What Is Your Favorite Dog Sport and Why?

[Mom2Shaman]

Walking / hiking. I am overly concerned about stress on muscles for the long term. It's also good for me. Not exactly a stellar answer. My pup would do well with agility, but we have no place to go within 50 miles. However, I would want to stand in the center and direct. Me running around would just end up with injury. I would like to do nose work with the pup. He's got a nose+ as he has demonstrated and the memory to back it up. No trainers within 50+ miles. I think if I had ONE thing to do with the dog, I would go for obedience competition. Low physical stress, high mental work. Again, nowhere to go within 50 miles. Thus, walking and hiking our local national park 15 miles away. Sigh.

[cassadee7]

Tracking! It's so fun to be outside in the morning with a bunch of nice people and dogs, letting the dog take the lead, learning to trust your dog and see how awesome they are. Saber is an excellent tracker and seems to love it. Second favorite has been OB. Agility is super fun but my knees are shot so I can't compete (probably). We are just getting trained in dock diving and THAT is super fun too!

[Stosh]

Herding for us. Like Lilie says, it's so cool to see him doing what comes naturally and to learn how to partner with him and guide that ability is so fun. Stosh is doing a great job of training me

[fuzzybunny]

Flyball! I did it with Bunny a couple of years ago and it was a blast.

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by Mom2Shaman

Walking / hiking. I am overly concerned about stress on muscles for the long term. It's also good for me. Not exactly a stellar answer. My pup would do well with agility, but we have no place to go within 50 miles. However, I would want to stand in the center and direct. Me running around would just end up with injury. I would like to do nose work with the pup. He's got a nose+ as he has demonstrated and the memory to back it up. No trainers within 50+ miles. I think if I had ONE thing to do with the dog, I would go for obedience competition. Low physical stress, high mental work. Again, nowhere to go within 50 miles. Thus, walking and hiking our local national park 15 miles away. Sigh.

I feel your pain about not having agility or schutzhund training nearby. There is some agility work accomplished while hiking because (where I go) the dog has to jump over logs and stone fences while chasing small varmints.
Also, when walking around the local park, I have her go over the picnic tables. When nobody is around the kiddie playground we climb up the ladders and slide down the chutes.

[LaRen616]

Originally Posted by cassadee7

Tracking! It's so fun to be outside in the morning with a bunch of nice people and dogs, letting the dog take the lead, learning to trust your dog and see how awesome they are. Saber is an excellent tracker and seems to love it. Second favorite has been OB. Agility is super fun but my knees are shot so I can't compete (probably). We are just getting trained in dock diving and THAT is super fun too!

I would love to get into dock diving! Can Saber keep up with the Labs?

[Liesje]

Service Dogs of America (tracking, protection, obedience - protection is our fave)

Second would probably be dock diving for me but lure coursing for Nikon. Lure coursing is fun for the dog but kind of annoying for the human!

[Chris Wild]

SDA and SchH. SDA has probably edged ahead of SchH in terms of favorite, but it isn't nearly as readily available. Obedience is my favorite phase of both and always has been, so I also enjoy doing AKC and UKC competitive obedience and rally just to have more fun in obedience.

[Josie/Zeus]

PSA

It makes the dog think, nothing is routine. We never got to try herding but my next dog will definitely try it.

[selzer]

It's Rally.

It is fun for me, fun for the dogs, the people are good sports and not snotty or scornful of people who are new or in different venues. Mostly they help each other out, and have a good time. Not too precise, not too serious, not too upset if we do not get the blue.

I have heard of people kicking their dogs in schutzhund trials, and I have watched a person severely punishing a dog in an obedience trial -- nothing is worth that in my opinion. Whether my dog takes blue, red, yellow, white, green or even an NQ, when we come out of the ring, I am praising the dog and happy.

I have been to too many obedience/rally trials to see a huge change in personality between the two. I have been in both rings and qualified, earned titles, and taken first place in both. I prefer Rally. There are more dogs, and the people are more human -- I like their attitudes.

I have played with sheep, and trained a few in agility, and will probably do tracking some time soon, maybe with Bear -- she has a NOSE. But I LIKE Rally. To me it is my entry with the dog. Once a get a Rally title and a CGC, then I can go on in Rally or go over to obedience -- yuck, or try agility (not to trial, too slow), I have dabbled in conformation too. Whatever I do, I want it to be fun for dog and owner.