Your Past, Present, & Future Dog Sports

I'm a big dabbler. I love versatility in dogs, being able to just go from one sport to the next and have a dog that easily picks up on whatever. So...

My main interested are:

- agility: I've been involved in agility training since the early days when there were crossovers and sway bridges. Actually even before I knew what agility was, I setting up jumping courses for my dog in the yard LOL. Doing agility with my dogs is kind of just part of life.

- obedience: What I started in and always end up going back to. Another thing that I just do with my dogs without much thought.

- conformation: See my versatility comment above...to me the best of the best in my breed is having a CH with multiple titles in different venues.

- flyball: My new love...I like it because it's crazy and loud and just so much fun for the dogs.

I've dabbled in:

- schutzhund: fun, my dog enjoyed in and I have always been interested in bitework but OMG the time commitment. I would have to give up everything else to pursue it and when it comes down to it, I just don't have that sort of love of the sport on the whole. Oh and there's tracking...

- tracking: Yeah that. I've tried to get into tracking and scent work many times over the years but...it's kind of boring and I'm never really sure if the dog is actually doing what I want them to do or not.

- lure coursing: With my non-sighthounds, even long before the CAT. I love it, the dogs love it but it's $25 a run here now, so we've not been doing a lot of it lately but I haven't given it up really.

- herding: Really hard to get anywhere with it if you don't have your own stock or regular access to stock. Plus lessons are pricey and far away.

I think that's about it.

ETA: Oh yeah...I do Rally too. I don't really like it very much though LOL

I can't say I have much experience in most sports, and I just dabble right now mostly due to finding the right place to train!

So no past ones, but right now Talon does disc dog which we both really love! I really didn't expect to like it this much, but I'm hooked and Talon loves it as well. We tried agility with Talon and he's really good at it, though I'm not lol We stopped after the foundations class, but only because I felt Talon could use more work on his obedience and then we will be back at agility for sure!

I want to try dock dogs (wish they were closer). I feel Talon would excel at it since he loves jumping after a ball into water. He swam at the lake for no other reason than just the joy of swimming lol

I also want to try herding with Talon, but I'm waiting until he is older to do a herding instinct test. I've had good connections with a few trainers that come highly recommended, but I doubt it will ever be something I'm super serious about.

I want Art to try barn hunt as I know it would suit him perfectly. He would love it and I hope to let him play with it next spring!

I want to try Obedience and Rally with Artimis as well, and Talon for that matter.

I learned today Talon would do well at Treiball lol

Basically, I want to try pretty much everything :rofl1:

Ok, figured I would answer my own thread

In the past I thought I was interested in OB and Rally. I never competed in OB but did train for it. I've since just decided OB isn't for me. I find it rather boring and don't take the same joy in a nicely executed round as people in the sport do.

Rally I don't mind at all and if I ever find the time I wouldn't mind trialing but there are just so many other things I would rather dedicate my time to.

Right now my focus is Disc and I'm fully addicted, and completely love it. I also don't see that changing soon. I just love how much there is to teach and how creativity, fun and the relationship with your dog takes precedent.

In the future I see myself branching out into Agility and possibly Dock Diving but I would only do it I think if I could give more attention and focus to it.

What are your current dog sport interests and are they the same they were in the past?

Agility. That's pretty much it, past and present. I did a tracking seminar with Meg years ago, thinking she would love it, and I was bored practically to tears. I used to think I'd do rally with her when she slowed down, but bless her heart that doesn't seem to be happening. I wanted to try dock dogs with Gusto, but he said it's stupid.

Do you think you'll venture out to other sports in the future and if so, what ones do you think you might be drawn to?

I would LOVE to try barn hunt with Meg. Flying around the hay loft looking for cats and mice used to be the best part of her day when I worked at the barn. I haven't found any place remotely close to us doing it.

And why to all those, why not that sport anymore, why this sport now, and why do you think you might pursue that future sport?

