Flying Frisbee Lab

By Regan M. White

From an early age, Rudy was decidedly a disc dog.  Bob Warwick’s son, Ron bought Rudy from a breeder in Forked River, NJ to keep him company.  It wasn’t long before Rudy’s permanent home was with Bob.  As Bob remembers, “Rudy wasn’t a good child.  He did a lot of chewing: on hoses and stuff all over the house.  I started taking him outside to tire him out, first with balls and sticks.  Frisbees never caught on with our prior dog.” But he gave them a shot with Rudy and it wasn’t long before Rudy was catching the Frisbee before it hit the ground.  Bob started keeping track of how many he could catch in a row and before either of them knew it, he was catching every single one.  In June of 1996, Rudy entered his first Frisbee disc competition at the age of 8 ½ months and took third place.  When asked if he was shocked Bob says, “we were very surprised.  We’re still surprised.”

One glance at Rudy’s resume (literally, he has a resume posted online) reveals that whether it’s competitive in say, the Friskies ALPO Canine Frisbee Competition or just to strut his stuff for a group event or charity, this dog really does love his Frisbee.  For guidance, once it was clear that Rudy had an aptitude for disc-catching antics, Bob purchased Peter Bloeme’s book Frisbee Dogs: How to Raise, Train, and Compete. Bob and Rudy trained every single day, once or twice a day – even in the dark!  In colder weather Bob would have to be conscious of using a different kind of Frisbee, since the average Frisbee would shatter in the cold. Bob and Rudy have always competed in Distance /Accuracy events (as opposed to Freestyle-note sidebar).

Rudy’s competitions have taken him all over and around his Middletown, NJ home and beyond - from the Catskills of New York to Annapolis, MD and York, PA. Rudy and Bob’s favorite event was always the Catskill Classic that took place in the fall in Saugerties, NY. The location was always gorgeous with the leaves just turning. They became friendly with the couple that ran the event enjoying the fun barbecue held after the annual competition and…Rudy did pretty well too.  It was actually at this event that Rudy tested for and passed his Therapy Dogs International (TDI), therapy dog certification and since then has done a lot of demonstrations in schools for delighted grammar school children. One of Bob’s daughters is a teacher at Wolf Hill School in Ocean Port, NJ where Rudy is a definite favorite. Nursing homes in the area all know Rudy’s name and in the fall of last year Rudy received nationwide attention on NBC’s Weekend Today In New York show as he helped to promote the Search & Rescue and Service Dog Day at the Intrepid.  Little did NBC know the celebrity they were dealing with.  When the security guard at the reception desk asked Bob for his picture ID, they couldn’t have guessed that Rudy was prepared for the stepped up security.  Bob handed the guard both his own and Rudy’s drivers’ licenses.  As Bob recalls, “You should have seen the look on the security guards’ faces – it was priceless!”

Rudy will celebrate his 9th birthday this year on September 29th.  Over the past year, since Rudy was neutered in October he’s really slowed down and aged more, making his previous flying Frisbee antics harder.  He continues to do the charity events that he loves and still competes now and then but doesn’t train or practice as hard or as often.  Fortunately, Rudy has passed the torch along to his offspring.  Rudy posted a personal ad during his search for a worthy mate seeking “a fine looking, trim athletic female (no bitches) Lab (AKC registered).”  Perhaps the only personal ad ever posted with the explicit objective “to make puppies.”  While Rudy received some taunting replies with accompanying photos from some lovely ladies that are posted on his site, he eventually found a dog in his neck of the woods, a yellow Lab named Lola from Bayonne, NJ with whom he sired a litter of eight puppies (including a litter born on his birthday). Of the litter, Bob kept one of Rudy’s sons, ‘Tyronne’ and one of Bob’s daughters kept one of Rudy’s daughters, ‘Margo’. Bob’s daughter Lauren had purchased a Labradoodle she named “Abby Doodle” from a poodle breeder in New Jersey. Lauren mentioned Rudy to the breeder and told her about Rudy’s web site.  Before Lauren returned home from the breeder, she called Bob to see if Rudy would like to mate with her purebred standard poodle, Jasmin. Jasmin gave birth to a litter of six Labradoodles who were born on Rudy’s 8th birthday. It’s a very full house and a busy family, chock full of Lab lovers and Labs that just love to catch Frisbees.  Bob’s son-in-law has caught on to the sport and trains Margo while Bob trains Tyronne. 

