All winter long I have had the unique pleasure of enjoying my favorite sport, Canine Disc, in the comfort of my warm, dry office. Visions of discs careening off computer screens and dogs leaping off desk tops come to mind. As amusing as those thoughts may be, I haven’t had to hurl the disc inside once and my dog is usually curled up at my feet when I sit at the desk in my rather small cubicle. So how have I been enjoying Canine Disc in my office on these wintery days? I’ll tell you. Glen Speckert’s CD Rom, "Dog, Disc, and Wind" is about as close to the real thing as you can get without being at the field with your best friend. Thanks to modern technology, disc dog handlers all over the world can now enjoy the thrills of Canine Disc without leaving the house.

"Dog, Disc, and Wind" is the first CD Rom of its kind. Catering to the Canine Disc enthusiast, the CD is a virtual catalogue of freestyle Canine Disc maneuvers. Speckert and his athletic Cattle Dog, Shaman provide several different options for viewing and reading about a long list of freestyle maneuvers. Each "trick" can be selected with a click of the mouse button. Following a selection, an information page appears with a detailed explanation of the trick along with options for visual representations that can be selected for close viewing of the maneuver. The visual representations take the form of Quicktime movies and still photos taken in rapid sequence that give a step by step view of the trick in its varying stages of execution.

It is obvious from the moment that "Dog, Disc, and Wind" appears on the computer screen that this is a well-conceived project and the result of hundreds of hours at the field practicing with the dog and designing the CD.  Even with only modest computer skills, "Dog, Disc, and Wind" is easy to navigate. On occasion, clicking the "Help" button proved to be useful. From a computer layperson's perspective, using this CD Rom is a "no-brainer".

While it is easy to use, very entertaining, as well as being an excellent educational resource, "Dog, Disc, and Wind" is not really for beginners. You will not get the basic information you need to start your dog on the road to becoming a disc dog. If your dog is not yet catching and retrieving, "Dog, Disc, and Wind" can still provide plenty of entertainment and inspiration, but it is particularly suited as a reference for disc dog teams that are past the basics. In this capacity, it is an excellent source of information. Since this is truly a superb medium for learning about the sport of Canine Disc, I’m certain we will see many more CD Roms in the future. Speckert and Shaman have blazed a trail that others are sure to follow. This Canine Disc team has set a standard that will be tough to live up to. However, this challenge and the elements of competition, innovation and hard work are what has made Canine Disc the exciting sport it is today.