anmracing

The frisbee thread on the puppy forum got me to thinking about a question that has been bouncing around my head a while....

What do you or your vets think about dobies jumping after frisbees/balls? On one hand I was thinking it may be hard on their joints and spine, but on the other hand, I read recently that 'sitting up' or 'begging' was good for a dog's back muscles after all, so perhaps my gut reaction on jumping is wrong also?

Tanner will jump fairly high for a dog his size and he frequently twists midair and lands in goofy ways. It scares me to think I may be adding to future cervical problems. Worse, I met a gal at a dog park whose dobie had landed badly at age 2 and was a train wreck from then on.

Has anyone had any experience with this or asked a vet about it?
M~

Luvbirds59

This is Petey after bubbles!

I had a Weim hurt his back just slipping on leaves and a GSH Pointer fall catching a frisbee. Both dogs had bad backs until their passings. It can happen.

oxc

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Chaz

Your instinct as far as joints and jumping is correct.

Common wisdom says to limit a dog's vertical jumps, as well as running on hard surfaces, until they're growth plates are closed. That happens at about 18 months.

Mensa has been fetching Frisbees for almost a year now (she's 19 months) but she helped me keep her close to the ground by not even seeing the throws that were too far over her head. She has only recently been spotting, and jumping for, the high throws.

ReDobie4Kev

I actually saw a dog competition on TV(ESPN) last week(I think it airs again this weekend). They had a frisbee competition, and a high jump competition, as well as some others. But in the frisbee competition they used mostly aus. shep. and/or border collie(SP?), but a lot of them were doing back flips and twisting to catch it, i could beleive that too much of that is not good for any dog.

JavasMom

Great shot of Petey! I think moderation in everything is probably key.

Kratty

There is risk in any activity you do with your dog. Especially if you have puppy, you need to wait until the bone plates fully form together before any such activity. Our new girl participates in Nikki 's activity time, but she mostly runs with her and acts annoying. I still have a long time before I start to let her start catching air. I also would keep it to a minimum and not over do it. If you can throw a frisbee well, its easy to keep it low and reduce the jumping. But I have to say, when Nikki does catch so serious air, its pretty impressive. My vet just keeps reminding me,"just keep it low."

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anmracing

Thanks for the responses guys-I think I'll stick with attempting to keep Tanner on the low side, he just enjoys the jump and twist so much that I hate to take it away from him. I guess it will be a special treat for him every now and then. As for the little one, she'll keep her paws on the ground.
M~

Chaz

It probably helps to have the right landing surface too.

We only toss the Frisbee over flat, grassy yards (like football fields and grass dog parks).