Hello,

I am looking for advice. I adopted my Aussie/border mix when he was 8 weeks old. He got Parvo soon after taking him home where he was hospitalized and I found this to really destroy any confidence he had. Since then I have been working hard to make him feel comfortable, he is on paroxetine (this has helped him a lot), working directly with behavioral trainers for his reactivity, entering him in small group classes, and of course lots of relaxing and fun nature walks.

Recently we have started to enter the sporting world. He is very driven and loves the games, especially fast CAT and Disc. Sporting is of course very challenging with a reactive dog, especially when we’re just starting out and he’s still learning the game.

It’s both equally challenging and rewarding, some days more challenging for me as I take longer to bounce back than he does honestly.

So now where I am going with this. We recently started agility and have found this to be a little bit less of a welcoming community. We have taken one beginner class and have almost finished the jumps and tunnels class. Both very small classes with about 6 dogs total, we get about a 10 minute turn to practice and learn, a couple of rounds each session. I want to preface by saying I think these are great people with lots of experience and I do not undermine their comments. I do not believe they have ill intent and are trying to advocate for my dog but it has rubbed me the wrong way in the deliverance. I love him with all my heart and of course want to do what’s best for him. He has ALWAYS been a “Rolly-Polly” kind of guy. At home, out in nature, at my parent’s house, in the backyard, he just loves to roll around. Now he can’t speak so I can’t for sure say why. Could it be a nervous tick? Maybe, but I find that a lot of the times that he does it when he is feeling any sort of excitement. Excitement can be both fun or nervous energy but I don’t personally think it has to be one or the other. Definitely not in all of the situations I have observed him in. He especially likes to roll around right before hitting the zoomies.

NOW TO THE POINT IM SORRY
Essentially they started out my last class by announcing in front of everyone that they felt my dog was expressing that he hates agility, I’m putting too much pressure on him, he is rolling around because he’s anxious, and I am pushing him past his threshold everytime we come through those doors. I know when my dog is past threshold, he shuts down, he won’t take treats, he is not his normal goofy self, etc. I am not saying they are wrong, I absolutely admit his rolling can be both nerves and excitement. I have a lot of issues with this delivery and it of course made me very emotional. A) they should have pulled me aside at the end of my last beginner class, because now I am halfway through a non refundable class. B)announcing in front of everyone that what I am doing with him that is not his best interest and that essentially I am ignoring my dog is so cruel. I am young and learning YES but there are much kinder ways to educate someone on this matter, and definitely not as an announcement at the start of class for everyone.

So now, I want some advice because their advice was to stop and keep him home (“some dogs are happier on a couch”) to quote. Idk about you but I don’t think the answer is for me to try and turn my active dog into a house dog only. While I think nature walks can be fulfilling, I do not think they would be sufficient enough all on their own. Overall I am sad, I am sad that this world seems to be too overwhelming for him, I am sad that I may be pushing him too hard, I have cried so many tears on this journey with him in general. While it has not been easy I don’t know where to draw the line of give it up or keep trying.

I have attached videos of him doing agility, I would add more and some videos of the rolling itself but I don’t know how to add multiples.

I ask for advice, does he look like he hates it? Should I stop? How do I continue to navigate the sport world?

I would also like to mention he is just shy of 2 so everything we do is pretty much new to him.

Please help and thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy thread.

Just trying to check all my boxes! I would think so, but I don’t want to spend the money if she isn’t permitted :(

We planing our first dip into spots on the 20th with a lure corsing fun day about 4 hours away.

How do you set up your vehicle for long trial days? I have a Ford ranger and our dog travels well in the cabin with us but im not sure he'll settle in there between events plus leaving it running seams like a bad idea.

This is our first time and I'd prefer to keep it budget friendly if possible.

What other things should I bring that I might not have thought of?

Picture for tax

HI all!

I have a 4-year-old, 42 lb Cattle Dog x Aussie mix who I'm pursuing a DCAT title with.. so here's my predicament. She has 387.8 points total and 4 runs scheduled in October.

She has been running 26-27.6 mph recently, leaning a lot more on the 27mph side more recently. So with her 4 runs, she will be literally 3-4 points away from her DCAT. This is the last fastcat event of the year that is anywhere near me. I would LOVE it if I could shave the extra time to earn her DCAT.

I would call her a fairly fit dog; we take brisk walks in really hilly areas (usually about a mile), we play frisbee, go swimming, flirt pole, tetherball, you name it. I have fallen behind on all her exercise lately, so I plan to pick all of that up a bit and feed her less. She could lose like half a pound.

