From The Editor:
The Spring is sprung ……. the grass is riz ……. I wonder where the disc dog is?
Summer is here!! Woohoo!!! It’s time to get out with our discs and
our dogs and have some fun!
The 2007 summer disc season is underway and what a busy season it promises to be. We have Skyhoundz events, CDDA events, SODH events, USDDN events, the Can-Am Disc Dog Games, and the first ever Canadian National Disc Dog Championships. Disc play has never looked so good in Ontario as it does this season. Kudos to all those who have taken up the challenge of hosting disc events and helping the sport to grow!
In this issue of High Flyin’ K9’s we are going to address some topics that are fundamental to our freestyle disc play …….. choreography and creativity; and routine flow.
Have a great disc summer everyone!!
Jackie
How Do You Teach That?
The Chase Back: the chase back is a variation of the Scoot trick that has been the basis of all of our How Do You Teach That? tricks to date. The Scoot is a versatile move that can be tweeked in many ways. To do the Chase Back move you simply cue the dog to Scoot back, and then as he is backing up to go under you, you shuffle backwards away from him so that the two of you end up moving backwards together (with the dog slightly in front of you) as the dog attempts to Scoot back under you. You end the chase back by stopping and allowing the dog to ‘earn’ the Scoot. From there you can go into a back stall or a vault, or you can turn and do a throw. Just be creative :-)
The Reverse Pivot into a Single Back Weave: The reverse pivot is a move in which the handler turns a 360 degree turn to the left
>> Start by guiding your dog into an obedience left finish, cueing the dog to “Get In”, only instead of standing still, turn a ¼ turn to your left so that the dog has to swing his rear a ¼ turn farther than on a straight finish
>> When the dog is proficient, turn a ½ turn to your left, so that now the dog is adding another ¼ turn to his left finish.
>> When he is proficient at the ½ turn and is maintaining a nice heel position, add another ¼ turn to the move so that now the dog is maintaining heel position for ¾ turn
>> And finally, complete the turn by doing a 360 degree turn
>> Throughout the entire exercise, cue your dog to “Get In” so that he knows which way to move his rear
>> Remember it is VERY important that the handler turns on the spot
Once your dog has the reverse pivot (picture it as a backwards about turn), you can add a back weave (aka a scoot back) to the end of the move.
As you complete the reverse pivot, step back with your right leg and cue the dog to scoot back under you
To complete the move into a disc move, once the dog has gone under you, without moving your feet, turn to your right and throw a disc. Clear as mud??
Let’s summarize:
1. start with dog in left heel
2. turn 360 to your left with dog maintaining heel position
3. as you complete your turn, extend your right leg back & cue the dog to Scoot
4. as dog completes the Scoot, turn to your right and toss the disc
Little Red Rodeo
Although I own and breed Border Collies, I’ve always wanted an Australian Cattle Dog. A red Australian Cattle Dog. Don’t know why. Just something about those little red speckled dogs was tugging at my heart strings. Several years ago I gave a breeder a deposit for a puppy. But the breeding didn’t take. Then an ACD was available for adoption and I applied to adopt …… but I was too late. Three years ago I met another ACD looking for a home, fell in love with her, made arrangements to adopt her, made her a fleece winter coat and matching bed, and then ………… a week before she was to come home, her foster parents called to say they didn’t think she would be right for my home afterall as she had become predatory towards cats. And I have cats. So once again the ACD just didn’t seem fated to be a part of my dog family.
Then in September of 2005, following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, I was perusing the disc dog rescue list and I saw that there was a litter of red heelers in a shelter in Kentucky. I went to the Pet Finder site link just to look and something about those puppies told me I had to have one of them. And as fate would have it, I would be traveling to the U.S. in just a couple of weeks. Thinking that it was a long shot, I emailed to the shelter to ask whether or not they adopted out of State, or more precisely ….. out of country, as many shelters do not adopt outside of their own jurisdiction. The response was YES. The shelter is the only animal shelter for three counties and they are always at capacity so they are very adoption friendly and very rescue friendly. Wow! Now it was actually a possibility and excitement began to take over what little good sense I might have had in the matter
I became obsessed with getting this ACD puppy.
But fate seemed to be against me > again
Hopkinsville was a good three hours off our driving route. It would add a day to our trip if my friend and I were to detour to go there > three hours out of the way to get there and another three hours to get back on course. We had to be in Atlanta by Friday evening as we were competing at the Hyperflite/Skyhoundz World Championship Disc Dog trial on Saturday and Sunday. We had to get our dogs settled and ready for competition. And due to work commitments, we were not able to leave a day earlier than planned. My heart sank. I was not going to be able to get my puppy.
