Your Past, Present, & Future Dog Sports

[Linds]

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

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?

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?

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

 

[SpringerLover]

My current interests are tracking and obedience. Previously I adored agility. I still like agility but I haven't had a dog to play with in years now.

I'd like to get into hunt tests, I think. I ran a Lab in one and it was a lot of fun for me!

I have a feeling I'll always love tracking and obedience, with a side of agility.

 

[Oko]

Ok did not see this thread before I posted mine haha. Clearly we all have sports on the brain this morning.

 

[Laurelin]

Agility is what has always intrigued me and what holds my interest now. It is definitely going to be my main focus for Nextdog and I will play as long as my current two like it.

I think it is fun. The courses are always different. The dogs all bring different training challenges. You're never 'done' training. Always something new or a higher level. I like the teamwork aspect and I also see great benefits in my dogs and their lives outside of agility that were brought on by agility. So yeah it'll always be my main sport I think.

We also do nosework mostly because the lady running it is great. The people involved are great. And my dogs love love love it. It's nowhere near as fun for me but its a great thing to have in the bag to do with the dogs on a rainy day for a mental workout. I think I will always train it as I find it burns a lot of a different kind of energy.

We've gone to flyball a few times and its not really for me. Big commitment to the team and also just a lot of barking. There seem to e a lot of politics too.

We've done some rally classes and I'm thinking about competing for the RN this next year. I'm not a big one for obed as I find it dull. But it's one more thing to title in so maybe?

Disc I am very interested in but don't have the dog for it yet. Definitely want to try it out though agility will be focus #1.

Stock work looks neat but not practical to really delve into it. I think I will try it with Nextdog at least a bit. Just lessons though.

Dock diving... I might do a couple fun runs if the club gets it going like they want to but really getting into it- probably not. Same with lure coursing. Would sign Nextdog up for both for fun if I got the opportunity.

I would like to try barn hunts with Mia.

 

[sassafras]

Well mushing/skijoring obviously. I mostly got into trying it because of this Alaskan husky I got, then Maisy turned out to love it, and I have really fallen in love with it myself. (And Pip might even want to play. ) I love the teamwork and the exhilaration of it, and the sense of accomplishment. I really just enjoy everything about it. This will be the sport that guides my decisions about future dogs.


However. I like some of the other stuff we do. I enjoy Rally. I've just started a nosework class with Squash and so far it's really fun and he loves it, so I'll most likely continue that. I would love to try Barn Hunt if the opportunity comes up close enough to me.

Things like agility, flyball, and disc are intimidating to me and I will probably never have dogs that would love them. So probably not. And I will (hopefully) finish off Squash's CA next month but after that I probably won't do more lure coursing, in some ways it's fun but at the same time I personally find it a bit repetitious.

It seems like new things are always cropping up? Before I got Squash I would have laughed at the idea that I would enjoy mushing, so who knows?

 

[Shai]

Past: Rally, Obedience, Agility

Present: Agility, Field, Obedience

Future: Same as present, possibly adding herding and tracking.

Rally was a great gateway drug to dg sports but I just kind of lost interest in it. We (Kim, Web and I) did it one year earning all our level titles, several CH titles, national rankings, many HITs and HCs... Kind of felt like we'd done it all I guess.

Obedience is something we do on the side since the entry levels at least are stuff I expect my dogs to know anyway to live as members of my household.

Agility is where my heart is. I live the sport -- the combination of speed and precision, working as a team in fluid motion over constantly changing courses, the competiton against ourselves, the courses, and our fellow competitors. It's just so much fun.

Field is relatively new for us but we're enjoying it. Started mostly because my field dog has so much drive and instinct for the work. It's a blast, and if it weren't for agility I think we'd be hopelessly addicted to field. Working outside with my dog doing what she was bred to do is nearly indescribably wonderful.

Tracking may be the next venture for Webby, if I can steal him back from hubby and figure out how to train it

Herding will depend on dog and opportunity. I'd like to have a small flock of sheep or meat goats at some point, and having a skilled dog to help would be excellent.

