6 Exciting Dog Sports and Activities

If you are looking for fun things to do with your dog, or if you love the discipline, competition and intensity that dog sports provide, there are a lot of exciting options out there for you and your dog.  It doesn’t matter if your dog is large or small, there is a sport out there for you both.

Dock Dogs, which originally aired on ESPN in 2000, is a great sport for dogs that love to jump and swim.  Participants of Dock Dogs, Splash Dogs, and other similar organizations use a toy or other motivator to encourage their dog to launch off of a dock and land into a large pool of water.  The distance traveled by the dog is measure by a complex computer and results are compared to determine a winner in a variety of categories. This sport combines huge air, extreme vertical, and big splashes that always get the crowds excited.

Lure Coursing is a modern sport that developed from the ancient sport of live game coursing.  Lure coursing now uses a mechanical device to pull simulated prey along a large course filled with multiple turns.  This sport was designed for sight hounds that hunt with their eyes, not their nose, and tests the dogs’ ability and desire to chase prey.

Agility is a sport where the handler directs the dog through a obstacle course composed of tunnels, dog walks, A-Frames, weave poles, jumps and more.  Agility truly is a team sport, the handler must decide and communicate the fastest and most acurate way for their canine partner to navigate the course.  Timing, directional control, trust and body language are all essential skills in this sport.

Disc Dogs is a series of competitions where handlers throw Frisbees (or discs) to their canine partners.  The events are made up of choreographed routines and distance catching; both having a point system and winners are chosen in a variety of categories.  The organized routine part of the competition is mainly where the handlers can showcase their dogs’ tricks, speed,  jumping ability and drive for the discs.

Protection Sports provide an outlet for civilian competition in canine obedience and controlled protection work.  This sport combines on and off-leash obedience and agility obstacles with real-world personal protection scenarios ranging from gun fire, car jacking, multiple attackers and fleeing apprehension.

Flyball is a dog sport where teams of dogs race against each other over a series of hurdles to retrieve a tennis ball from a spring loaded box and return back over the hurdles.  One dog from each team races at a time, it is sort of a relay race that is complete when the final dog from the team crosses the finish line.

If you are looking to get your dog involved in any of these sports, there are usually local clubs or organizations that can help you out.  By doing a little searching on the web and attending a local event or two, you can quickly start to get the feel for how fun and addicting these dog sports can be.

Remember that obedience is the foundation for any sport or activity you do with your dog.  You cannot have a successful day on the dock or on the agility field if you do not have basic off-leash control over your dog; the basic control that we are talking about is all routed in obedience.  I know that you are not going to formally heel your dog on the dock, but you will be using a come, sit/stay and a release command.  If you need help with laying the foundation for future participation in sports or activities, contact Unleashed Unlimited Dog Training – we specialize in off-leash control and having FUN with our dogs!

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