What sports do you do?

[Bo Peep]

Usher & I just do obedience and a tad bit rally- I think we could do the course, if I was smart enough to read the directions- LOL. For some reason, THIS dog is a tennis ball junkie. I miss my frisbee dogs! Your pics are WAY too cute!

OH, Usher says he wants to do herding VERY much, but Mom can't walk backwards anymore- damn dystonia.

[Genie]

there is only one true sport disc dogging

Zeb used to think so too... until he found Flyball!

[ZoZo]

My dogs would agree that flyball is The One True Dog Sport.

 

[Abby & Coopers Parents]

but flyball in my eyes is more of a team sport were in disc dogging it is truely you and yor best freind having some major sweet fun

[Root Beer]

Speedy is retired from Rally and he and I do Musical Freestyle now. We demo and compete.

 

Maddie is my Agility dog. She is actively competing in CPE.

 

Dean is "in training". He was meant to be a Freestyle dog, but he gets stage fright, so for now we are focusing on his love - Agility. He is just getting his feet wet in trialing. I hope to revisit Freestyle with him someday, though. I do continue to train moves with him for fitness, fun, and just in case!!

 

For me the true sport is the one where my dog and I both gain satisfaction through working toward goals, and where we enjoy ourselves thoroughly. I do consider Musical Freestyle more of an art than a sport, but that's because I'm much more artistic than athletic.

[Tassie]

Obedience and tracking with Fergus (he'd love to do agility, but we're still working on impulse control issues, and getting some handler focus), and agility and tracking with Kirra - we've just come back from competing at the Nationals in Melbourne. Got 3 Qs, including a 6th in Excellent Strategic Pairs - that was a high - and we had some nice non-Q runs. We saw some awesome dogs and handlers.

 

Kirra has done some sheep work - got to reasonably handy farm dog standard on my friend and trainer's 800 acre sheep farm - but time and gas costs have put paid to that, unfortunately.

 

Both dogs enjoyed training for and completing an Endurance Test - 20 km in 2 hours on 3 different surfaces. They've had a dabble at flyball - enjoyed the idea, but Fergus is somewhat anxious about dogs coming at him, and would drop the ball - while Kirra prefers to chase a dog who has a ball - not helpful

[ahoops]

while Kirra prefers to chase a dog who has a ball - not helpful

 

Ha HA Gypsy does exactly the same thing ,she would be a great fly ball dog if she would stop chasing the other team members ,oh well cant be good at everything ,sigh

[MrSnappy]

ETA: We also do lure coursing non-competitively when it fits into the schedule.

 

Mr. Woo wants to do that soooooo bad!! Still trying to find someone who does it here.

 

RDM

[doggietrio]

Ha HA Gypsy does exactly the same thing ,she would be a great fly ball dog if she would stop chasing the other team members ,oh well cant be good at everything ,sigh

 

Fuze did this...we found the balls with the squeakys in them, and ran her as a start dog. That solved that problem as far as flyball...I mean, why would she want that "quiet" ball, when she has a squeaky one?

 

However, at home...the rule is, the border collie must have all the balls! She's so patient...she'll wait the other dogs out. But, she's not aggressive about it, so...we just let her get away with it (bad owners).

 

Jennifer Akins

www.jentodogs.com

[3dogslater]

Chester does Superdogs, agility, as well as squirrel and rodent hunting. He's got his novice Rally title but we haven't trained or trialed since 2006 (there's only been one trial in the area).

 

Sophie does Superdogs, agility, freestyle and has her Novice and Advanced Rally titles. I'd love to do more Rally with her and we will hopefully get trials around here in 2009.

 

Zephyr is training in agility, disk, freestyle and will be starting in flyball and rally. He's not competing yet but will make his agility debut this fall, and just finished a 17 day run with the Superdogs at the PNE.

 

Belle is our CPX - couch potato excellent

[berocca]

Must be contagious. Delta is exactly the same at flyball. The most fun thing in the world for her is to chase a dog with a ball. It has taken me 12months to get her to pick up a tennis ball, once we got that part worked out she was doing full runs within a week. She is fine as a start dog so could be used in an emergency (not planning on competing with her yet, waiting until she is ready under all circumstances) but has issues with trying to steal the ball off the returning dog. She is getting much better and can actually do a pass now, but only if we are close to the gate so that she doesn't have as much opportunity to chase. Starting at 30ft would give her 30ft worth of chasing space and would be disastrous.

 

I'm still praying that she never decides to chase the dog with a ball in the other lane, for now she seems focussed enough on her own one.

[tualizzy]

Belle is our CPX - couch potato excellent

 

 

Are ribbons awarded ?

Lizzy is fantastic at this also.

[airbear]

Are ribbons awarded ?

Lizzy is fantastic at this also.

Add Bear to the list! Sometimes, he blends in completely with the couch and I sit on him!

[PSmitty]

^^Lilly wants a CPX title, too! Although she prefers my bed to the couch. She's not spoiled much.

[PSmitty]

Duplicate post.

[SoloRiver]

I started with Solo in agility, and trained and competed with him sporadically in NADAC and USDAA (not in a manner anyone who aspires to the "big time" would consider successfully, but successfully for us) for several years. He is retired due to arthritis, although we may start going to classes again just because we enjoy them and they're good for Solo's social manners. Solo is a point-and-shoot dog who loves agility so much that he will train without receiving any extrinsic rewards. It is truly a joy to run a course with Solo. Since he retired, I have trained one other dog in agility, my ex-Papillon, but it was not the same experience and partnership that it was with Solo so I was not motivated to continue and irreconcilable differences between Skeeter and Solo necessitated Skeeter's rehoming, so I have not had an agility dog for a few years. Jett and I have just started basic training and she looks very promising. We will compete, but I do not plan to actively campaign her until she is at least two years old.

