Disc Dog Sport

He races, he leaps, he flies, he catches and he fetches. Nomii is extremely high energy and very smart so I’m always looking for something to do with him.

One random day, when I was once again hunting online for ideas of activities I can do with Nomii, I chanced upon something called UpDog, a disc and dog sport event where dogs catch flying discs. More Google dives later, I found that “disc dog” is the broader category of sports associated with dogs catching flying discs. And more searches later, including on Facebook, I found that we have a disc dog team in the tri-city area called Tri City Disc Dogs! And that a fall league was about to start!

And so we showed up and signed up.

Our experience has been so positive we keep going back for more. The emphasis on fun, growth and bonding with your dog is what we love. The community is amazing – we always feel welcomed and encouraged to ask as many questions as we want. Nomii doesn’t score very well but he has a blast every time he’s on the field.

But let’s back up a little and break it down a bit.

What’s Disc Dog?

Disc dog is the sport of dogs catching flying discs. There are many different types of disc dog games and the main ones are “Toss and Fetch” and “UpDog”.

What’s Toss & Fetch?

It’s exactly what it says – you toss a disc and your dog catches and returns the disc to you…and you go again. You could also throw rollers, i.e. roll the disc on the grass and your dog needs to catch it before the disc falls flat on the grass.

The field is divided into 5 scoring zones – from 0, 1, 2, 3, and 5 points – 10 yards apart. Your score depends on the zone in which your dog catches the disc in multiple throws over 60 or 90 seconds. You play in a league of at least 8 people. More details here.

What’s UpDog?

UpDog is actually a disc and dog sport organization. UpDog Challenge offers many different games involving your dog and his discs. There are disc only set-ups and disc and agility type of play too. The games are all time bound and every game you play earns you points and “achievements”, which are digital badges. If you earn enough points in a year, you qualify to join the UpDog International Challenge, which as far as I can see, are US only events.

How do I teach my dog to catch discs?

I’ve met dogs who just aren’t interested in playing fetch or catching discs. Luckily for us, Nomii lives for the game of “fetch”.

While this video is old, I find it very useful for planning how I teach Nomii to catch discs, .

When your dog has learned how to catch discs and enjoys it, keep the disc away when it’s not time to play. The fact that he doesn’t get to play this game unless you initiate it and he does it with you increases the value of the game and helps you build relevancy and bond as well.

Doing the disc dog league together with Nomii has been very enjoyable for us humans and Nomii seems to know that when he’s on the field, it’s game time. We’ll keep doing it until he stops showing excitement for the sport.