We also dabble in dock diving when we can, but have so far only made it to one competition so far. Nosework and barn hunt would be fun but don't really exist in this area yet.

 

[Beanie]

Current interests are agility, herding, flyball, and dock diving.
They're still the same as the past - but the past is like six years, so. Not that long ago.


I've played obedience and rally-o, I just don't really enjoy them. I was actually just thinking last night that Auggie needs one more advanced Rally Q to get his next title and I should probably do that, but I just don't really care that much to do it. I WILL - there's an agility trial I do that offers OB and rally, so I'll enter him when I'm going to be there anyway - but it's just not a high priority.
I doubt I will ever really be drawn to them in the future. I (and my dogs) just find them slow paced and boring.

I like disc dog, I just don't think I will ever get into it really. Too many other sports I would rather do. I've always thought freestyle was kinda fun too, but it's not really "exciting" to me.


As to why agility, well I was tricked into it. I was buying baby Auggie and his breeder handed me a J&J catalog and asked "Are you interested in agility at all?"
"Maybe just a little. Like probably just in the backyard," was my answer.
HA.
We entered a class just for fun and here I am. Yeaaaaaaah.
Herding I wasn't exactly tricked into, his family lives on a farm so I wanted to try it. It's not as explosive as agility or anything but there's something indescribable about seeing your dog doing something very... instinctual. Primal?
Flyball, I think it looks super fun and I think Auggie would be really good at it. I'm still trying to find a place to train with him so we can start doing it. I just think he would flat out love it so that's why I'm interested!
Dock diving, I wish I could explain my obsession with it LOL. I have shelties. They don't even particularly like water (Payton not included.) JUMP IN THE WATER SHELTIES

As far as what I could see myself getting into, disc dog has that kind of potential for fast pace and explosiveness that I enjoy in sports so yeah, I could see it happening if I somehow find a way to juggle yet another sport. =P

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

I would like to try barn hunts with Mia.

I would like you to as well.


I started sports by dappling in agility but didn't have a dog appropriate to trial at the time. I will probably always dapple in agility. It's fun, it's common, and the dogs love it.

We played flyball for a while, we had fun but the politics were too much, which are worse than other sports due to the team aspect, and in the end while our dogs did well they excelled elsewhere with less stress on us. I would however look back into it, we're in a different region now, if I had the right dog.

Along the way we dove into dock dogs. We'll always play here, it's fun and the dogs have a blast. People are good to one another, for the most part, and it's a relatively low stress way to spend a weekend.

Our main focus is IPO (Schutzhund). The three components, tracking, obed, and protection are strict and flashy, it's a fun challenge to be met.

We also enjoy AKC obed because while it mimics the IPO obed the added challenge of short distances, crowded rings, group exercises, and the requirements to pass each individual exercise vs points.

We also are very into barn hunt lately, it's a fun sport that the dogs just light up in. It's instinct based and takes true teamwork from the handler and the dog to navigate a course.

I would like to explore ring sports someday, I like suit work and I enjoy seeing dogs meet and beat pressure via environmental elements and the decoys themselves. I also enjoy the variation on tracking, it gets harder and harder to find tracking for IPO which really slows us down.

Lastly I might dapple in conformation with Phelan and rally with Sloan just to say I've tried them.

Herding interests me but I doubt I will ever find myself serious.

Coursing was boring, for me, but the dogs loved it so I might pay for a few more legs to title.

I would love to try field trials! Breedist Bastards.

I can't think of anything else we've tried or that I want to try right now but I think it's fair to say I just love doing anything with dogs and would be game to try anything new.

 

[Sekah]

I've competed in rally, agility, obedience and flyball. I've dabbled in disc, freestyle and the teensiest bit of herding. In the future I may look into coursing (especially if I ever find myself with a windhound) and I would love to do Schutzhund but I doubt I'll ever own a suitable prospect.

