25 Dog Sports to Get Your Dog Active
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Overweight pets have become a serious health issue over the last few decades. In the United States, it’s estimated that 56 percent of dogs are overweight or obese. Along with a good diet and fewer scraps, being active can help combat this plight, which causes serious health issues and shortens your best friend’s lifespan.
A great way to not only get your dog active but also stimulate their mind is through dog sports. There are many dog sports, for canines of all sizes, breeds and ages. Sports are enjoyed by the dog, strengthen your bond through training, help them lose weight and can also help with behavioral issues stemming from boredom and lack of an outlet for their instincts.
So, are you interested in getting active with your dog? Get started with these 25 dog sports.
Agility
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Ability to jump, run
Most famous competition: World Agility Open Championships
Breeds that excel at it: Border collie, Shetland sheepdog, Jack Russell terrier
Bottom Line: Agility
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Agility is an extremely popular dog sport in which the handler directs a dog through a series of obstacles at high speed. If you’ve ever watched it, you can see the joy on the dogs’ faces — they love it!
The North American Dog Agility Council has information on how to get started in this fun sport.
Rally Obedience
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Physical ability perform basic obedience
Most famous competition: AKC Rally National Championship
Breeds that excel at it: Border collie, Shetland sheepdog, golden retriever
Bottom Line: Rally Obedience
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Because it has very few obstacles, rally obedience (or simply rally) is a fun sport that any dog can do. Handler and dog go through a series of stations, performing obedience maneuvers such as sits, downs, stays and heelwork, among others.
It’s something you can even do at home in your backyard with minimal equipment.
Obedience
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Physical characteristics required to compete: None
Most famous competition: AKC National Obedience Championship
Breeds that excel at it: Doberman pinscher, golden retriever, poodle
Bottom Line: Obedience
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If you’re having fun with rally and want to take your dog to the next level, try competition obedience.
This sport requires more precision work away from your dog (including an out-of-sight stay) and is a great way to test your training while having fun.
Canine Freestyle
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Some athleticism to do advanced tricks
Most famous competition: FCI International Dog Dancing Championships
Breeds that excel at it: Border collie, poodle, golden retriever
Bottom Line: Canine Freestyle
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If you want to do a dog sport that lets your creativity shine, you’ve found it! Canine freestyle — sometimes called dog dancing — gives handlers certain tricks that need to be performed, and you get to create a routine set to music that includes these tricks.
Many competitions are held online, so you can even compete from the comfort of your backyard.
Bottom Line: Barn Hunt
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Barn Hunt is a dog sport that allows your dog to use their national instincts. It’s great for any dog that loves to follow their nose while you’re out walking or in the backyard.
Learn more about getting started in Barn Hunt from the Barn Hunt Association website.
Bottom Line: Lure Coursing
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Does your dog love to chase? If so, you may want to try lure coursing to give them a positive outlet for their prey drive.
Sighthounds excel at this sport, in which dogs chase a plastic lure around a 600-yard course.
Bottom Line: Nose Work
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K9 Nose Work is a sport that’s inspired by working detection dogs.
If your dog has a keen sense of smell, they may enjoy this sport in which dogs use their nose to seek out a hidden object.
Bottom Line: Skijoring
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If you want a sport that gets you moving with your dog, try skijoring. Your dog(s) will pull you on skis, cross-country style!
The American Kennel Club requires dogs to be more than 35 pounds for safety reasons. Learn more on the Skijor USA website.
Herding
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Herding instinct
Most famous competition: Soldier Hollow Classic
Breeds that excel at it: Border collie, Australian shepherd
Bottom Line: Herding
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If your herding dog just won’t stop trying to herd the kids (or the cats), it’s time to get them on some livestock.
Herding is a fun sport in which the handler directs the dog to move livestock — sheep, cattle or ducks are the most common — through a course.
Treibball
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Chase drive, athleticism
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Herding breeds, labrador retrievers, papillons
Bottom Line: Treibball
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Sometimes called urban herding, Treibball is a fun sport in which your dog pushes eight, huge inflated balls into a goal. The event is timed, with a seven-minute limit, per American Kennel Club rules.
While herding breeds excel at this, any dog with a chase or prey drive will definitely love this sport.
Dock Diving
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Ability to swim
Most famous competition: DockDogs National Championships
Breeds that excel at it: Retrieving breeds, Belgian malinois
Bottom Line: Dock Diving
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Dogs that love to fetch and swim find dock diving to be the best sport ever. The handler throws a toy into a diving pool that the dog run and jumps in after.
Competitions either score on the distance of jump or height.
Disc Dog
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Athleticism, ability to catch flying disc
Most famous competition: Skyhoundz World Canine Disc Championships
Breeds that excel at it: Border collies, heelers, golden retrievers
Bottom Line: Disc Dog
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Some dogs just seem to be born to catch a disc. Jumping high, they catch them mid-air.
These dogs excel at disc dog, in which handler and dog compete against other disc-loving dogs in a variety of different competitions, including freestyle.
