Dog Sports

It is amazing how many different sports there are out there for dogs. And how popular they’ve become with people and their dogs.

Dog sports range from being entertaining to fiercely competitive. And they vary from requiring a handler with the dog to dog only events.

If this sounds like something fun that you would like to do with your dog, give one, two or more different sports a try. All dogs need physical and mental stimuli to stay healthy. By adding a dog sport most dogs will not only be healthy, but will thrive. Agility, disc dogs and flyball are high-performance sports and great for really active dogs; but most any healthy dog would enjoy participating.

Always, as a precaution, take your dog to the vet for an exam before starting any dog sport. After receiving a good bill of health, check into the different dog sports that might challenge your dog. An added bonus is the improved bond between you and your dog.

Here are a few to that might grab your interest:

• Agility – this is an obstacle course with jumps, weave poles, A-frames, tunnels and more. The dogs are guided by their handler through the course. This is a competition sport ideal for high energy dogs; however, modifications can be made for all dogs.
• Disc Dogs – is a competition sport involving both dog and handler. Each team competes in distance, accuracy of catch of the flying disc and freestyle routines.
• Dock Jumping – (sometimes also called Dock Diving) in this sport the handler throws a toy into the water and the dog jumps off the dock and into the water to retrieve it. The aim is to get as much distance as possible, distance being measured to the dog’s tail.
• Canine Freestyle – is like dancing with your dog. It involves the dog and handler doing a choreographed musical performance where almost anything goes.
• Flyball – is also a competition sport, similar to a relay race, for teams of 4 dogs. Each dog runs down a course one at a time, jumping hurdles to reach the flyball box, trigger the box which springs a tennis ball out. Then the dog returns with the ball and the next dog goes.

These are only a few of the many dog sports out there. Check out the many dog sports for yourself. You might be surprised by the sport you and your furry friend end up liking.