Looking for smaller sport-dog suggestions

[Dizzy]

I personally would never trust a highly prey driven sighthound with cats. Indoors many can be fine with cats but outdoors is a different story.

Not sure how this applies to a dog she's going to own with her own cats? Or are we ruling all dogs out because of potential unknown cats?

I wouldn't trust ANY dog with cats outdoors where there are unknown cats and running cats, but I would also suggest dogs should be supervised outdoors.

If you want a drivey dog and are worried about cats, then you're pretty much screwed. ALL the breeds suggested thus far will kill a cat. Even a golden will kill a cat in the right circumstances.

However, it's not impossible to own hounds and cats, as all the whippet/terrier/etc etc dog and cat owners will tell you.

 

[MericoX]

The majority of the poodles I know aren't very drivey, but I know if you went to the right breed you could probably find one.

I'd have to disagree with this, as all of the poodles I have met are drivey.

I would say that Miniature Poodles are very drivey. Not overly so (like a terrier), but out of the three sizes I would say they are the driveyest (idk if that's a word). Heck even my puppymill Toy has drive.

 

[Shai]

/me agrees with MericoX -- there are a lot of poodles in agility around here (standard, miniature, and toy) and the miniature ones in particular seem to make really nice agility dogs...pretty drivey and fast for their height class, balanced handler/obstacle focus, etc.

 

[Lizmo]

Shelties have just never appealed to me. At all. Too hairy, too barky, too... I don't know. Something in their expression I guess just turns me off. There are a ton of nice-running shelties at my training club, but I just don't care for 'em.

I highlighted the barking part because I met two Border Staffies at a competition a few weeks ago and they just barked non-freakin'-stop. They were in line in front of Blaze and I and it was seriously the most annoying thing to put up with. They never. shut. up.

This was my first experience with the breed, and it was enough to turn me off. Maybe with some training it would get better, but wow.

 

[elegy]

Whippet?

They're beautiful dogs and hands down the fastest breed in flyball, but I don't think they'd be a good match for me.

I highlighted the barking part because I met two Border Staffies at a competition a few weeks ago and they just barked non-freakin'-stop.

Yeah, they're plenty barky at flyball tournaments here, but the people I know that have them say they're not overwhelmingly barky at home. Steve talks a lot at home, and he alarm barks, and that's ok. I just can't deal with a dog who barks for the sheer joy of barking.

 

[BostonBanker]

The border staffies I know at agility are not significant barkers at all. The border jacks and border stacks are more so, but I'm not a tolerant person at all when it comes to barking, and the staffy mix has never bothered me. Granted, the ones I know are all owned by great handlers, so they don't have much to bark about.

 

[Grab]

I think a Poodle (from proper lines) would do well I've seen Poodles do very well at sporty things. If you don't want to do major grooming, you can keep them clipped short.

 

[colliewog]

I wouldn't think the RT would be drivey enough if most poodles aren't. I have met some and they are lovely dogs, but not oozing drive. (a dog doesn't need a ton of drive to do well in agility)

It depends on the bloodlines. There are some who are great terrier racers, while others are just so-so. A terrier racer would be drivey enough to do flyball.

My little coated AHTs (basically Rat Terriers) would be awesome flyball dogs if I had a place close to me to train (and this was told to me by flyball people ... not just my opinion!).

 

[Dekka]

I don't think racing = drivey. I know many a great racing whippet that I wouldn't call drivey.

Kaiden does quite well at racing and I wouldn't say he's drivey. Snip has won many a champion reserve champ in racing, does well at earth dog but has zero toy drive.

To me a drivey dog has lots of various types of drive. I would call Dekka drivey. She is intense about working for food, prey, chase, and toy. Just because a dog has a decent amount of one type of drivey doesn't mean it will work well. It might, I know quite a few of highly food motivated (only) dogs who do very well in agility. But agility doesn't need that high level of drive for speed that flyball does. I doubt Snip would have done well in flyball. Kaiden likely would have.

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I say that owning a VERY noisy dog, Backup, some dogs are naturally more barky than others but I don't think as an entire breed the BS are. A lot of it comes with the allotment of flyballers and noise.

 

[colliewog]

I don't think racing = drivey. I know many a great racing whippet that I wouldn't call drivey.

