Why is agility okay but not frisbee?

Because they will bend their bodies whatever way they MUST to catch the thing so they land in all sorts of positions.  Frisbee is big impact on the head, neck and jaw ... THAT could hurt alone.  (it can kill the teeth)

 Agility is somewhat easier and at least a predictable path (altho it can be heck on knees). 

This is why my dogs don't do 'sports' -- the animal has to be in super good condition to be agile enough to do them without harm, but when there is a pre-existing injury it's worse. 

 If there was a shoulder (as in front leg??) then it's probably taking a big impact when he catches the Frisbee (try it -- try catching an object moving that fast in your mouth and see how your neck and shoulders feel????).  A Frisbee isn't just an object thrown straight so the impact isn't straight back.  A Frisbee travels in circles as well so they stop the rotation with their mouth and neck as well as absorbing the impact of it as it travels 'straight'.  Make sense now?

I think its because Agility is more structured, focused work with mostly forward action.  And frisbee is playtime, so the dog is more likely to just throw its body around in any way neccessary in order to catch or run after the frisbee. And the impact hitting the ground after catching it mid air is tougher on the body   I dunno, I'm no expert...just seems to make sense.

The yelping is as he takes off to catch the frisbee, not upon landing.  This is how it's been since last October.  Originally he DID have an issue with the agility as well -- the chiropractor visits helped immensely with that and he's been jumping sound since December.

It's always been the right hind, too.  We did x-rays last fall and he is perfectly clean.  He has very tight muscles back there, though.

 My only suggestion would be to video tape both and then watch the differences.  And his shoulder was injured before but now it's his hind end?  Is he jumping straight up instead of forward? 

The chiropractor said that it is very common for lateral lameness issues to crop up after an injury -- it's because he likely overcompensated for a sore shoulder (left front).  The shoulder injury was fully rested (bicipital tendinitus) and the hind end issue cropped up when we went back to agility.

His jumping style when catching the frisbee is definitely different.  In agility he jumps in more of an arc.  With the frisbee he launches his whole body either flat out forward or straight into the air (depending on where the frisbee goes).

If it's a muscle thing, though, I would think that any jumping would bother him.

Kaiser has a vet appointment this afternoon and I plan on asking my vet about this then.  He's been doing a lot of research on sporting dogs/injuries lately, so maybe he'll have an idea.

Recently Teddi had her 6 month follow up from her total hip replacement surgery and our surgeon told us NO FETCH!!! however she can start agility again. I think the sudden stops, leaps straight up and landing on hard ground, quick turns I think they are more amplified in frisbee/fetch games than in agility. Teddi can not do full height jumps (for her height) or full height contacts ever because of the stress on the joint. She can play but only in moderation. I was hopeful she might measure small enough to run preferred at 16" so she could compete in jumpers with weaves, but alas she is too tall. Classes only.

From reading your posts, it sounds like several things to me:

He's very tight muscled so he needs a good warm up (with no jumps) and stretch before playing - weaving through legs, having him stand up and put his paws on your shoulders to stretch all the muscles out, etc. 

Some dogs jump to catch frisbees really badly, without worrying about getting hurt or not. So doing more foot awareness and jumping exercises may help.

You teach him to jump better by working on your own frisbee placement. When I was training with "the frisbee dog pros" they told me that every dog has that sweet spot, vertically, for disc placement. If you hit that vertical hover spot every time they learn to expect that and plan their jumps better.  So, right now it's likely your erratic disc placement that is causing him to stop short and adjust his leap off position which probably twists muscles and such. 

Hold the frisbee out, while standing still and have him jump and grab the frisbee from your hand. Does he act hurt then? Adjust where you hold the disc and see what his limits are.

Once you figure out where you need to place the disc vertically, get a shovel or stick or something that you can drive in the ground and work on tossing the disc to that exact spot from different distances.

Jewilee's stuff is super good help for you -- but just more from the logic standpoint.  Don't forget how stoic dogs are.  They will "do" even if it hurts ... and it's only when it gets intolerable that they limp or show it.

So it may be that agility does hurt ... but the sudden part of the Frisbee simply puts him over the edge of TOO much pain.  But a dog that is really driven will do whatever it takes to snag it.  They won't think "Hmmm better not do that -- I might get hurt".  That's just not in their vocabulary.  Jewilee's suggestions are probably the best you could get!

Great post Jewlieee!  Pretty much exactly what the vet said last night.  Dr. Randy brought in their canine physical therapist for consult.

The whole warm-up/stretching thing was their first recommendation.  I always be sure to massage & stretch Luke before starting agility, but we go out cold for frisbee because I view it as "play time" instead of work.  They suggested to try doing some warm-up stretches and to have Luke chase the Chuck-it for a while before throwing the frisbee to see if it makes a difference.

Kaiser goes back for his next shot in two weeks and we scheduled extra time for them to "play" with Luke.  The PT wants to try some stuff on him -- gait analysis, cavaletti work, etc.  They have a theory that Luke has learned to jump differently since his original injuries in order to be more comfortable (weighting the right hind more, for example).  They wonder if, in his exuberance to catch the frisbee, he "forgets" about his jumping style and uses the right hind more than he does in agility.

The PT also figures that he's using different muscles for launching up to get the frisbee than he does while arcing over the jump in agility.  She's going to do some research in the next couple of weeks to try to find some exercises that can help.

It's not the end of the world if Luke can't be a frisbee dog anymore -- It just frustrates me that he is fine with agility (and no, I don't think there is pain there anymore) but frisbee gets to him.