Most of that is answered above. Honestly, there's very little about agility I don't love. I love working with my dogs, I love the combination of excitement and focus, I love the people, I love going to trials. Everything. It's a good fit for me.

i don't know lately. I supposed I'll always be involved with dogs, just not sure how much with my own.

I love IPO. It's simple, very difficult to do well, and I can tell so much from a dog in those 3 little routines. I'll probably always be helping others train their dogs in it, but it's been difficult to train my own. You can only go so far being the handler and the bad guy and getting with regular helpers for me is too much travel, money, and time commitment at this point. THere are only so many days in the week.

I'll probably stay involved with ring sports to a degree, but how much? That's even worse There is nobody within 300 miles of here that does decoy work besides me and I'm a glorified bite pillow when it comes to ring sports. I'm not that involved in those sports I guess and I don't see it changing. It's fun training with my friends, but they spend a lot of time and money and weeks at a time going to decoys to work with to progress. I am not that committed.

all great people, so I'll always have contact, but I can bring my dog further on my own in IPO. I've never really sat down and broken down the ring exercises and thought of or been shown all the ways to train for it. I tend to think a lot of it is for handlers that get restless in IPO, but I find a lot of it to be extraneous fluff :

OB doesn't appeal to me. I like to train ob, i like having an obedient dog, but akc ob stuff never really grabbed me. I know how I like my dogs to be, I guess I never felt I wanted a judges opinion on it unless it was a step to get to the bitework part of a trial

Agility is cool, but probably always just be something I run my dog on some equipment and then move on. I don't ever see myself putting in the time in to do competitively. although that is something I could do on my own more easily than bite sports.

I like watching disc dogs, but after watching a couple other chazzers be used as launching pads and spring boards and basically subjected themselves to abuse by dog, I don't think I want to have mine doing that to me. Biting seems safer

Dock diving? it's something I like to do when we go to a lake and that's about as far as I ever want to take that.

hunt/field trials- I used to hunt all the time, now I spend my time doing other things. With land and game becoming harder to come by lately, I can't say it's something I see in my future. I don't like the game farm hunts though we have family land now, I don't think it will always be the case.

This straight up made me laugh.

Currently I mostly just play Flyball. I pretty much just fell into it and I don't love it, but I do enjoy it because of my team. So who knows if I'll do this sport forever, but for as long as I live here and all of my team mates are still playing, I will too. I love my team and we have a lot of fun. The sport itself I find kind of hectic though for whatever reason. Other people don't always seem to.

I also dabble in Conformation, but just because it's something to do and it's my goal to put a Ch. on Journey because I think we can. I don't really like it that much, but I don't not like it either. It's just another activity and experience.

I want to have a competitive Obedience dog so badly. I don't know why, but I love teaching Obedience and really want to trial. It's my favourite right now for some reason.

I've done a bit of Rally, and enjoy it too, although I want to try other venues besides CKC.

I really want to get more involved in Agility and for it to be my main thing. It doesn't come at all easy to me and I really need practice handling and stuff, but it is a goal I have for both Dance and Journey to be able to trial one day. And all of my friends do Agility too, so there's that. I love doing sports where people I know are involved.


Obedience and Agility were the only two I ever used to be interested in.

I'm not sure if I'll venture out to other sports besides those or not, or which ones they'd be. Maybe Dock Diving but none of my dogs are crazy about water, so that'll have to wait either for Journey to get more water experience next summer or for another dog entirely.

I wouldn't play Disc as a sport. It looks fun, and I'd enjoy watching, but while the vaults are really neat, they scare me too much to ever teach to my dogs. I prefer just to play disc in a field. And even then it's just throwing relatively low so my dogs don't catch too much air. I used to play disc all the time, and there was a short time that I thought I'd want to get way more involved, but now I worry too much.

Herding is fun as a hobby, but I doubt I'd ever do herding trials. Maybe though.

Field training might be fun with a Toller that isn't Dance. Who knows if that'll ever happen, but I do like trying things out with my dogs that they're bred to do, just because.

I can't think of any others I'd really like to try.

We are soooo new to this but I'll post anyhow.

