That’s when we discovered Hero Discs.  I’ve noticed over the past year, lots of people have switched over to Hero from Fastback – and there are so many varieties.  I’m the one who handles all of the disc ordering in the house, so I know them all by name and weight and function.

We switched Lilli to Super Hero discs exclusively after trying all of the “Super” style discs (Super = hard bite/durable) – and pretty much everyone we talk to – all the old cats – think it’s ridiculous that we use such a heavy, soft disc for freestyle.   We did come from an Ultimate background after all, so although Super Heros are the heaviest disc, they are still quite a bit lighter and smaller than the 175′s we’re used to tossing.

When we got Moxie -Tracy had tested her on Fastbacks, so I tried those out first.  She had a really solid 85% catch percentage right out of the shelter.  I didn’t want to mess with it, so I stuck with light discs.  Fastbacks had the same effect though and Moxie’s typical ACD jaws of death literally tore through each disc in one session.  I heard about the new Hero 235′s, so I got a set of those reading that they fly like a Fastback, but they are more durable.  That is accurate – they don’t tear like Fastbacks do, but they still get really punctured and edgy after a few sessions – albeit lasting much longer than it’s predecessor.

Moxie and I have been practicing for our freestyle routine for the upcoming USDDN Fun in the Sun Qualifier this weekend and her catch percentage the past 2 weeks or so has tanked.  The conditions have been windier and her inexperience has made it hard for her to read discs and again, being a cattle dog, she tends to pre-jump in anticipation.  After 5 or so rough routines in a row, and most of the misses coming on her usually-rock-solid 20 yard toss and catch, we did a run-through with Jason’s Super Heros.  It was also the first practice without 20 mph wind gusts too so go figure.

The result was much improved.  She had a much higher catch percentage than with the 235′s and BOY does she LOVE to tug those rubbery discs!!!  I can hang on fine if I keep her front feet off the ground, but if she gets full tug leverage with those discs – wow she’ll take my fingers off with her head whip!  So I’ve decided this weekend for the event, I’ll run her with Super Heros and see how that works.  I’ll likely catch all the same “heavy disc” flack from the veterans…

Next up – a post about all the different disc types, styles, weights, etc that we’ve tried over the past 3 years.

For those of you who aren’t on FB or haven’t heard yet…there is a new member of the Dragondogs.  Moxie.

Moxie is our first ACD aka Australian Cattle Dog aka Blue Heeler.  Tracy Custer evaluated her and sent her info out into the disc dog network about an awesome Frisbeast.  Abby knew that I was looking for a new dog, so she sent me the link with a note that said… here is your dog.  It went kinda backwards from there.  Some other guy wanted her too – so I made the patient and responsible choice after a really cool chat with Apryl … I’ll wait another 6 months until Leila is a bit more established.  The dog would have another great disc home to go to so no worries.

The day after – or maybe it was a couple days after – I made that very responsible and patience choice, I get a message saying that the guy never claimed her and she still needed a home.  Oh well now that just changed the whole game!  The rest of the story is not that interesting – we got her and a nice lady drove her down here from St. Louis to Tampa.

The next morning it started – we got right to play cause Lord knows…there wasn’t another option for Moxie.  She was ready to go.  Her growth has been ridiculous – stupid – insane.  I’ll let you see for yourself just the difference between day 1 (session 2) and day 2 (session 2).  This girl can jam.  Enjoy!

Last night I figured I’d try teaching her to flip in the usual space where we do all of her shaping – inside on the carpet.  She loved it!  She did some little “umpa lumpas” and was very emphatic and focused.  I think I’m on to something!

This morning, she was extra amped and playful in her crate so I brought her out to try some more flip practice on the shaping carpet.  She was a disc monster – tugging and flipping and stretching to do more a real flip motion while coming back for more.  (Most often outside during training, she’ll take a tug but doesn’t hold or really pull on the disc.)

I have a new plan.  I’ll teach her to flip, catch butterflies and some short tosses on the carpet inside and when I feel she’s super confident, bring it back outside.  Hopefully building her confidence in the action itself, when she goes outside to practice, the stress of the training itself will be minimized or gone altogether. Check out a quick video of this morning’s session.

We’ve also put a couple more pounds on her over the past few weeks after Jason suggested it may be better for her.  She was very lean like the other girls – which is what I like to see in a disc dog.  However she comes from conformation lines and it seemed she was too lanky -and floppy.  She now seems much more balanced and strong and she didn’t flop at all during flip training – rather landed soundly.

I love the challenge that our girls have brought to us.  They are all very different and it has motivated me to be a multi-dimensional trainer versus just doing things the one way I know how.  We have one hardcore, one soft and one aloof.  I’m certainly looking forward to our next hardcore!!  Learning about the different personalities and training styles that are effective for each dog have taught me the value of assessing the individual dog for how they learn.  There isn’t a single perfect formula.  I plan to write a post soon about different training approaches.  The thought came to me after a great conversation with Apryl Lea yesterday – she helped me by figuring out what type of student I am.  Anyway…more on that later…

A side note. When you are committed to something, you can almost always find a way…