There has been a boom in canine sports in recent years. On any given weekend, dog sport competitions take place all across the Bay Area, and they draw a large following of eager spectators and competitors with dogs, crates, and sun canopies in tow.
Many dog owners are learning that the daily romp at the dog park is not the only way to get some meaningful exercise with their canine companions. And in addition to the physical health benefits, participating in a dog sport strengthens your bond with your dog by giving you something active, challenging, and fun to do together.
Just like with humans, dogs who are athletic tend to be more healthy and fit than their sedentary counterparts. Regular physical activity tones muscles, builds stronger bones, improves circulation, and helps keep a dog physically healthier overall.
But it’s not just your dog’s body that benefits from participation in a dog sport – it also has a positive impact on her behavior by providing mental stimulation and a social outlet. Many behavior issues, such as chewing and digging, stem from inadequate exercise. Being active in a sport gives your dog the opportunity to work her body and mind, and many hyperactive pups have become more compatible with the family household by running off some energy in such activities.
Being active in dog sports can also increase your dog’s confidence and overall attitude. When you are training her in a sport, you give her the knowledge she needs to succeed in a desired task or behavior. Each time your dog is successful and receives a reward from you for her actions (positive reinforcement), her confidence increases.
To help your dog maintain focus on you during training, figure out which type of reward works best for her. Some of the most common rewards are treats, a game of tug, tossing a favorite toy, and praise from you – or any combination of these. Your job as trainer is to keep the activity consistently fun and positive.
While your dog is training in his new sport and gaining confidence, she will also learn plenty of social skills, like staying focused on you despite the distractions of other dogs, humans, and new environments. Learning such skills will help your dog in everyday situations as well.
My border collie, Gunner, is a rescue who came with many phobias, including an aversion to loud engines. At the dog park, the poor guy would run for cover whenever a motorcycle went by. After several months, I noticed that he wasn’t plagued by this phobia while participating in Flyball. His improved focus on our training helped me desensitize his reaction in other situations as well, and today he no longer has a fear of engine noises.
One of the most rewarding sides of dog sports for many people, including me, is the fun and active environment where the bond between you and your dog can flourish. The more you interact with your dog the more you will both get out of your relationship. No matter what sport you are involved in – from agility to weight pull – you and your dog are a team. Each training session and every competition improves your trust in and response to each other. Positive interaction through play and training, combined with clear communication, helps forge a strong, long-lasting bond between you and your dog.
You don’t have to compete to enjoy and benefit from dog sports. Simply taking a sports training class can be very rewarding for you and your dog. There are several trainers in the Bay Area who provide Agility, Flyball, Dock Diving, and other dog sport classes without the pressures of a competitive training regimen. In a class environment, you will learn from the experience of your trainer and other students, enjoy a lot of support and comeraderie, and make new friends along the way.
THE GAMES
No matter what type of dogs you have – from miniatures to herding breeds – chances are they love to run, jump, fetch, or do tricks. Figure out what your dog naturally enjoys and choose a sport that best fits his personality. Here are some of the options in and around the Bay Area.
Agility
Agility is one of the top dog performance sports in the world. A handler directs a dog through an obstacle course using only voice direction and body signals and is scored for both time and accuracy. The obstacle course includes jumps, tunnels, tire jumps, weave poles, teeter totters, artdog walks, and A-frames.
Disc Dog
In disc dog competitions, teams of one human and one dog compete in a variety of events, including distance catching and Freestyle, short routines choreographed to music with multiple discs in play.
Dock Jumping
Dock jumping is a simple yet exciting sport in which dogs jump as far as they can into a body of water after sprinting down a 40-foot dock that stands two feet above the surface. Handlers toss a toy into the air for incentive and their dogs leap out over the water in hopes of catching it. Officials use a specialized camera to measure the jumps.
Flyball
In Flyball, two teams of four dogs each race in relay style through a course consisting of four hurdles and a spring-loaded box that shoots out a tennis ball. Each dog navigates the hurdles then catches the tennis ball before running back over the hurdles to its human handler. As one dog returns to the starting line, the next one leaves. The first team to have all four dogs run without errors wins the heat.
Herding
This sport is geared towards breeds that have the natural instinct to round up any type of livestock, from geese to cattle. Dog and handler work together to maneuver the livestock through a course of gates and pens. Handlers work their dogs from a distance with an assortment of whistles, hand signals, and voice commands. The dogs are scored on their ability to control the livestock and on how well they respond to their handler’s direction.
Musical Freestyle
This fun sport is a mixture of obedience, tricks, and dance moves that allows for creative interaction between dogs and their owners. A choreographed set of moves is performed to music by both dog and handler. Divisions include pre-novice, novice, intermediate, advanced, and masters.
Obedience & Rally Obedience
In an obedience trial, a dog must perfectly execute a predefined set of tasks when directed to do so by his handler. The dog and handler perform the activities off leash and in a very specific manner. There are several levels of competition, ranging from basic commands like Sit, Come, and Heel to scent discrimination and directed retrieves over jumps.
Schutzhund
Schutzhund is a German word that literally means “protection dog,” and this sport focuses on developing and demonstrating a dog’s intelligence and usefulness. At a working trial, Schutzhund measures a canine’s mental stability, endurance, ability to scent, willingness to work, courage, and trainability.
Weight Pulling
In this contest of strength, a dog pulls a loaded cart or sled a short distance across grass, carpet, or snow. Many different breeds participate in this sport in different weight classes. Competing dogs wear specially constructed harnesses designed to distribute the weight and minimize the risk of injury.
Ursula Kinley is the head trainer of Crazy K9s Dog Training which offers training in dog sports such as agility, dock diving, and flyball. She has been actively training and competing in dog sports for over nine years. She is Captain and head trainer for Rev it Up Flyball Club and serves as President and head trainer for Bay Area Diving Dogs. Ursula is also a proud member of Team Triple Threat, a dog team focused on gaining positive recognition for bully breed dogs. For more on her own flyball and dock diving sports dogs.
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