With the lack of dog sports and clubs offered in northern Michigan, one local woman wants to bring more options to the area, starting with disc dog league.
Taylor Featherstone Carigon, who owns three dogs with her husband, said she first got involved with disc league in the fall of 2023. While she just moved back to the area in the spring, she previously lived downstate in Grand Rapids for several years, where she first discovered and joined a disc league for her dogs.
Introducing disc league, one of the easier sports for dogs to get involved in, was the first step to offering more dog sports up north, Carigon said, as anyone with a dog is welcomed to join in and play. The game itself involves a team, which is considered a handler and dog, and follows the rules of K9 Frisbee Toss & Fetch throughout the five-week league season. Teams within each league are ranked against all other teams in the league around the world, and the top teams score points for their local club. The club with the most points wins.
“Anyone can play and it’s the cheapest dog sport there is. It’s really low pressure, both you and your dog get to have a lot of fun and the people are really just relaxed and low pressure, too,” Carigon said. “I feel like disc leagues, along with dock diving, they’re kind of like gateway sports and they’re just really easy for people to join… So for people who have been curious or don’t even know that dog sports exist, it’s just a really great place to start.”
Carigon said she never thought she’d be one those people trying to start a disc league, but noting how Michigan in general lacks in the dog sports arena, wanted to make it possible for others to try out the sport that herself and dogs have benefited from since starting.
“We don’t have anything here — the closest thing if people wanted to play in a disc league is in West Branch… then there’s a couple (leagues) in Grand Rapids and Grand Haven,” she said. “People obviously love their dogs and they do everything in their power to make their dogs happy. I think a lot of them don’t even know that this whole dog sport even exists, so it’s just another outlet for people to have fun with their dogs and for their dogs to get their extra crazies out. So many people are surprised at how good their dogs end up being at ‘insert dog sport…’” A long-term goal and hope of Carigon’s is to open a small training sport trial compound in the area. In the meantime though, she anticipates starting an official league by Jan. 12, adding that she already has more than 20 members in her Facebook group “Northern Attitude Dog Club” that want to be part of the fun come next year.
“So I’m hoping at least half of that will join the league and then we’ll start our first season on Jan. 12,” she said. “... We don’t do too many dog sports, we have our border collie that does dock diving, and our little terrier started doing flyball and agility, so we’ve met people through that, but the people in disc league are just — they’re something special — they’re very kind and incredibly welcoming.”
Rates are $15 per team, and if you’re a person who is competing with multiple dogs, it’s $10 for each additional dog. To learn more about participating in the disc league, contact Carigon at 231-632-3980 or join the Facebook group “Northern Attitude Dog Club.”