Rally was my first sport. It was a great entry point into dog sports and Cohen did pretty well at it. She got her first title when she was 10 months old. I doubt I'll go any further in Rally however. I think it's a sport with great practical applications but I think it's a bit too lax in its criteria. I may put rally titles on my future dogs for fun, but that's about it. I've not participated in a rally trial for a year or so. Cohen needs one more leg before she gets her RE, so my plan is to get that then stop.

Agility was next. I'm still active in it, but not as active as I'd like. Just bought a house, classes and trials cost money and I'm not able to spend money as freely as I once did. So I've not been to a class/trial in about 2 months. Hope to get back next month. Cohen is my first dog, so she has the pleasure of being my guinea pig. I am not a good handler, and I've made plenty of mistakes while training with her. We NQ pretty often and sometimes I just feel like I'm making cash donations to the AAC... But Cohen is such a willing partner and she just loves it. Our last Q was a Steeplechase run where she was just flying through the course and it felt like everything just came together for us. I'm still riding that high. In short, love the sport. Would do again. I plan to put a ATCh on Cohen... eventually.

Obedience is an interest of mine, but it always seems to get pushed to the back burner. Cohen got her CD easily, but she was sluggish in the ring so I decided to take some time off to work on her enthusiasm in the absence of food/toy reinforcement. I told myself I'd focus on agility during the summer and obedience during the winter. Funny thing is that agility trials/classes happen year-round, so OB keeps getting delayed. It's been a year or so since I took an OB class, but my instructor seemed pretty impressed with us and I bet we could trial again soon, but with CKC trials costing almost $30/run I've not rushed to sign up for anything. I hope to one day put a OTCh on Cohen, but that'd require a whole heck of a lot more trialing than I'm doing now. I've not bothered training her for any sort of scent discrimination to date, but she has all the other behaviours down pat.

Flyball is fun, but there's a reason why I'm not really into team sports. The plus side is that practices are dirt cheap, trials are paid for by the team and Cohen LOVES it. The downside is that practices are 1.5 hour drive away each way, trials often require committing my whole weekend to them with each day spanning 12 hours or more and I need to commit to attending them several weeks/months in advance. With some work, Cohen could be a pretty speedy Aussie in the sport. Last trial I went to her box turns were weak but she was still running 4.2s (and I think we got a 4.1 out of her). But I've not attended a practice in quite some time so I've not had the chance to work on it. Cohen fits right in with all the barkbarkbarking. I've vowed to put an obedience title or two on any future flyball dog because I think the mania encouraged in these dogs is just a bit too much. Plus, the culture is kind of crazy sometimes so I keep it at an arm's length.

I like disc and freestyle, but right now I only intend to work on it for my own edification more so than for attending trials. This may change, as I have a few friends who are encouraging me to get involved. Herding is something I'll likely never bother with again. It's just not feasible living in the 'burbs. It's cool to see your dog on sheep once or twice, but I have other things that are keeping me busy enough these days.

Basically, I really like the sports which encourage an intense connection between handler and dog. I love how the connection I've made with Cohen during training for all of these sports has bled over into "real life". She's so tuned in to me (sometimes to a fault). She really is a jack-of-all-trades type dog, and I think she's great.

 

[Laurelin]

Agility is definitely a high when it all comes together. Summer and my second gamblers run last trial was like that. Everything went perfect and fast. We racked up like over twice the points that the course required. And then she did the gamble (distance challenge). It was beautiful.

Eta: definitely want to barn hunt but the closest so far is about 6 hours away. Phooey. I can't even imagine what Mia's little brain would think at a barn hunt. I bet she'd be all over herself.

 

[SaraB]

When I get into something, I jump both feet in. Dabbling doesn't really happen. So because of that, the number of sports we do is limited, but those that we do, we do WELL.

Past: I have done the breed ring thing a few times. Not for me. At all.

Present: Agility and disc dog. I can't even do both of these at the same time. Agility is for the fall, winter and spring. Disc dog happens during the spring and summer. When one starts, I take a break from the other. Even though there are plenty of trials here in the summer, I just can't handle doing both. Not to the capacity I want to at least.