But I really wanted her.
And so the thought came to me that perhaps someone else traveling to the Worlds, might be passing through Hopkinsville. I remembered that on the disc dog rescue forum, people seemed to be willing to help each other out with assessing and getting dogs from different areas. It was a long shot, but perhaps someone from the disc dog list would be willing to go pick up the puppy. So I sent a message to the list. I then contacted the shelter in Kentucky to let them know that I was VERY interested in the heeler pup and was doing everything in my power to either get there myself or have someone collect the puppy for me. A volunteer contacted me to let me know that the shelter manager had been advised and would release the pup to someone on my behalf. From the disc dog list I got lots of “wish we could help” responses, and one fellow said that they would in fact be passing by there but didn’t know what time as they were leaving Thursday and driving through the night. If they were passing when the shelter was open, they would go in and get the puppy. No promises > but they would try. I checked the open hours of the shelter and it didn’t seem likely that they would be passing through when the shelter was open. It didn’t seem like it was going to happen and I resigned myself to the fact that once again, my quest for an ACD was going to fail.
And then the most remarkable thing happened. Just as we were leaving for Atlanta, I got a phone call from a girl in Chicago. A total stranger. I didn’t even know her from the disc dog list. Apparently a friend of hers who is on the list contacted her to tell her about my plight and the ACD pup. She called to say she would be passing right through Hopkinsville and would make a point of going to the shelter to get the puppy for me. How amazing was that?! I could hardly believe what I was hearing. That was Thursday morning. Twelve hours later we were checking into our hotel at the halfway point and Mare called to say she had the pup. In fact, she had TWO pups! When she got to the shelter she found out that “at capacity” was not an exaggeration. There were 100 dogs in the shelter. And worse ……… it was a kill shelter. The two heeler pups were on death row, slated for euthanasia the next day. So Mare took them both. Two adorable little 13 week old ACD pups. They had been at the shelter for 20 days. Much longer than the shelter normally keeps dogs. I’d like to think that my emails and determination to get there, kept them alive long enough to be adopted.
My excitement was such that I hardly slept on Thursday night. I could hardly believe that this was happening and I couldn’t wait to get to Atlanta to meet my new puppy. Mare called the next day and we arranged to meet at the first rest stop over the Georgia border. We arrived there about mid-day & after brief introductions (of the humans that is) we got down to the business at hand. Me choosing my puppy. I didn’t expect to have a choice! I played with the two pups for a little while and finally chose the larger of the two pups. She was the one who came to me first and seemed a little more people focused than her sister. And so it was that my little Rodeo Girl came to be. I finally, after 12yrs of wanting one, had my ACD.
Once home I sent photo’s of Rodeo in her new home, to the shelter worker with whom I’d been in contact. I received a lovely correspondence back from her thanking me for saving the puppy’s life.
The range of emotions from excitement, stress/angst, disappointment, renewed excitement and finally the total joy of having the puppy in my arms, was all worth it.
Little Rodeo was a wonderful puppy and has grown into a wonderful young dog. She is great with my other dogs and she is a bright little dog. She graduated from obedience school with flying colours, has been to a herding fun day, and will start flyball training soon. She is taking to disc play as well, and it’s my hope that she will one day return to Atlanta, as a competitor at the World Disc Dog Championships. It seems only fitting that she should compete in the place where we became family.
Freestyle Disc
Choreography and Creativity
Choreography is no different than any other skill > the more you practice, the better you get. The trick is, not to make it more complicated than it has to be. When you are practicing choreography don’t worry about whether or not it’s perfect ….. or even good for that matter …. just do it. And then do it again > and again > and again; and before you know it your creativity will improve and ideas will come more easily and your routines will have a better flow. The more often you sequence moves, the better you will get at connecting the dots and transitional moves will flow better; you will learn which moves connect well and which moves do not connect well.
You have to “train” yourself to choreograph just as diligently as you train everything else. And generally speaking …. many people miss that point in freestyle disc. Don’t focus too much on one routine for one event or to one kind of music. If your goal is to improve your choreography and creativity skills, that is the biggest mistake you can make. What you should be doing is challenging yourself to choreograph new sequences every week or every two weeks > the sequence doesn’t have to be long > it doesn’t have to be good > it’s just a training exercise.
