Canine Sports - Something for Everyone

So you are just sitting around watching TV with your dog and wondering what you and your best friend can do together that would get you out of the house and build a better bond.

I would recommend that you start with an obedience class or two.  A solid understanding of basic commands is the basis for anything that you may want to do with your dog, even if it is just taking them for a walk or a visit to the dog park.  If you have not taken classes in obedience then I suggest you look up your local dog club or training center in your area and make that call.  It will be the best thing you can do for you and your dog and the basis for the rest of my article and your life with your dog.

So now we zoom ahead a few months and you have taken some obedience classes and you and your dog have a good understanding of the basic commands and you want to build on that groundwork.  Here is where your choices are almost unlimited.  Actually, they are only limited by the amount of time (and money) you have and in some cases the breed of dog you have. 

I started making a list of a few activities that are pretty well known, such as advanced obedience and agility and kept writing until I had a list that will keep you pretty busy.  So here it goes, fun things to do with your dog:

·    Agility – a course made up of various jumps, contact obstacles, tunnels, chutes and weave poles.  Competitors have a limited amount of time to complete the course with as few errors as possible.

·    Canine Freestyle – an obedience routine set to music and dance.

·    Carting – getting your dog to pull a cart loaded or unloaded around a course in a limited amount of time. 

·    Dock Diving – tossing a floating bumper out over a “dock” into water and having the dog leap out over the water to retrieve said bumper.  Distance is measured.

·    Earthdog – sending certain breeds of dogs (terriers) underground in tunnels to track mice/rats.

·    Flyball – think high speed relay racing/drag racing where a team of 4 dogs jump over a series of 4 hurdles to a box loaded with a ball, grabbing it and then racing back.  (Very simplistic view that requires an article on its own).

·    Flying Disc – can be as basic as tossing a disc for your dog to as complicated as freestyle pairs competitions.

·    Herding – certain breeds of dogs (herding) are taught to herd sheep, cattle, geese, etc. by a series of commands or whistles.

·    Hunt/Field Trials – Sporting dogs retrieve, point, flush and toll various birds.

·    Lure Coursing – Sight hounds race around a course chasing a lure which is on a pulley system.

·    Nose Work – finding objects through their scent.  Drug/bomb sniffing dogs should come to mind, but the field is open to everything from bedbugs and mold to cancer.

·    Schutzhund - is sport that was developed to test whether certain breeds (GSD, Malinois, Dobbies, Rotties) exhibit the traits necessary for police-type work.

·    Skijoring – cross country skiing with your dog pulling you.

·    Dog Sledding – think Iditarod, although a southern variation uses specialized sleds with wheels.

·    Tracking – picking up a scent and following it to the person or item being tracked.

·    Search and Rescue – a specialized group of people and dogs who search for people who have been lost or injured or in the recovery of bodies at disaster sites.

·    Treibball – herding without the sheep.

·    Weight pulling – mainly bully type (muscular) breeds compete in pulling a cart loaded with weights across a distance.

There are many, many more that I’m probably not aware of or just didn’t think of at the time.  I did my list in alphabetical order so as not to give preference to any of these activities although I have my favorites.  If you are not familiar with some of them, don’t worry, you will be soon.

Today’s focus is on Treibball.  A game that uses obedience and herding cues to get the dog to move a "flock" of eight large exercise (Pilates-type) balls set up in a triangle pattern (similar to the traditional racking of pool balls) into a goal area.  The handler stands some a distance away at the opening of a soccer type goal net and directs the dog as to which ball must be moved first and from there in what order the balls must be moved into the goal.  The dog can only move the ball that he is directed to move each time and the game concludes when all eight balls have been “herded into the pen.”  This game/sport is suited to any dog breed and age as it is low impact and, if played for fun, does not need to be timed.  You also don’t need to be athletic to participate, which makes it great for the couch potato team that is just starting out.  The value in this game is developing a working cooperation between the dog and handler.  Don’t have eight balls; maybe you can start a team with 7 other people.

You can find more information on this sport from the American Treibball Association.  They even have a American Treibball YouTube channel!

As my list shows, there are many fun activities that you can do with your dogs.  Each one could and should be a blog on its own.  In the coming months we will discuss several of these activities in greater depth.  Stay tuned for a discussion on flyball and canine flying disc in one of my next blogs.

On a personal note, I’m going to try to get blogs out twice a month at the beginning and middle of the month.  One blog will probably be on a health or safety issue with dogs and the other one will be on a fun topic. 

I know that leaving feedback is sometimes difficult on blog sites as you have to sign up, etc., but I would love for you to become a fan at facebook.com/performancedogproducts or follow us at twitter.com/performancedog and leave me either feedback or an idea.  I welcome all suggestions.  As always remember…

Enjoy Life – Have Fun With Your Dog!