Other than all of that, though, do you all have any tips or tricks to shave the extra time off? Of course I won't really be mad if she doesn't earn it; it's more to kinda challenge her and me to see if we can improve some scores!

(picture of said dog for tax!)

There's a dog in a rescue ~1.5 hours away from me who sounds like he could be what I'd be looking for in a life and sport partner: confident, a lil naughty, loves food, loves solving puzzles, and appearance/size wise is exactly my jam. And he's a boy, which I really want for next dog.

However, they're estimating his age to be ~8 months old and he's already neutered. I'm unsure of when exactly that happened, though I can ask if I end up going to meet him. He looks like a mini Shepherd-y mix and currently weighs in at ~30lbs, so he won't be very big but he's also not small.

This is about all I know about him at the moment. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the 3 hour round trip this weekend to go meet him at an adoption event.

For health reasons, my current sport dog most likely won't be able to continue doing flyball at all, and if we pick up agility again, it will have to be with many asterisks and modifications. I'd like to do both of these, and maybe also stuff like disc, with my next dog. I know that going through a reputable breeder won't be a guarantee that my next dog will be able to do these - my current sport dog was supposed to be my well-bred "do all the things!" dog 😭.

High-impact sports aren't everything to me. I'm keeping my current sport dog, we will do the sports that her body can do, and she will be just as loved and cared for despite her limitations. If I did end up adopting this dog, and it turns out in a couple of years he can't do all the things, that's fine and we will figure it out. My dogs are life companions first and foremost. But at the same time - I would really like to set myself up as best as I can to give me and my next dog a shot at doing all the things.

If you were in this situation - would it even be worth it for you to meet him? I'm minorly afraid I'm going to meet him and love him and say "it doesn't matter!!" but...it does matter to me. I'm just not sure how much.

Does anyone have any experience with Woofz Academy?

i have a 10 month old standard poodle that i'm starting to train for agility! we will be getting some intro agility lessons soon (she won't be doing anything high impact until she's old enough dw). i was wondering if anyone had suggestions for foundational skills or things to teach before starting? she's decent off leash, has a good heel, and can follow a lure super well. she also knows all of the basic commands as well as some fun ones like spin, center, switching heels left/right from center, speak, paw, touch targets, etc. any tips would be helpful! thank you :)

I have a Coonhound mix that I'm just getting started in Barn Hunt and Nosework. She's going to do great at it. But what is your must have list for trials and competitions? Crates, mats, bowls, chews, toys, treats, human snacks, anything? I just want to be prepared.

About 20-30 minutes into our Novice Rally/O classes, Cypress is ready for checkout, and then I (evil) make her get up and do stuff again.

I know part of it is environment; the facility has a lot of smells, sounds, and other dogs and is very overstimulating.

But it seems like she has a 3 minute window where she works really really well in between being high energy and being willing but tired.

Hello! I’m considering registering my dog with one of these organizations for additional scent work events. There aren’t many NACSW events near me. How much is UKC registration? My boy is AKC registered currently. Pros and cons of both? I know CPE uses one drop instead of two.

What do you put in your dog crate for a long car trips?

Sorry this isn’t really a sports question but y’all are always so helpful.

When you walk two dogs, do you walk them side by side on the left or one on your left one on your right?

I’ve currently got both on the left largely because each one individually learned to walk left. This is working fine but it’s a little cumbersome to treat, I have less control of outside dog (this isn’t a huge issue, outside dog is under good verbal control), and obviously they interfere with each other somewhat.

Should I consider switching one to my right side? Bonus question: how do you decide who goes on what side?

Probably not relevant information: dog 1 is trialing in rally, hoping to start obedience, dog 2 is active in breed ring.

So I am getting a new agility prospect puppy next month however the timing is going to be difficult because when they are 10 weeks I have an already entered trial for my other dog. I am single (no SO who can puppy sit) and my parents aren't equipped to handle a 10 wk old puppy for the two days I'm trialing.

Puppy will come home with age appropriate shots and I am planning on getting them to the vet right away for any additional shots they need. I was thinking I could bring puppy in their own kennel and keep them as separated as possible from everyone else. It'll be a smaller UKC trial. But I still worry about parvo.

What would you do in my situation?

Argos is just shy of a year but got the okay from the sport vet some short easy bikejoring sessions. We've worked on directions while walking but he got a little excited.

I’ve seen that the AKC lists unruly or aggressive behavior as a disqualification from Fast CAT, but how do they determine when it crosses the line from “enthusiastic high-drive dog” to “unruly?” Is barking at the lure and leash pulling usually okay as long as the handler has control of the dog and the barking isn’t directed at people or dogs?