Started Obi into dock this year and I'm obsessed. The people are so welcoming a friendly and it's a warm weather sport. We hibernate in the winter. I was drawn to it because it seemed like the best option for Obi who loves to swim but isn't trustworthy with other dogs. Here, when he's off leash, he's sort of confined to the dock and he's one of several DA dogs so people respectfully give us space and don't judge us for it. We'll continue this with him. He's 6.5 years old.

Nextdog will hopefully also do dock as well as hopefully disc and possibly lure and agility if we try it and enjoy it.

/me goes into hiding

That's not what I meant!

Currently I train IPO with a formal group 5-7 days per week. It is the first dog sport I became involved in and I am on my second dog over the last 4 years. In the last few weeks I have introduced Carma to some training similar to personal protection/PSA/police work once weekly.
I would like to hopefully learn some more about French Ring with my current GSD puppy if I can squeeze it into my IPO schedule. I would also like to title her in AKC obedience and possibly take a few agility courses with her in the future. Not sure if dock diving is really considered a sport if you aren't competing exactly, but I would love to get involved with that as well.

I will always stick to IPO because I love the intensity and precision that you need in all three phases of the sport. It will always be my main focus because of the amount of time and training that I put into it. I would like to look into other sports in the future because my current young dog is very versatile, whereas my first dog is not. She is a go anywhere, do anything type of girl, and I would like to push that to its full potential and maybe learn a little and meet some cool people in the process.

ETA: For those that do actual work that counts to in this thread

What are your current dog sport interests and are they the same they were in the past?

Agility and obedience. I was more in to conformation and rally in the past as well (though the "past" really is all of 2 years or so LOL), and I will still probably do a bit with those but not as much as I had previously anticipated. Therapy work doesn't count as a sport I don't think, but I've been drawn in to that more and more with Pen first and now I would like to get Bubbles certified, too.

Do you think you'll venture out to other sports in the future and if so, what ones do you think you might be drawn to?

Probably not. I've been interested in lure coursing (mainly for Pen) but I dunno. The off-leash-ness scares me with Pen, even though he's my most reliable. Nose work and tracking could be fun since they are hunting dogs and all, but I'm not sure if I want to stretch myself too thin by taking on a lot.

And why to all those, why not that sport anymore, why this sport now, and why do you think you might pursue that future sport?

Agility is just so much fun. The people are great, the competition in this area is great, and it's been a fantastic way to bond with my dogs and build their confidence. Obedience is also fun and I love breaking down each exercise and working on shaping the finished products. Rally and conformation are also kind of fun, but I'd rather put my money in to the other two I suppose

What are your current dog sport interests and are they the same they were in the past?
Currently we're trying to be involved in everything we can, because previously we were involved in coonhound bench shows, coonhound field trials & water races, and nite hunts. I miss coonhound events so much it hurts & I feel like I'll never really be happy in Southern California. There, I said it. Right now we're throwing ourselves in conformation, lure coursing, and I'm trying to get involved in dock diving and weight pull.

Do you think you'll venture out to other sports in the future and if so, what ones do you think you might be drawn to? Secretly, I want to train a Plott in IPO. I'd also like to do more agility, but Rage has no self control. Also, obedience - LOVED it when Daisy and I did it, and miss it. Really I want to try ALL THE SPORTS.

And why to all those, why not that sport anymore, why this sport now, and why do you think you might pursue that future sport? no more coonhound events because the closest club is 8 hours north of us. We might go once, in February, for my birthday and to get Rage's last five points on the bench. Conformation, lure coursing et all because it's accessible where I am right now. IPO in the future because it just looks so nice

My main interest was always agility.

But... since being around more people and dogs involved in training for either Schutzhund or real life protection roles my thoughts on it have gone from "maybe one day" to "BRING ME A GSD NAOWWW!!!"

I am restarting Quinn's agility foundations again now that her extreme movement reactivity is pretty much sorted but it will likely get put a bit on the backburner in place of learning about scent and protection stuff.

Past/Present
One in the same. Anything I have done with the Skinnies, I still am. Started in Conformation, finished a GCh. Will start the boy next year when he looks less like a weed and more like he could compete in Open.