I have dabbled in dock dogs. I liked it, but it's just so dang expensive and Zinga just isn't competitive yet. Maybe I'll try it again next year if she's jumping further.

I have dabbled in herding. I'm starting to like it, but I think I would enjoy it a lot more if the sheep were my own and we actually worked the sheep rather than just moved them around a pasture.

Future: when my dogs start to get a little older, we will do rally and obedience for sure. They already have a great foundation started, so I will hopefully just have to polish up things and be good to go. Or so I can hope. LOL

 

[DJEtzel]

Past: All you could really say is nosework. It's the only thing I haven't really stuck to that I've started.

Present: Dock diving, Agility, and Coursing.

Future: I'd be really interested in getting into weight pull, rally, breed ring, nosework again, and disc.

eta; Oh! I forgot about herding and flyball for the future. We've done instinct tests and evals for flyball already.

 

[k9krazee]

Past: agility
Present: (training in and have trial plans for) Agility, disc
Future: dock dogs, barn hunt

I love agility, first and foremost. I've been traveling to trials since I was 8 years old with my Aunt and running her older dogs. It's fun and complex to train, the different games are a lot of fun and I love the teamwork involved.

I know a lot of people that trial regularly and I've always wanted to be more active with it but I didn't have the right dog or the time between school/college. Now I have the dog, time, money and desire!

Disc - I never really thought about it until I acquired a dog who just loves to play disc and I am planning on venturing into that world next year. I love the creativity that freestyle offers and I'm excited to put a routine together. Just wish Inwas more creative

Barn hunt - we're going to try to make it to a seminar in October and see where that goes with Cbone.

Dock dogs- totally a sport of the future that I'd like to do.

 

[stardogs]

PAST
Herding: I really liked it with Maggie, but currently I don't have a dog with that much correct instinct, nor the time and money to take the lessons I need to trial. I think it might be a "low impact" option for Snipe or Aeri when they are older, though.

Disc: I did one Toss and Fetch event with Kes and he had so much fun, but it's just not as fun as my other sports and competitions are few and faaaaar away here. Again, it might be something I'd do in the future competitively if it were easier to access, but for now it's just for fun with Kes and Aeri.

CURRENT
Rally: Ziva enjoys it and it doesn't require a ton of extra training, and it gives me a chance to work on my ring nerves and Kestrel's distraction in the show environment in a low stress setting. Both dogs are set to finish their RAs this weekend!

Obedience: I like the precision and it seems like a good offshoot from IPO obedience. It helps that the trials are pretty close and frequent, too, but we need to practice a bit on the Stand for Exam before I enter Aeri again.

Coursing: It's just fun. Kes is set to finish his CA and we will probably stop there for him as he always seems to tumble on his runs - he just doesnt want to slow on corners. Snipe will give it a try for the first time soon, Aeri and Z need a bit more training.

Barn Hunt: I love that all four of my dogs can do, and enjoy, this sport! It's low pressure and so neat to watch the dogs work out the course!

Flyball: I fell into this because Snipe liked it. Our first tournament is in just a couple weeks!

Dock Diving: Another one I find super fun that doesn't require a ton of time/training/special equipment unless I want it to. I love the people and it's really my favorite summer activity now.

Agility: This is the sport that started it all. It's gone to the wayside a bit since finding a class I can attend is challenging, but Z is soooo close to her ADCH and Kes is finally pulling everything together, so I'm picking up the trialling a bit more this fall. I think I'll always be addicted.

IPO: I really need to train harder to progress, but I love the challenge of the three phases and love the club I train with. The challenge it brings is really unparallelled, as are my ring nerves in this sport. lol

FUTURE
Conformation: I've always toyed with doing conformation with Aeri, but the skills are so boring compared to everything else I train, it always ends up on the back burner.

Nosework: I really want to do this with Aeri and Snipe especially, but it just seems like there aren't enough hours in the day to train for it.

 

[Flyinsbt]

Currently, I'd say my main interests are agility and Barn Hunt. My first main interest was obedience, and I still do a bit of that, but Tess is not much of an obedience dog, and I've been waiting for Pirate to settle a little. I've been training Tess to track, and we may do some of that.