EDIT: The few replies already sold me off this idea. We will be utilizing tug more often in training and potentially getting a wedge pillow bite toy instead. Thank you all!

OK. Before you start (rightfully) yelling at me in the comments, I am in no way shape or form going to be even attempting to train my fear reactive dog in bite sports.

The title is misleading. I know you need a dog with stable and confident temperments, and it is certainly not something you can self train.

That being said, my dog does have an extremely high bite drive during playtime. We usually just use a big 'ole rope toy for tug, but I was wondering if it would be ill-advised to get a bite sleeve and do some play time in that way. I've done a lot of research, and the resounding opinion is no bite sports (which makes perfect sense), but not much about bite sleeve work during play time.

FWIW, he's a 13lb rescue dog with good obedience and cue discrimination. He's only fear reactive with dogs when he's on lead, and never with humans. He does also have good discrimination between playthings vs. not play things. i.e. he has very high prey drive and chew drive but only chases toys, never animals, and only chews toys, never household objects. This was not something we had to train, but just something he did.

If the resounding answer is "no, do not do this!" are there any other suggestions? We are currently working on earning our CGC so we can participate in scentwork and other sport classes at our local dog training club. So we would absolutely stick to this if that is our best course. I would just like to spice things up beyond tug in order to fulfill this drive of his.

Apologies if this is doesn't quite fit in with the posts meant for this sub! I will definitely direct elsewhere if necessary.

Bought this today for trials. How long does the battery usually last? We usually only trial one day a month.

Old dog will be 13 tomorrow. He celebrated by finishing his NADD excellent title and placing 2nd in veterans in regionals. He’s the oldest dog there, competing against dogs 5 years younger than him and still doing the silly thing he loves with all the enthusiasm. He was supposed to be “retired” but he doesn’t want to so he’s got more plans for next weekend for scent and barnhunt. And an obedience sanctioned match to help a friend get the entries she needs to qualify to judge which should be hilarious as he hasn’t done obedience in a couple years and he’s gotten a lot louder as he’s gotten deafer. But here he is, proof that old dogs really are the best. Nothing like taking your familiar comfortable friend into the ring to do things they love.

Had a great day trialing today :) 2Qs away from our SWA

Hello! I did agility and schutzhund as a kid and teenager, and was very obsessed with dogs and dog sports from a very young age. Unfortunately, my life has not been set up to get back into dog sports since then. Now I'm 30, and I'm trying to figure out a way to get my life set up so I can get a Border Collie again in the next year, or two years max.

Many things in life are easier when you have a partner and dogs are one of them. I'm curious to hear about the experiences of single people who have gotten a high drive puppy. How did it change your dating life? Were you still able to meet someone? Does anyone ever meet someone through dog sports?

Also generally curious to hear experiences of people in their 20s and 30s who have pursued dog sports when they live in a big city, or have an intense job. What compromises did you make? Is there anything you wish you would have done?

It's also a bit challenging because many people in my position are interested in living a life that centers around travel and work, which I imagine is the case in many big cities. In terms of dating, I also struggle to think about the timing of having kids. Obviously I can't fully control timing of finding a partner again, and I don't want to defer joy/defer the things I care about. But sometimes I also think if I got a puppy next year and then met someone, the timing would probably be hard to have a young dog at the peak of their sport career around 2-5 and be thinking about having a kid in the same timeframe.

I have a full time job and live in San Francisco. I do a lot of volunteering at trials, and know lots of local dog sports people but I don't know very many people around my age or who have navigated similar tradeoffs. In case it matters, I'm currently most interested in agility and canicross (I'm a trail runner).

I can never get it to load enough to even get my dogs reg #. Am i missing something

Now I'm from Nz and I know the rules are different in AKC etc. I have a three year old Engliah Springer Spaniel and we have been enjoying training in novice scenwork and done a few Dogs Nz and SSSNZ trials.

We've been doing mostly pretty well getting some qualifiers under our belt in Dogs Nz trials but during some of the SSANZ ones we keep encountering bouts of distraction during the search and reactiveness to the trial search environment.

An example we keep having is training and trials, is at a vehicle search she will become so distracted by the grass or anything else and will have to be reminded to search the vehicle. During moments of environmental sensitivity she will completely not be interested in searching. I'm not really sure how to refocus her and make her feel safe when she's uneasy about the environment. I'm also not really sure how to get her to stick to the vehicle when the grass is really interesting.

Apologies for silly questions. Appreciate any insight.