Butterfly Grips and Throws

The butterfly throw was one of the first tricks we learned with Lilli.  I think John Arnett introduced us to the butterfly flow in our first ever lesson with him.  Lilli took to them right away.  Then 6 months later we went to disc dog camp at Pawsitive Vybe and learned new grips and tricks.  After the Paws camp this past summer, we added the butterfly vaults and my favorite, the butterfly backflip – which was the favorite trick in Lilli’s first competitive freestyle routine at Canis Major #1!

It may look simple enough but if you don’t know the techniques of throwing a good butterfly to your dog, you can stand bewildered for months….even YEARS as to WHY your dog won’t catch butterflies and all these other cool disc dogs are!  Well now you can breathe – be at ease.  We have a video to show you the basics of butterfly throws.

The butterfly throw is challenging to catch and can add variety – and a ton of difficulty to a freestyle routine.  Overs and vaults and flips can all be spiced up with a butterfly toss.  The most common detail that’s missed is to help your dog by spinning the disc towards their mouth.  Shhhh…don’t tell everyone you know or it will take away from the “cool trick factor”.  If you have any cool ideas or videos of how to include a butterfly into another trick – we’d love to see it!