The key to having a routine that flows, is having moves that sequence together in a natural fashion. You complete a move … what is the “natural” direction you feel like moving in next … right? left? a turn? straight back? forward? Don’t worry about whether it’s good or bad > just go with it. Let’s say you are inclined to go left > okay, now think what move would accommodate you in moving in that direction; picture it in your minds eye (& be prepared that sometimes your ‘minds eye’ envisions things you can’t do
A good training exercise to get your creative juices flowing and practice choreography is to put all of your dogs moves down on separate pieces of paper (one move to one piece of paper) and put them all in a box. At the end of each training session, shake up your box of moves and draw out 3 sheets. Now sequence those 3 moves into a short segment. Be creative. Look at each move and think about what you can do with it. For example, the Scoot Back > you can do a reverse pivot into a back weave scoot that ends in a back flip or a reverse chest vault; you can leave your dog on a stand/wait and circle behind them, and then Scoot back and go into a back stall; often there are lots of variations to one move.
Music is another important factor in your choreography and creativity skills. I believe it is a mistake to over focus on your music to the point of limiting yourself. For training purposes it doesn’t matter what music you use > in fact, it’s better to use all kinds of different music because different styles/genres of music have different ‘feels’ and this will influence your ideas and creativity. Obviously picking the right tempo of music to suit you and your dog is important, but aside from tempo, what IS the right music? Basically style of music comes down to personal preference and breed/type of dog, if one is astute enough to take that into consideration. For example: salsa music and a dog like my Harley, who is an American Bulldog, don’t really match well. That does not mean that Harley can’t do a routine to salsa music > just that it wouldn’t quite suit his look, body type, and style of movement.
Other musical considerations are:
1) With a small dog you need to be aware of music that is too “big” for them. If the music is too big, the dog will be overshadowed by the music
2) If the music is too fast you will always look like you are racing to catch up & you will likely also feel ‘pushed’ by the music and therefore rush your moves
3) If the music is too slow you will look like you are out of sync. with it and it will be distracting to your audience/judges
4) Don’t pick music with big ‘landmarks’ (crescendo’s etc.) if you are not going to use them. And if you are going to use them, make sure the move is “right on” and in perfect sync. with the landmark
5) “Landmarks” (crescendo’s, musical bridges, chorus’s, etc.) can help to cue you as to the sequence of your routine.
Routine Flow
Elements of Sequencing A Routine To Run Smoothly
There are several elements involved with creating a disc routine that ‘flows’ smoothly. Some of those elements are Music, Visualization, Sequences/Sequencing, and Disc Management. These are some training notes from my disc seminar handouts:
Music Choice:
1) choreograph slower moves or tricks that take more time to execute, with slower points in the music
2) don’t use music that exceeds you or your dogs physical limitations > the music should match the dog/handler team
3) be aware of drastic tempo changes >> new players should avoid them & experienced players should learn to use them
4) use defined landmarks in the music (tempo changes; lyrics; instrumental rifts; pauses; chorus’s; hits) to help you map your routine
5) play your music often so that you can run your routine in your head > the better you know the routine and how if fits to the music, the better you will be able to perform
6) practice the routine without the dog so that you know your part well
practice enough with the dog so that HE/SHE learns the musical cues and this will help the dog to know the routine as well ** dogs can learn to recognize musical cues in exactly the same way that they learn to recognize and respond to any other cues (verbal or visual).
7) DON’T OVER DO IT!! Don’t practice so much that you create boredom with the routine
Visualizaton:
1) Write your routine down on paper. Seeing the routine on paper will help you to see it in your head
2) Visualization will help you to remember the routine
3) Visualize a successful performance > see it clearly in your mind and then go out and copy what you saw
Sequences:
1) Break your routine into sequences of between 3 to 4 moves and then build your overall routine by arranging your sequences using transitional moves
2) Several learned and perfected sequences will give you flexibility in your routine. For example: if a particular sequence is not going well, you can sub in a different sequence that takes the same amount of time; or if you start to have problems with a sequence due to wind etc., you can “vamp” with a couple of easy throws and then pick up the next sequence when you hit that spot in the music
Sequencing: Is the process of deciding which moves go where > which moves connect smoothly & creating transitional moves to connect your tricks. There are a few ways to do this:
put all the dogs moves on cards > shuffle the cards and then randomly pick out 3 cards at a time. Connect whichever moves you draw in whatever order you draw them in. This will help you to create transitional moves for good routine flow & also help you to determine which moves connect well and which ones do not connect well
let the dog “lead” you > execute a move and then watch to see where and how the dog naturally moves on completion. Choose your next move based on the dogs position &/or direction of movement. This will help your sequencing to be smooth and not choppy and will also help the dog to transition comfortably from one move to the next
on completion of a move be aware of YOUR body position and which way you naturally want to move. This will help you to decide what throws to do next
watch other players and analyze their routines > what did they do that you really liked? What would you do differently?
