Try a New Dog Sport!

Are You and Your Dog Bored? Try a New Dog Sport!

By: LukEli K-9 Dog Training and Behavior Modification Professionals

Do you spend all day at work while your pooch sits at home, waiting for your return? If so, its probably safe to say that your dog is under-stimulated and may be on the verge of inventing new ways of entertaining themselves that you may find difficult to appreciate. Bored and under-stimulated dogs can turn to many behaviors to keep themselves occupied: barking and/or chasing cars and people, chewing or biting themselves, digging up your garden, chasing squirrels or cats, destructive chewing, or even growling at and/or biting strangers to name a few. Suffice to say; either you pick the game or your dog will! While physical exercise is certainly important to your pooch’s overall health, mental stimulation and exercise will tire your dog out in a way you’ll be amazed to see.There are several ways to accomplish this end: obedience training, dog puzzles, trick training, dog sports, plus many more.

Dog sports are a great way to provide your dog with physical and mental stimulation, as well as introducing you to new people who have like-minded interests. With that in mind, all you have to do is pick a dog sport you think you and your canine companion would enjoy. The list of potential dog sports is long, so I’ll only talk about a few of the less-mentioned, but no less interesting dog sports:

•   Obedience - Foundational obedience behaviors are necessary and a key ingredient to a happy, tired dog!

Sushi the Corgi LOVES
 playing Treibball!

•   Treibball - A positive reinforcement, competitive dog sport in which a dog must gather and drive large exercise balls into a soccer goal. The dog works in close cooperation with the handler, who is only allowed to use whistles, verbal, or hand signals to direct her dog. No verbal or physical corrections are used in Treibball. The balls have been referred to as “rolling sheep” in recognition that this sport stems from herding for dogs that do not have access to live animals. Herding breeds are bred for working and as such they may stand to benefit the most from having an outlet for their innate drive, though any dog with the appropriate motivation can learn to enjoy Treibball. Some Breeds that may have the herding drive which makes them great candidates for this sport: Blue Heeler, Australian Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, Australian Cattle Dog, Corgi, and Collie, among others.

•   Lure Coursing - a sport for dogs that involves chasing a mechanically operated lure. Competition is typically limited to dogs of purebred sight hound breeds, although there is an AKC pass/fail trial for all breeds called the Coursing Ability Test. Lure Coursing provides a great outlet for your dog’s natural prey drive (the drive that causes your dog to want to chase every cat and squirrel in the neighborhood) and can be a fun, informal club atmosphere. It’s great fun to watch your dog chasing like mad after a lure on a prescribed course!

•   Flyball - a relay dog sport in which teams of dogs race against each other from a start/finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad, then back to their handlers while carrying the ball. Another fairly simple sport to train and set up, but high energy for the dogs and tons of fun to watch for the entire family.

•   Dock Jumping - also known as dock diving is a dog sport in which dogs compete in jumping for distance or height from a dock into a body of water. Just as fun as it sounds! Throw a ball off the dock and watch your dog leap in joy to retrieve it (a note of caution: be sure the area below the surface of the water is free of dangerous objects. You don’t want your dog to land on anything that could injure them).

•   Rally Obedience - a dog sport based on obedience. Unlike regular obedience, instead of waiting for a judges orders, the competitors proceed around a course of designated stations with the dog in heel position and handlers are allowed to encourage their dogs through the course using praise and food rewards. The course consists of 10-20 signs that instruct the team what to do as they go through the course. Rally has three levels: Novice, Advanced, and Excellent. This enables a dog and owner team of almost any skill level to participate. Rally Obedience is an excellent way to train for obedience and compete for fun at the same time.

The four dog sports I’ve mentioned are just a few of the available options when it comes to your dog flexing their mental muscles. The list of dog sports is long, but here’s a partial list: agility, protection sports such as schutzhund, k9 freestyle, nose work, herding, skijoring, sled dog racing, disc dogs, tracking, weight pulling, earth dog trials, and many more.

 Any good trainer can help you take the first steps toward teaching your dog one of these sports or you can read about training new behaviors using positive reinforcement. Once you begin training you’ll see noticeable change in your dogs energy level before and after training, as well as a dog that focuses more on you and your direction. You pick the game for your dog, play with them, and positive changes towards a happier and healthier dog will be just around the corner.

Contact LukEli K-9 today for more info about dog sports or to get signed up in one of our many private lessons or group classes. 

**** Check out Sushi the Corgi our Treibball superstar copy and paste this into your browser,
http://youtu.be/tJflGkFDGeo