Flyball
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Ability to run, jump, catch a ball
Most famous competition: NAFA CanAm Classic
Breeds that excel at it: Border collie, Staffordshire bull terrier, Jack Russell terrier
Bottom Line: Flyball
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In Flyball, dogs race over a series of hurdles to a mechanism that, when hit with the dogs’ feet, launches a ball the dogs have to catch. The dogs must then go back over the same hurdles to give the ball to their handler.
The sport is a relay race, with four to a team.
Earthdog
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Must be a terrier
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Terrier breeds
Bottom Line: Earthdog
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The AKC Earthdog competition is for terrier breeds. It’s a test that allows owners of any AKC-recognized terrier breed to test their dog’s natural ability to seek out a rat “underground” (in a tunnel).
There are four test levels in the competition.
Bottom Line: Tracking
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There are many types of tracking sports competitions for any dog with natural instincts to follow a scent to find an object.
Events depend on the organization running them, each with its own rules, but all are testing a dog’s ability to track a scent.
Farm Dog
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Ability to listen to cues for behaviors around livestock
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Border collies, Australian shepherds, Shetland sheepdogs
Bottom Line: Farm Dog
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If you are not ready to dive into herding but would like to test your dog as the perfect, all-around farm dog, the new AKC Farm Dog test may be just the sport for you. No herding is involved, and all livestock are penned to avoid dogs gaining access to them.
Instead, your dog is asked to do other daily farm dog tasks, like performing a stay on a straw bale, jumping over logs and walking over terrain, among others.
Retrieving Trials
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Ability to retrieve an object
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Retriever breeds
Bottom Line: Retrieving Trials
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As the name implies, retrieving trials are competitions that test a retriever’s ability. American Kennel Club retrieving trials are conducted in the field and at long distances.
According to the AKC: “Judges look at your dog’s natural abilities such as marking a fall, memory, intelligence, attention, style, courage and perseverance. They will also examine your dog’s proficiency in learned abilities like steadiness, control, response to direction and delivery of bird.”
Trick Dog
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Physical characteristics required to compete: None
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Border collies, Jack Russell terriers, golden retrievers
Bottom Line: Trick Dog
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Trick dog sports are fun because you usually have a lot of freedom in what you teach your dog. If you like to make up fun, new tricks and your dog enjoys learning them, this is the sport for you.
The AKC does have Trick Dog Titles, but so do other associations, including Do More With Your Dog, which allows you to compete virtually.
Carting
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Ability to pull
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Bernese mountain dog, rottweiler, Newfoundland
Bottom Line: Carting
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If you have a big breed dog that enjoys pulling on the leash, you may want to channel that energy with the sport of carting. Each club will have its own rules and regulations for cart titles and competitions.
“Carting with Your Dog” is a good book to give you more information on this fun sport.
Bottom Line: Schutzhund
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Schutzhund is a protection dog sport that tests a dog’s ability to track and protect while responding to their handler’s obedience cues.
To learn more about appropriate schutzhund training, visit the United Schutzhund Clubs of America website.
Protection Sport
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Athleticism, impulse control
Most famous competition: Protection Sport Association Nationals
Breeds that excel at it: German shepherds, Dobermans, Belgian malinois
Bottom Line: Protection Sport
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Protection sport is similar to schutzhund, except it does not have a tracking element.
According to the Protection Sport Association, “In each successive level, the dog-handler team is asked to negotiate obedience and protection routines that are increasingly complex.”
Bikejoring
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Strength, ability to pull
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Siberian huskies, malamutes
Bottom Line: Bikejoring
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If skijoring sounded fun, except for the cold part, then try bikejoring. It’s the same concept, with a dog doing harness pulling, but you are on a bike instead of skis.
Dogs that love to run and pull will find this fun sport thrilling. Just be sure to introduce your dog to it correctly to avoid injury to you both!
Dachshund Field Trials
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Physical characteristics required to compete: Must be a Dachshund in good physical shape
Most famous competition: N/A
Breeds that excel at it: Dachshunds
Bottom Line: Dachshund Field Trials
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As the name implies, the American Kennel Club’s Dachshund Field Trials test the natural instinct and obedience of the Dachshund.
Held in a fenced-in area, Dachshunds in a pack of two are judged on how well they track a scent — no animals are caught or harmed — while listening to their handler’s cues and their willingness to go underground or through a tunnel and more.
Bottom Line: Canicross
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Do you and your dog like to run together? Canicross, sometimes called caniXC or caniX, is a cross-country running competition you can compete in with your dog.
Fairly new to the U.S., the sport originated as a way to keep sled dogs in shape during the off season. It is growing in popularity and is recognized by some National Olympia Committees.
Conformation
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Physical characteristics required to compete: As close to breed standard as possible
Most famous competition: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Breeds that excel at it: Any breed
Bottom Line: Conformation
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If you own a nice, well-bred registered, purebred dog and want to compete in something but are not very “sporty,” you may want to try conformation.
Conformation judges your dog against his breed standard for that association.
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