# Frisbee - good, bad or ugly?



## SirWinston (Feb 20, 2021)

When I got Winston, I was expecting him to be light on his feet, agile and under 50lbs. What I have though is a big 60+ lbs, athletic, sporty fella. And he only turned one yesterday. B4 he came home, it was on this site that I saw someone’s videos of their spoos catching frisbees. How absolutely awesome I thought! So I researched how to train a pup to catch a frisbee, bought a pooch appropriate disk and off we went. To be clear, there is no actual jumping when starting. You’re just “rolling” the disk and have the pup chase it. This has been part of our play (indoors) since early on. Graduated to outdoors in summer and progressed to actually throwing the frisbee. I even have him doing a “come around” where he circles behind me to then have a running start to chase the disk. I’ve try to not throw so is not having to jump for it but not always successful. So question is, when, if ever would you have a 60lbs spoo purposefully jump to catch a frisbee? At what age, for how long a play session or would you not do at all? I am ecstatic that I managed to train him to do this - I thought was wishful thinking on my part. I mean how cool is it to see a dog run and catch a frisbee! BUT, when I read all the “don’t have them jump, don’t walk too far, don’t let them take stairs, etc”, I’m concerned I shouldn’t be doing this period.


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## Misteline (Mar 10, 2019)

I'd say it's fine in moderation. A few leaps for a frisbee with breaks in between is unlikely to do major damage, but I wouldn't let it be his exercise for the day. As he gets older a few more would be fine, but still not as primary exercise. 60+lbs is big for a poodle, but plenty of dogs in next size category up jump for balls and frisbees.

Not an expert though.


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## Tulsi (Jun 8, 2021)

Rusty is a miniature poodle and adores his frisbee. I roll it mostly but the odd throw happens and he has done some jumping up to get it. He is only 7 months old so I am trying to stick to rolling.

Interested to see what others say about this.


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## reraven123 (Jul 21, 2017)

Dogs should not be asked to jump until after their growth plates are closed, which in a Spoo is 18-24 months. If the dog is neutered before growth plates are closed, this will delay the process, because testosterone governs when the plates close.


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

A few throws on a soft surface (e.g. grass, dirt) won't hurt. Keep it to no more than five throws per day until he's full grown.


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## Johanna (Jun 21, 2017)

A soft frisbee is best. Amazon has one called Paraflight Flyer for about $6.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Yeah, definitely don’t use a frisbee intended for humans. I think ours are made by Jawz.

Since joints have been discussed above, I’ll add that we found Peggy was getting too amped up by repeated throws. She was on edge for days after. But keeping it to around ten tosses or less seems to prevent any post-play behaviour changes. And oh boy does she ever love it!


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

I didn't review the links but I'd think the flyball link at least might offer some info.
Versatile Poodles - Versatility In Poodles, Inc. : Versatility In Poodles, Inc. (vipoodle.org)


ETA While searching "poodle sports", I found this:

Check #7!!
10 Olympic sports events that (thankfully) never caught on (kslnewsradio.com)


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## SirWinston (Feb 20, 2021)

Rose n Poos said:


> I'd think the flyball link at least might offer some info.


Thx Rose n Poos!


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## Brian R (May 25, 2021)

We have competed with our miniature poodle, in various disc events over the last couple of years. Updog and Toss and Fetch primarily with no negative side effects. She was #1 poodle (standard, miniature or toy) in T&F over the last couple of seasons and we use only rollers so no jumping required. Fitness is important. Watch your dog closely, be very familiar with their body language (in practice, training and competition) and stop immediately if there are signs of any issues and have them checked. Oh, and we use a flexible disc called IMK9 - I have only found it on Amazon.


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