Pitch and go for dogs

This is a fairly young type of competition. It originated only at the beginning of the 2008th century in Japan, where the culture of communication with dogs is very developed. A little later, he came to Europe, but in our country he appeared only in XNUMX. And although pitch and go has a lot of admirers in Russia, it has not yet received official recognition, while competitions have been held in Europe for a long time. It cannot be said that in our country you will not be able to enjoy the competitive spirit in this discipline, it will simply not be official, that’s all.

What is the difference between pitch and go and stick game? When you throw a toy to your dog, it jumps impatiently at your feet and takes off as soon as the “projectile” goes into the distance. In pitch and go, the main difference is that the dog should run after the toy only along team, without amateur performance and false start. That is, in addition to the physical skills of the pet (the speed of bringing the toy, rather, an additional bonus), the ability of a person and an animal to work in a team is checked, unquestioningly obedience one and the clarity of action of the second.

General rules

Any dog ​​can take part in this fun, regardless of pedigree, age or size. The exception is aggressive animals, as well as sick pets. The division of participants is carried out according to size into three categories: mini – up to 35 cm at the withers, midi – from 35 (inclusive) to 43 cm, maxi – from 43 cm inclusive.

There are fewer restrictions for people. Both an adult and a child can be a handler, if he is able to control his pet.

Shell

Usually, industrially made toys are used for pitch and go: balls, woven textile sticks, and so on. Can’t just take frisbee is a separate sport. In competitions, one team can use only one item.

Area

The competition field is a platform 10-15 meters wide and 25 meters long. Every 5 meters the field is divided into transverse sectors. Thus, five zones are obtained, which correspond to a different number of points – from 5 to 25. In some zones there are circles – hitting a projectile there increases the number of points.

The task

Each team has 90 seconds to perform. During this time, the person and the dog must make as many throws as possible in order to score the maximum possible number of points. During the throw, both the handler and the dog must be in the starting area. The countdown starts as soon as the subject for fetching crosses the starting line. When the projectile is thrown, the dog, on command, must run up to it and bring it back, while at least one of its paws must cross the starting line. In addition, a dog can pick up an object only from the ground or during a rebound (caught on the fly will not be counted).

Points

For each throw, points are awarded depending on the zone where the projectile hit. The points added up for all attempts are the overall result of the team. If suddenly several teams have the same number of points, then the victory is given to the one that made the least number of throws. If suddenly this indicator also coincides, a series of “penalties” is assigned, that is, additional throws.