With such a busy family life and age beginning to take its toll in terms of demanding Frisbee competitions, Rudy still manages to keep active.  Bob laughs that, “Rudy is better known in our town than my kids are.”  For the past three years, Rudy has performed at all but two of the halftimes for the Middletown South High School football team’s home games. Since he’s been performing, the team hasn’t lost a single game that he’s performed in. This past year, the Central New Jersey State Finals’ game was scheduled to be at Rutgers University Stadium and dogs were not allowed so Rudy wouldn’t be able to attend.  The game was rescheduled due to a heavy snow storm and took place instead at the home field in Middletown three days later. Rudy was able to perform and naturally the team won.  Those in the know of course attribute it to their Lab of Luck, Rudy. 

Rudy still performs for charities throughout the year, especially a cluster of them during the fall with 4-5 events throughout September and October, including the Mutts Marathon benefiting a shelter in N.J., the Jersey Animal Coalition fundraiser, the Monmouth County SPCA Red Bank fundraiser and the Canine Companions for Independence fundraiser on Long Island, New York.  Rudy, Bob and the Yankee Flyers Disc and Dog Club to which they belong have hosted a Skyhoundz Canine Disc Competition at Middletown’s Stevenson Park the past two years and have another scheduled for October 9th, 2004.  Stop by and see Rudy, Tyronne and Margo in person.

If you can’t catch him and his amazing agility in person, Rudy is available 24-7 via the worldwide web. Seems that around the same time that he was learning to navigate the wide world of Frisbee, Rudy somehow found time to become Webmaster of “Rudy’s Frisbee Dog Site” which he established with the motive of “providing entertainment to other dogs and even some humans.”  The site has had over 93,000 visitors and Rudy personally replies to all emails received through his site.  A rather tricky promise to keep as he’s received emails from all corners of the world including Sweden, Germany, Canada, Japan, Holland, Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and all over the US (from Florida to Alaska).  A winner in every facet of his career, Rudy has not only received awards for his Frisbee competitions but his site has garnered accolades as well.  Visit his site and drop our August Lab of the Month, Rudy a line.  Between Frisbee catching, swimming in the pool and family bonding time he’s promised to squeeze in a reply. 

Tail End:

Interested in the art & sport of disc dog? If you've got a decent arm and a willing Lab, tear yourself away from the Animal Planet channel (where you can bone up on the rules of play,) and check out www.skyhoundz.com. You'll find dates of competitions and demonstrations, rules, and training tips. If you get really into it (lots of trainers do), you may soon be feeding Fido from a Frisbee and shelling out for a vaulting vest, so that you aren't scratched during those off-the-back Freestyle leaps. For more information, visit www.discdog.com, www.ufoworldcup.org and www.iddha.com

 

For your Hyperflite Flying Discs and Training Videos, check out our Toys and Treats Dept

 


  

The Art and Sport of the Disc Dog

Here’s the scoop on the sport:

General Rules

  • Dogs may be off-lead only when competing or practicing.
  • Aggressive canine behavior is not allowed.
  • Dogs in any stage of heat are not allowed.
  • Owners must pick up after their dogs.
  • Abusive treatment of any animal is not allowed.
  • Discussion of scores with the judges during the competition is prohibited. Scores can be discussed after the competition.
  • Proof of rabies vaccinations are often  required to be  provided the day of the event.
  • Competitors may enter up to two dogs per event.
  • Advanced Division teams must use Frisbee Fastback discs, Hyperflyte K9 Competition discs and sometimes soft Floppy discs.  The same type of disc must be used throughout the day’s competition. As a rule all discs types are allowed in the Intro division.
There are two divisions of competition:

Intro (For new and less competitive teams)

Advanced (For more experienced teams)

Since teams may have different skill levels in each of our three event types, division placement is done on a per event basis.

Call them what you will, there are basically two types of Disc Dog competitions: Freestyle & Distance/ Accuracy.

Distance/Accuracy

In the most basic distance events, (aka Toss and Fetch), teams have 60 seconds to complete as many throws and catches as possible. Longer throws result in higher scores. Points are awarded for catches as shown in the Field Layout.

In pure Accuracy events, the set up is the same, but dogs must make catches in marked circles, and in Distance/Accuracy events a field which tapers on either end makes the human team member more of a factor especially on longer throws.

Accuracy Rules
  • Each team is allowed up to 2 practice throws prior to the start of their round. The dog need not participate in the practice throws.
  • Teams will have 60 seconds to make as many throws/catches within marked circles as possible.
  • Points are awarded for catches as shown in the Field Layout. Though distances are fixed, circle locations may vary.
  • At the beginning of a round the time keeper will indicate that they are ready. Time begins when either the disc or the dog crosses the throwers line and continues for one minute.
  • Dog must be behind the throwers line before time can start.
  • Thrower must be within the Thrower's Box whenever a throw is released, but may venture outside the box as otherwise needed.
  • Stepping on or over the Thrower's Box lines at the time the throw is released is a fault and will result in no points for that throw.
  • One or more paws must be within the boundary of the circle at the time of the catch for points to be awarded.
  • If the dog is in the air when the catch is made, the landing point is used to determine scoring.
  • The position of the circles may change for each event , although they will always be the same distance from the throw line.

