Just like us, dogs need movement and enrichment to live their best lives. So, if you have an energetic pup and you need to find some lively activities to help them burn some steam, you’ll love this list of dog sports to try. They’re great for getting your dog to move more and as a bonus, you may find yourself becoming more active too.
Rally Obedience
Rally Obedience is a team sport. Each team consists of you playing the position of dog handler and, of course, your furry friend. Charles Kramer originally developed Rally Obedience as a warm-up routine for obedience schools. Since it was first practiced, it has become a full canine sport that is gaining popularity. Rally Obedience involves moving through an obstacle course with your pup maintaining the heel position. The course will have 10 to 20 signs spread throughout it at different stations. The objective is to build a repertoire of communicative gestures and commands as the handler translates the signs to the dog who then completes the actions. If you’re interested, check out this guide to starting Rally training at home.
Agility
Agility is a dog sport that is very similar to Rally Obedience in appearance but not in execution. In Rally Obedience, the focus is on communication between the dog and the handler. Agility is more focused on your pup’s abilities. Just like with Rally Obedience, your dog will go through an obstacle course, but the challenges in Agility are physical ones instead of interpretative. Your pup will need to balance as they cross a sea-saw, jump over obstacles, or duck down to crawl through tunnels. The dog and handler teams are judged on speed and accuracy.
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Flyball
Flyball is a fast-paced game that involves a team of four dogs and four handlers. The dogs speed down a relay racecourse with four jumps. The objective is for all four dogs to complete each jump and return to the starting line as quickly as possible. If you have a lot of friends with dogs this might be a fun way for all of you to get active together.
If you and your pup are spending a lot more time traveling as you get into canine sports, make sure you have a vehicle your dog feels comfortable in. Come to Della Auto Group and our team will help you find the perfect model.