Competitive Dog Sports – Part 1

Pets are part of many families and they want to be active and do fun things with their dogs. To accomplish that, people have created sports for dogs and people to participate in together. Most of the dog sports have been created since the 1970’s. They offer opportunities to increase the human-animal bond and to work on new interests and skills. Dog sports may be undertaken for fun or the handler-dog team may earn points and pursue competitive titles. Generally, tests or matches are for entered for fun or practice while trials award points to the top teams. Teams may work toward titles from the novice to the master level. Most of the sports are open to all dogs, including mixed breeds. You will be familiar with some of the sports, probably after viewing them on television or on You Tube while others will unfamiliar and even seem a bit strange.

Agility is a very popular dog sport that has been around since 1978. It is very popular with the herding breeds but it is open to all dogs who are healthy and active. Some agility events make allowances for disabled dogs. The dog works off leash as the handler directs the dog around an obstacle course that consists of jumps, a seesaw, weave poles, tunnels, an elevated walk, and over an A-frame. It is a timed event.

Barn Hunt is a relatively new sport that began around 2000 by a woman who had a dog who was not eligible to participate in Earth Dog events. Barn Hunt is open to any dog who can fit through an 18 inch wide tunnel made of bales of straw or hay. The dogs work to locate a rat in aerated dog safe tubes that are placed in the search area. There may be more than one rat in the search area. Once the dog locates a rat, they sit, paw or provide another behavior to signal to the handler that the rat has been found. Barn hunt allows dogs the opportunity to hunt and follow scents somewhat reminiscent of the skills that farm dogs would have.

Conformation shows have existed in the U.S. since 1874. Some people describe conformation shows as a dog beauty contest. Only pure bred dogs are allowed to enter confirmation shows. Dogs are judged on how close the dog comes to the breed standard. The format is very formal with specific movements for the handler and the dog. In addition, the handler cannot speak to the dog during the showing. The Westminster Dog Show is a top-tier example of a conformation show.

Dock Diving began as a dog sport in 1978. It is for dogs over six months old who love water and retrieving. Dogs jumps off of a dock into a long pool to retrieve a toy thrown by the handler. The longest jump before splash down wins. Champion dock diving dogs have jumped over thirty feet.

Disc Dog is a sport that combines dogs and frisbees. The sport has been around since 1974. Freestyle is the most popular version of the sport. The sport is played on a large field that is divided into zones. The handler throws frisbees to different areas of the field to their dog who makes spectacular runs and jumps to catch the frisbees within a specified time limit. Showman-ship is part of the sport. Disc dog is face paced and it is open to very athletic dogs of all breeds.

Drafting and Carting as a sport started in the 1970s as a way for dogs to mimic the jobs that they used to have of pulling loaded carts around the farm or to take items to market. The dog is harnessed to a cart loaded with weights and dogs pull the carts for distances. The weight pulled is based on the size of the dog with larger dogs pulling larger loads. Many dogs really enjoy pulling so this is an ideal sport for them. The sport is open to all breeds and the sport can be undertaken in rural and urban settings.

Earth Dog is a sport for smaller terriers and Dachshunds. It gives them the opportunity to follow a scent trail underground and hunt vermin as they were originally bred to do. The sport of Earth Dog was created around 1970. Now days, artificial scent trails are put down in manmade tunnels. Then, a dog enters the tunnel and follows the scent to reach the pray which is a rat is a very secure box. The dog cannot reach the rat. As dogs become more experienced the tunnel length increases from 10 feet to upwards of 300 feet, with multiple turns, and it must be completed within ninety seconds.

Flyball is a fast paced relay race for dog teams. Flyball is open to all dogs over eighteen months old. The dogs need to be social around other dogs, very fit, and enjoy running and tennis balls. There are four dogs on a team. There are hurdles along the course. The height of the hurdles is based on the height of the shortest dog on the team so most teams have one very short but fast team member. The dogs run the course one at a time. From the start line, they run, jump hurdles, and touch a push pad on a box at the end of the course. The touch pad releases a tennis ball that the dog catches and they run back down the course back to the starting line. Then, the next dog runs and it continues until all four dogs have completed the course. The team that completes the relay the fastest wins. Top competitive teams can complete the course under fifteen seconds while average teams finish in around twenty seconds.