Disc Management:
1) the fewer discs you have, the harder they will be to manage. Be aware of the organization you are competing under and practice with the number of discs allowed
2) alternatively … practice/choreograph your routine using one less disc than you are allowed, which will give you a spare out on the field during competition. This way if the dog drops a disc 30 yards away, you can forget about it and use your spare
3) don’t be a spectator in your dogs routine > while you are standing still watching your dog, you could be picking up discs!
4) You can choregraph groups of moves with each one ending in a long throw so that you can pick up the other discs
5) Pick up as you go > move to where the dropped disc is and pick up as you go
6) Predict where drops will happen
7) Try to keep tricks such that the dog places the discs well & you can predetermine where they will be and how/when you will retrieve them
8) Try to keep the focus on the dog and NOT on your picking up discs > your goal with disc management is that spectators and judges not even be aware of you picking up discs
9) Throwing a long bomb will get the dog out there and the focus on the dog and allow you to run across the field to retrieve discs > just be sure to be finished by the time your dog gets back close to you because as the dog gets closer to you, you become part of the spectators/judges focus again, and you want to be finished collecting discs
10) Learn to “leave it” > the worst thing you can do is have ‘dead time’ in your routine while you fret over how to get a disc that got away > forget about it and move on (this plays into being able to do your entire routine with one less disc)
11) Teach your dog to LEAVE IT > same as above > you don’t want the dog obsessing over a disc that got away and thus losing his focus on the rest of the routine.
In putting together a set of rules for Club competitions, we explored the rules/regulations of other organizations to see what formats would best suit the interests of our Club members. We chose the Skyhoundz judging format as the base guideline for our judging criteria.
Over the past few years I’ve heard competitors comment that “so-and-so ALWAYS wins”, and “newcomers don’t stand a chance so why bother”. Even with 2 divisions > Novice and Advanced > there are players in the middle somewhere …… too advanced to be Novice but not experienced enough to compete against the really good throwers. So this motivated me to create and offer a variety of divisions so that players of all skill levels could have an equal chance of winning prizes/awards. To this end SODH created 5 divisions of toss/fetch that address the skill level of the thrower and the experience level of the dog.
Novice A; Novice B; Intermediate; Advanced; and Open
Novice A is a division for “experienced throwers” with beginner dogs.
Novice B is a division for “novice throwers” with beginner dogs
To keep it straight, think of it this way >> Novice Advanced = advanced throwers; and Novice Beginners = beginner throwers
Once you WIN out of either of those 2 divisions, you must move up a level. However, you can move up at any time & you can start at any level you wish. The reason for these divisions is because the Handlers Throwing Skills, play a very large role in the success of the dog. Therefore we are giving players with novice throwing skills a chance to compete against their peers
SODH also offers two divisions of toss/fetch that address the SIZE of the dog >> the MicroDog division and the Micro-Mini Dog division. Why 2 small dog divisions? Simple. We realized that the true Tiny Tots cannot cover enough ground to be able to score any points in a toss/fetch round. Dogs must cross the 20yd line to score points and many of the tiny tots can barely make it into that zone, while slightly bigger small dogs can get out past the 30yd zone. Therefore little dogs 12” at the wither or under, have no chance of winning or placing against those small dogs that are 13” to 16” in height. Length of leg determines how fast the dogs can move and those true tiny tots with 3” long legs, just don’t have the physical ability to get out far enough to score enough points to win. It often takes them twice as long to get back with the disc, thereby reducing the number of throws they can achieve in a one minute round. In the Micro-Mini Dog division the tiny tots are competing against dogs of similar size and they score 1 point for a catch in the first zone (normally this is the 0 point zone). One thing that we are doing differently than most disc competition organizations, is that we are not designating a specific size of disc. In other words, you are not restricted to using a small size disc for your small dog. You may use any plastic disc of your choice as long as it is safe for your dog. The reason for this is because we have encountered several small dogs that just LIKE the big discs and will not play with the little ones. So for SODH Club events any size of disc is permissible.