Freestyle:

Intro division teams have 60 or 90 seconds and Advanced Division have 90 seconds to perform a freestyle routine. These routines consist of timed, choreographed throws, varying in length and a number of tricks done to music.

Freestyle Judging Criteria

Freestyle routines are scored according to the PAWS system: Presentation (a crowd-pleasing routine, good flow, good disc management), Athleticism (degree of intensity, completed catches, tricks and maneuvers, and how well the dogs move relative to size), WOW factor (a novel and unique routine, with varied spins and releases) and, trickiest of all, Success (successfully catching the disc). There are 4 categories, each subdivided into more detailed sub-categories. Each main category is worth up to 12.5 points, for a total possible score of 50.

Agility (12.5 points) The ability of the dog to track the disc, change direction quickly, and leap with grace and ease. Scoring well in this category is not dependent on leaping height, but on style of movement.

Leaping (2.5 pts) The ability of the dog to jump gracefully, and track the disc an adjust in mid-leap. A fluid, graceful one foot jump will score just as high as a four foot jump of similar style.

Tracking/Turning (2.5 pts) The ability of the dog to change directions while running. This change in direction can be either to track a disc or return to the handler for the next trick.

Balance (2.5 pts) The ability of the dog to stand/walk on its hind legs, stand on its handlers body, or perform any other feat of balance.

Execution (5 points) An agile dog must complete it's tricks. This score is simply the number 5 times the ratio of hits to attempts.

Diversity (12.5 Points) The overall variation and creativeness of the tricks performed in the routine. Doing many different tricks, as well as creative variations of 'common' tricks, is the key to doing well in this category. Note that repeating a trick multiple times will not increase a team's chances of a higher score, regardless of how innovative the trick is.

Handler Throws (2.5 points The ability of the handler to successfully complete many different types of throws.

Trick Variety (5 points) The use of a variety of different tricks, which may include vaults, overs, back flips, etc. A dog can approach from the front, side, or behind the handler, and can make the catch while either moving toward or away from or over the handler. Additionally, dogs can use the owner as a springboard, move over or under the owner prior to during, or after the trick. Get ready to be wowed by fabulous flips and soaring leaps, often off human vaults.

Creativity (5 points) This is a tough one to quantify, but basically if a team does the same tricks every other team is doing, with no unique addition, the score in this sub category will be low.

Difficulty (12.5 Points) The overall complexity of the tricks in the routine. A trick's difficulty is determined by several factors.

Throwing Difficulty (3.5 pts) The difficulty of the attempted throws, with respect to timing, position, and accuracy.

Difficulty of the Catch (4.0 pts) The difficulty of the attempted catch with respect to timing, disc position, line of site to the disc and tracking time.

Execution (5 points) Five times the ratio of catches to attempts.

Presentation (12.5 Points) The overall enjoyment a viewer experiences when watching the performance. How well did the routine flow together into a total package?

Showmanship (2.5 points) A team should try to showcase their talents and highlight the abilities of both dog and thrower. Composure, crowd interaction, and professionalism all apply here.

Choreography (2.5 points) Did the tricks in the routine flow together into a single performance or did it appear there were 15 tricks done separately?

Disc Management (2.5 points) Did the handler and dog run around picking up discs while the crowd looked on, or was disc collection melded with the routine such that the crowd did not even notice it?

Execution (5 points)

     Five times the ratio of catches to attempts.

     Pre-Routines: Many competitors perform a *short* introduction without the use of a disc.

    A well done pre-routine can help a team’s score but a poor one can hurt it.

Freestyle Rules
  • Teams consist of one dog and one thrower.
  • Teams may use up to 6 discs.
  • Time begins when the first disc is thrown or moved by the dog.
  • Competitors wishing to use music must provide a cued, labeled cassette tape to the sound desk prior to taking the field. Music will be started upon a cue from the thrower.
  • Throws released prior to time expiring will be judged even if the trick ends after time expires.
  • Costumes which endanger the dog or thrower are not allowed.
  • Tricks that present the possibility of injury, such as excessively high vaults and moves that require awkward landings are discouraged.
  • In 2004, the addition of Pairs Freestyle was added, employing the choreographed throwing of two throwers and one canine - truly a sight to behold.

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