I've done Rally, but it gets really boring after awhile, I didn't find it challenging enough. I'll still do a bit of it at a specialty. I've done weight pull, but I only ever did UKC WP, and they gutted their program (by removing all elements of competition), so I'm not that interested in it anymore. I don't like the sport enough to look for other ways to play in it.

I do the coursing some with Tess. Pirate didn't seem to really like it. If I own a sighthound in the future, I may do more coursing.

If I get a terrier breed that's eligible for earthdog, I may do that. Barn Hunt does satisfy some of that need for me, I just really like letting my dog do something that's instinctive to them.

Oh, and I still do some conformation, but that is a frustrating activity, so I burn out on it fast.

 

[AmandaNola]

Currently Nola and I are training for Rally, possibly agility if I can find a place I like. We also have a coursing event in November, and if she likes that we'll go with that too. I'd like to do barn hunts and/or Earthdog, tracking or nosework but once again my location limits that.

With passed dogs I did conformation and Rally.

I'd be interested in trying flyball, dock diving, maybe disc but probably not.

 

[Shai]

I would love to try field trials! Breedist Bastards.

Oh quit whining and get a proper gundog breed

 

[AdrianneIsabel]

Oh quit whining and get a proper gundog breed

:rofl1::rofl1::rofl1: Fine, I'll take Mira.

 

[JacksonsMom]

I am not really 'serious' into sports. I think if I had the money, I'd be more, and if there was a facility with the right class times, but I don't really want to sacrifice driving certain places at certain times for classes... lol. So clearly I'm not THAT passionate about it or I'd make the effort.

Agility is certainly my favorite though, and I think Jackson's too. He just does really well with it, he took right to it, he highly enjoys it, and I enjoy it too, plus I get a bit of exercise in the process as well. I find it really fun when we finally 'get it' and work well together. Or when we complete a course for the first time. It's a great feeling.

Ohh and disc is probably my 2nd favorite. Even though I'll never do competitions with Jackson, I love that he loves it enough to just go out and have fun with it. But future dog will hopefully be a good discdog. It's one of my favorites to watch, learn, and do.

We've done a few dock diving practices, and I really love the vibe, it's pretty laid back, and everyone is always really nice, but Jackson is kind of weird about 'new places' and I'm just not sure I'll ever get him jumping off a real dock and enjoying it. He looovess my dads pool, and jumps in for fun and with ease there, but I think the height of the dock intimidates him. So I dunno, maybe with more practice, but I can't get myself to spend the $$$$ when we have our own pool! LOL...

We will be trying Barn Hunt this weekend, for the first time, and I have a feeling I'll really like it. I also want to try nosework, but again, can't get myself to spend the money when technically it's probably something I could do at home. I might try nosework this winter.

I think most obedience would bore me. But I do kind of want to give rally a try.

 

[Saeleofu]

I never did sports before my current dogs, so there is no before

I started out in Rally with Gavroche, and then added conformation with Logan. I still hope to get Logan started in traditional obedience by next spring, I just haven't been able to go to many shows this year (only one). Both dogs do lure coursing, and that's the most recent addition. My dogs and I absolutely LOVE it, so I plan to continue that forever.

I'd love to try out disc, herding, agility, and dock. BUT I don't have a dog that would do well in any of those except herding. Gavroche would do well playing agility, but NOT in a competition setting, and he's getting to be too old to start. So we just mess around in the yard. Some day when I get my Koolie and have the money to put into training classes I'll give the other sports a try!

I'd also like to try out weight pull, tracking/nosework, treiball, and barn hunt.

I want to get Logan into therapy work some day, when we find the right organization to work with.

I'll probably always have a service dog, but the question is whether I'll train it myself or get it elsewhere. Yes, Logan turned out to be FANTASTIC, but it's a lot of work and a big risk to owner-train, so I'm leaning towards a program the next time around.

Basically, I want to try ALL THE THINGS and then pursue the ones I actually like.