission.  This
article is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Cindy Tittle Moore
Internet: [e-mail]           USmail: PO BOX 4188, Irvine CA 92716
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