And finally, SODH has added a Veterans division in toss/fetch. The Veterans division is for dogs 10yrs of age and over. As many of our “original” disc dogs are getting older and the youngsters are taking over the Winners Circle, it seems appropriate to provide them with a division to call their own. A place where the old timers can continue to compete and have fun with others in their age group. They may not have the speed and stamina to win or place against the youngsters, but that’s no reason to put them out to pasture. In the Veterans division the older dogs can continue to play for as long as they want.
In Conversation With ….. Pam Martin
Q: Hello Pam and thank you for talking with our members. Let's start at the beginning ... how did you first get involved with the sport of canine disc?
A: I met Ron Ellis at obedience training class. Ron Ellis is a World Champion and he started the first disc dog club. Ron encouraged me to come to a club meeting and so I did and before long I helped him with the formalizing of the Dallas Dog and Disc Dog Club. I'm happy to say we are still friends today.
Q: Can you tell us a little about the dogs that you compete and perform with?
A: Pilot a nine year old border/jack (border collie/jack russell terrier mix) is Top Dog when it comes to disc but a very very close second is Spy his son. Both are extremely fun to watch and even more fun to handle.
Q: I see that, like many of the disc enthusiasts in our area (Southern Ontario), you are also involved with other dog sports as well. How do you feel that cross-training has contributed to your game?
A: Cross-training has been a huge plus, as one sport helps another. I'm asked by disc players how do you get your dog to return so fast? My answer: Flyball. And Flyball players ask, how do you keep your dogs in such good shape? Answer > Disc playing. And many ask how do you get that focus? Obedience and freestyle training. I try to draw the best from each sport.
Q: What &/or who has most influenced your game?
A: Encouragement from players, judges and the crowd, and watching videos.
Q: Do you have any mentors or favourite players?
A: Ron Ellis and Melissa Heeter but not necessarily in that order. Rons ethic's as a coach, competitor and judge has him on the top of my list along with Melissa, who's knowledge and hard work sets her apart from others.
Q: Do you have a favourite move?
A: Favorite as in only one? I have many. I have a favorite move for each dog. At the age of nine Pilot learned a brand new move. I believe the founding move came recently from Japan. Added a bit of my own twist to it and I call it the Matrix Move. Spy's newest daring move is called Spy's High. In this move I swing and flipped Spy over my head and onto my back while all along he hangs onto the disc and never dreams of letting it go.
Q: What is your fondest memory from this sport?
A: There are many memories but one that brings tears is watching an old video clip of Ashely Whippet performing in a stadium, long ago, catching discs so gracefully out of the air one by one. The slow play captures his beautiful motion with music playing perfectly to his every move and oh my.... it's just the best.
Q: I notice from videos & pix that you have 'small' dogs. What advice can you give to those of us with the tiny tots? What kinds of moves should we be looking at?
A: I try not to play them as small dogs, in other words I use regular sized discs and stand up while throwing and play them up to be big dogs. Then show off their moves that only small dogs can do that the bigger dogs can't, like sitting in the discs, walking on front paws and spinning on my back.
Q: What do you think a perfect freestyle routine should look like?
A: Is there ever perfect? I'd like to think there is always room for improvement. What I'd like to see is the dog stay in the game never taking his eyes off the disc or the task at hand. I'd like to see that special connection between the handler and dog. I'd like to see uniqueness. I want to see perfect landings.
Q: What advice do you have for newcomers to the game?
A: Be kind to your dog. If you are having fun it will show, if you're not it will show also.
Q: What advice do you have for those already playing/competing?
A: Always congratulate the winner, it will make you feel better. And who knows, one day it may be you!
** Pam Martin is the owner of Top Dogs Dallas dog training. She runs with the Top Dog Racers flyball team and is on the board of directors of the Musical Dog Sport Association. She is an accomplished competitor in many dog sports & is considered one the top dog trainers in North America.
Pam Martin Training Seminars! Pam Martin will be teaching 2 workshops in Bowmanville, Ontario on July 28th and 29th. Saturday July 28th will be Canine Musical Freestyle; and Sunday July 29th will be Freestyle Disc. These workshops are almost FULL so if you would like to take advantage of this ONE TIME opportunity to learn from Pam Martin in Ontario ....... sign up now!!! To receive a registration form email to rowdydiscdog@yahoo.com