Started taking them to race practices in an effort to get divagirl to chase a lure. When she was with the breeder, she wouldn't course. She knew it was a plastic bag and didn't see a point in chasing it. Going racing has triggered her 'on' switch and she knows what Sighthounds do now. She's slower, but Ezra has already moved up a grade and has his Companion Racer title. We're going out to hopefully QC for lure coursing next month.

Mimi and I started in agility this past January in an effort to keep her busy over the winter. As it turns out, she LOVES it, so we'll keep it up. Ezra will start Agility as a confidence booster once I get my membership approved. He may like it, he may not. We'll see.

Future
Rally and/or obedience, but that's mostly because I want to enter Mimi in versatility at the National next year. I'd also like to try barn hunt, nosework and maybe dock diving with Ezra. I don't think diva girl dog will willingly jump in a pool.. I'd also love to take them open field coursing, but I doubt that'll happen any time soon.


The Skinnies favorite unrecognized 'sport' is lizard squishing/catching (and in Ezra's case, eating if I'm not fast enough).

Miz Naughty and I have done quite a few different things together, but the only one she really enjoyed was agility. I think agility is ok; I'd rather do herding then agility, though.

Lil' Sis is a little thing yet and so far she's been pretty slow to mature, both mentally and physically. She's very intelligent, but she also has a teenagers sense of humor and is a sensitive little flower!

I'm still learning how best to work with her.

Right now, we're doing conformation training and we'll debut in the show ring this spring after she gets a little bit of growth on her. She works really well for me and when she WANTS to, she actually has wonderful focus.

We're going to be introducing her to sheep here in the next month or two to see how that goes. I anticipate she's probably going to be like a bowling ball hitting pins, but I've been surprised before.

There could also be some Rally Obedience in our future and possibly some agility. Not sure yet; depends on her. Regardless, none of that will happen for a few years.

This lurker is posting.

We have no past dog sports. I've always been interested, though.

Present:

Agility. We've been into agility for all of three months, but Gyp and I are flying through the beginning levels. I knew she would be great and enjoy it, but I am astounded at the extent of her enthusiasm and drive. I am also pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoy it. I only wish I'd found the guts to start her two years ago!

Future:

Rally Obedience. I'd like to start this in October with Gypsy, but we'll see. Money and time are a problem for me right now.

Conformation. When I finally get my silken windhound, I'd really love to get into conformation. Possibly lure coursing too, depending on newdog's interest. But conformation for sure. I've wanted to show for pretty much forever, and I feel like silkens are too gorgeous to NOT show off.

Current interests include: agility, flyball, lure coursing, conformation (ok, is that a sport??), barn hunt, rally, IPO, nose work, dock jumping

Past: also included dock jumping and agility, along with: hunt tests, herding, weight pull

I really want to get into Terrier Racing someday, looks like so much fun! I also would like to try weight pull again (I think Eden would be awesome at it!).

Agility: did it before and hope to get into it again. I just love the atmosphere, the team work, the flow of the course with the dog reading your body language (hopefully!).

Flyball: When we moved, I lost the 15 min drive to my flyball team. I miss it so much. I love the hectic, loud, crazy, driven atmosphere. I loved having my dog run at full tilt. I loved the finesse of getting passes just right. I'm teaching Robin a box turn (Kastle has a bit of an elbow issue due to flyball so I'm going to wait to see if I want to do more with him once he's done with his IPO titles) and hope to find a team in the next year or so...I just really miss it. The speed is just SO FUN.

Lure Coursing: I have all off-breeds, so they just get their CAT. But, Eden LOVES lure coursing like nothing else. I also think she'd love Terrier racing but she's not a terrier. She is never so crazy/free/enthusiastic as she is in lure coursing. I really only did Kastle's title because I wanted to bring Eden LOL I'll probably try it with the red boys next time it's easily available.

Conformation: I don't love it, but I love having letters on both sides of Kastle's name (he's the only one that has shown/can show).

