I was invited down to Belconnen Dog Obedience Club last night to their Mitchell grounds to watch a number of disc dogs perform. It was an amazing night watching these high-performance dogs leap and jump at a fairly fast pace to catch these fast-flying discs.
Disc dogs is a fast action sport for agile dogs. Discs are enjoyed by all dogs of all shapes and sizes. There were high-flying border collies and kelpies that were able to catch the discs in the air. While the smaller dogs and larger labradors that could not leap and jump so they were restricted to catching the rolling disc.
There were a series of games to keep these dogs entertained and motivated. While I was there were two interesting games – Funky and greedy. Each of these games kept both the owners and their pets running and leaping around on the field or jumping over hurdles and running through tunnels. A number of competitors and their dogs enjoyed PBs during the game of greedy.
It was quite a challenging sport to photograph as the dogs were travelling at quite a high speed. A fast focusing camera and fast lens were crucial to catching the action. I was relying on my trusty D500 to captures the images of the evening. The camera handled the high ISO as the sun started to drop.
My favourite dog of the evening? Well, that was an interesting and difficult choice as there were so many potential candidates. I really could not go past the high-flying and leaping border collies, in which there were too many to nominate. It was absolutely majestic watching them fly through the air to catch the discs.
Not all dogs were interested in catching flying discs. Others were happy just to watch the other perform and imagine what it is like to catch the disc.
It was a fantastic and entertaining evening. Next on the agenda is flyball competition.