Yesterday I took the plunge and entered Zoey in a Skyhoundz disc dog competition held at the Hazeldale dog park “Dog Day Afternoon” event. Since it was one of the first local competitions I’d ever seen, I just assumed most everyone there would be a total novice.
Uh…maybe not.
Zoey and I have been practicing for about a month now. I’m guessing a lot of the other competitors had been doing this disc-dog thing for a few years.
I didn’t let the competition scare me off though. Zoey was, not surprisingly, the only Corgi there (and really the only small dog in the whole competition). The people at the event were very friendly and helpful–I felt very welcomed and at home, if somewhat under-prepared.
We entered the freestyle competition which meant we had to do one round of ‘distance and accuracy’ (throw the disc within a designated area and get points when the dog catches it) and one round of freestyle (tricks with the disc). Our distance and accuracy could have been better (my fault–I’m not a very good thrower) but our freestyle routine went pretty well. Most of the competitors in freestyle had Aussies and Border Collies and those dogs can do some amazing tricks–as can their handlers. There were handlers that juggled frisbees, dogs that LAUNCHED themselves off their handlers chests and backs and dogs that did amazing flips probably 6-8 feet up in the air.
Zoey and I had a more simplistic routine 
with her doing a lot of jumping over my legs (really, my ankles) and a few leg weaves. She also got to ‘roll-0ver’ with the frisbee in her mouth several times, which she thoroughly enjoyed. We both had a good time and, if nothing else, showed people Corgis can do (almost) anything the big dogs can do! If you’ve never seen a disc dog competition, I HIGHLY recommend it. They are very entertaining. I’m going to go searching for videos of other Corgis who do disc dog (there must be some) so I can see what types of tricks they do.