Barn Hunt: another something that Eden just loves. I love seeing her go nuts. She's so well mannered when we do agility and flyball (which detracts in a huge way from her speed), I just want her to lose control and have a blast. We've only done one, but she was squealing and digging like a maniac. Kastle thought it was pretty fun, I'll probably bring him again. Limit is never going to like going in that enclosed space with the hay bales and the judge right there...Robin might give it a whirl next time I bring the other two.

Rally: I don't really like training for it LOL It's not precise enough to be fun (like IPO obedience) but not crazy enough to be exciting. However, Eden thinks she's got pretty fancy obedience so I'm working on it with her (she's got the cutest prance EVER). I'll probably slap a few Rally titles on Kas later because he will already have a ton of IPO obedience. I'm also teaching Robin some basics. Limit doesn't like it.

IPO: I adore this sport. It's so precise/stylized. There is so much to work on in each phase, and there are three phases. I just...love it. I am sure a big part of that is that it comes very naturally/easily to Kastle, and I have an amazing club. I adore my club so much, some of my closest friends are there. I can't wait to see them every week and train. It also helps that they challenge me and push me to be better. My favorite of the three phases used to be obedience, but tracking is rapidly getting up there. I don't actually really care about protection (usually everyone's favorite) but perhaps because I didn't really need to work at it - it's come easily to Kastle, not just the biting, but the secondary obedience has been a breeze so far (unlike just plain obedience haha).

Nose work: Limit already has training on explosives odor. Unlike the other venues, I think the private/quiet sport of NW would be right up his alley and I'm so excited to get him started. Jason even bought me a little kit. He's got an indication already on other odors, so I just need to add those, and he's got a good nose and awesome intense, calm focus while working. I adore working him in this. It's just so fun. I will probably also do Eden (because short little Corgi legs searching cars are awesome!) and Kastle. Not Robin, I have enough on his plate right now haha.

Dock Jumping: Kastle has titles. I don't actually "train" for this, but I do take him swimming a lot, and some places have docks. I compete when it's convenient and friends will be there too. I have hopes to get Robin going in this later on. I even joined a local group, but I haven't been able to make it to any of the practices yet. Eden despises swimming (although she adores mud) and Limit would be convinced I was trying to kill him by asking him to jump off a cliff

Herding: Brought Eden/Robin/Limit/Kastle out for instinct testing. Kastle did awesome, Robin got scared, Limit did super well young - not sure how he'd feel about it now, and Eden was bat-crap crazy. The only dog I have time to work in that right now is Eden and she's terrible. It would take a TON of work to switch her prey drive off and get her herding...and there's driving and I just don't have time. Poppy (Eden's sister) did wonderful though and Jason and I hope to do that with her later, after her agility titles.

Weight Pull: I just need to find someplace to help me get started...when I have time

Hunt tests: I tried this in MI a long time ago and the atmosphere was not very welcoming in general...I doubt I'll go back to it. Plus, wrong breeds

I work with dogs! I train/handle dogs that find people, tracks, and explosives. I find it fascinating, hard work and really, REALLY love to work scent pictures. I also used to do SAR (in MI) and thought the same of that. Lots of hard work but so rewarding.

I missed this part

I'm lucky enough to work in a center that trains SAR and detection dogs (we are the center that is doing the big ovarian cancer study that's been on the news lately). I LOVE it. I'm still learning, but it's just been such a great experience. My skills as a trainer have improved immensely, and obviously I've learned how to handle dogs in SAR and article searches.

And of course I'm trying to come up with ways for the Finkies to participate in those kinds of jobs because OMG I WANT A SAR/DETECTION DOG SOMEDAY

In the past, I've always done agility. I grew up, doing it with my Beagle, and have always loved it. We do it now with Charlotte when home in AZ, but we keep it to small groups, as huge crowds with dogs tend to over whelm her.

As for other sports, we're also starting to dabble with herding and stock dogging with Ma'ii. We're starting off slow with him to see how he does for now, and that will dictate what direction we take. I love watching dogs do what they were bred to do, which is one reason I love stock dog trials.