Kaiden does quite well at racing and I wouldn't say he's drivey. Snip has won many a champion reserve champ in racing, does well at earth dog but has zero toy drive.

To me a drivey dog has lots of various types of drive. I would call Dekka drivey. She is intense about working for food, prey, chase, and toy. Just because a dog has a decent amount of one type of drivey doesn't mean it will work well. It might, I know quite a few of highly food motivated (only) dogs who do very well in agility. But agility doesn't need that high level of drive for speed that flyball does. I doubt Snip would have done well in flyball. Kaiden likely would have.

I don't know how else to indicate they are drivey. The dogs I'm referring to are fast (timed beating racing JRTs), food driven, toy driven, handler-attentive, and have lots of stamina. That's my personal definition of drive.

 

[Dekka]

I was just pointing out that racing is no indication of how good a dog will be at dog sports. It would be interesting if those dogs are racing against fast racing JRTs (dekka loves to race, but is pretty slow at racing, and I could call her a racing JRT. However she is smokin fast on the agility field. She runs almost full tilt around a course. Snip was a constant winner in in racing but wouldn't do agility at more than a slow lope as he wasn't highly motivated by anything that wasn't a rat or a lure.

There is one JRT around here that has been nearly unbeatable at trials in racing, but he is like Snip, very specific in his drive. So the best bet is going to someone who is producing dogs excelling in dog sports. (yes some people breed dogs who do well in both, but not always)

 

[milos_mommy]

Sorry, I didn't catch the OP was looking for a puppy, I thought an adult rescue was an option.

I see plenty of poodles in agility here, and they're faster than many other toy breeds (say, the maltese, the poodle mixes, or the shih tzus) but I just can't comprehend comparing their "drive" with that of a JRT or border collie. I suppose it's all relative, but I have never seen a poodle (and I've seen them compete in frisbee, agility, and flyball) move at nearly the speed of a JRT, BC, or even the more driven chis and paps.

I don't have tons and tons of experience in the dog-sport world at all, though. I'm only comparing the (and there are dozens) poodles I know to the JRTs and BCs I've seen, and I'm mainly basing this on speed, since that seems to be a main concern of the OP.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

So Elegy..

You ever pick a breed, or narrow down to a few breeds? I'm currently trying to do the same

 

[elegy]

I think it's gonna have to be some sort of flyball mix. Watching all the top racing dogs this weekend... they're largely running Borderjacks/Borderstaffs as height dogs.

Nataki Sport Dogs, Painted Star Farms, Blue Cedar... I don't know.

I saw some AMAZING Border/whippets running this weekend. Not height dogs, but AMAZING. Wow.

 

[Paviche]

I was looking at border/whippets not long ago and drooling hardcore. I like borderstaffs too, but wow, something about the B/Ws just really struck me.

 

[Katkoota]

all of the poodles I have met are drivey.

I would say that Miniature Poodles are very drivey. Not overly so (like a terrier), but out of the three sizes I would say they are the driveyest (idk if that's a word). Heck even my puppymill Toy has drive.

/me agrees with MericoX -- there are a lot of poodles in agility around here (standard, miniature, and toy) and the miniature ones in particular seem to make really nice agility dogs...pretty drivey and fast for their height class, balanced handler/obstacle focus, etc.

I 1000% agree with the above.

Poodles ROCK!!! They've got the drive (lots of it). They can make awesome water dogs (originally bred as a sporty water dog), focused, love to work, intelligent (the breed is ranked #2 in its intelligence -- right after the border collie, the poodle comes in the rank).

My first dog was a miniature poodle. She did match all that was mentioned above about the poodle.

and honestly, the miniature and toy do make AWESOME SPORTY DOGS in the small dog category. I love the size and sturdiness of a miniature they are sturdy and can keep up with whatever (if you compare them with some other small dogs. They sure aren't as fragile as many other small dogs. Strong enough to keep up well)

 

[Katkoota]

You ever pick a breed, or narrow down to a few breeds? I'm currently trying to do the same

haha - same here!

 

[Katkoota]

Here is a great article about the breed
Dog Intelligence archive - Poodle Breed Guide

I find this breed to be amazing. Can do anything / whatever - from sport to real work!

 

[mrose_s]

Just looked up Blue Cedar, they have some awesome looking dogs!