 

Solo and I looked into formal obedience, but he expressed a strong preference for the kinetic nature of agility and I obliged him. Solo and I also dabbled in Rally, but he thought it was incredibly boring and I wasn't compelled by it either. It also seemed way too easy and I didn't feel like we were accomplishing anything. Compared to agility, the classes felt like a chore and I wasn't motivated to sign up for the second session after we completed the first.

 

I practiced flyball with Fly for a couple of years but never competed. I didn't care for the flyball atmosphere and found it difficult to commit to a team (it seems like most people in flyball don't do anything but play flyball) although I did really like the individual people we practiced with (members of Fur Fun, Philadelphia Barking Authority, and Bay Racers) and Fly had a ball with it. Fly was really enthusiastic and really fast, but not so consistent about doing all the jumps all the time. Had we practiced more often I am sure we would have fixed the latter. For those who worry about "tug drive," I bought Fly when she was three and had no idea what toys were. She hits the tug as hard as any flyball-programmed dog, and would tug all day if you let her. So much for having to build "tug drive" as a puppy...

 

I have been noodling around on sheep with Solo since 2001 with varying success. We've "run" twice in trials, but Solo is not a trial dog. In 2002 I purchased Fly as a trained sheepdog to learn more about handling, and we began competing in ISDS-style sheepdog trials, moving from Novice-Novice to Ranch in NEBCA and then competing in Pro-Novice on the west coast. Technically I am an Open handler since we have run thrice in Open trials, but since we have never had a score in Open I consider us a Pro-Novice team with Open aspirations. (Advice to others: always strive to better yourself as a team, and do move rapidly through the novice classes, but think carefully before moving up to Open because it means you can never go back.) Fly will be 10 in December and her working days are probably limited. Jett has seen sheep three times at 10 months of age. So far, so good. It would be nice to have a Nursery dog, but I won't push her faster than she needs to go for that sake.

 

I have zero interest in frisbee because I think it's terrible for their joints (to tell the truth I feel the same about flyball) and dock diving seems silly. Lure coursing looks kind of fun but not fun enough to seek out a place to practice. I like teaching Solo freestyle moves, but consider freestyle obedience to be the synchronized swimming of dog sports and have a hard time getting my mind around the idea of practicing that hard to do something that so often looks that ridiculous. Solo loves to go after gophers and would be a fantastic candidate for Go to Ground, if only he'd fit down the hole.

[Lenajo]

USBCHA trials, occassionally AHBA if it's in the backyard. Ran ASCA in the past.

 

Agility -USDAA, NADAC, ASCA

 

Tracking for fun. May do some formal competitions eventually with AKC and ASCA

 

used to do AKC obedience with the Aussie, but haven't done any of that in a while.

 

Stupid pet tricks just because we can.

 

Frisbee once in a blue moon.

 

Have tried Flyball (like Melanie I found its too much committment - most of the teams do nothing else and I prefer to keep it at game status)

 

Lure Coursing occassionally. It's *fun*!! but honestly the most dangerous for the dogs. BCs put way more *heart* into the turns than the hounds do. If the lure goes 90 degrees, so do they!

[Sassy Girl]

Gunner, Vandal, Aries and Twizzy are all acitively competing in flyball and dock jumping. We are also working on weight pulling - though this is slow to progress....

 

For fun - we dabble in frisbee, lure coursing, herding and agility.

[ZoZo]

Have tried Flyball (like Melanie I found its too much committment - most of the teams do nothing else and I prefer to keep it at game status)

 

Game status?! That's not going to work. Flyball is like a cult and you must devote your life to it. Soon, you'll have two groups of friends; flyball friends and non-flyball friends. Your non-flyball friends and relatives will most likely prefer to remember you before you became so fanatical and were home on weekends. But it's a cult that you and your dogs can enjoy together. Someone reccently left our team complaining it was too "recreational", which I thought was hilarious considering this is a club where the hardcore people think nothing of driving 6 hours one way to a tournament and many will do three long distance racing weekends back to back! Which reminds me, I need to start packing- big tournament in San Diego this weekend, whoo hoo!

[Seelie Fey]

Flyball, agility, experimented with herding but didn't like the way the sheep were being treated. Weird tricks and general spoilage. Kind of wish someone did dock diving near here.

[Root Beer]

Kind of wish someone did dock diving near here.

 

That is something I want to try with Dean. He loves swimming and playing in water so much. I think he would adore dock diving!

[CoRayBee]

I believe I am something of an anomaly...I have a border collie and I've never tried flyball. I never had an interest in it- it's way way waaaay too noisy and manic for this introvert!

 

Barra has pretty much retired from everything but Professional Couch Potatoism and Official Protector of the Sundeck (from the evil squirrels, you understand) but in her day she was active in agility and French Ringsport. As far as I know, until last year she was the only border collie in North America with a Ring title...granted, it was entry level but she gave that sport absolutely everything she had, the little witch.

 

She is nuts for sheepherding but I quickly discovered that I get way too stressed out to trial, so we stopped training to trial and just had fun with it. Unfortunately the trainer moved away and I just don't have the time to drive for hours on my weekends just to 'have fun with it.' I miss it horribly! Vicious circle, that. And she was pretty middle-of-the-road when it came to agility- she more or less just did it because it made me happy- so after she recovered from her illness a few years ago I just never got back into it. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) I now have a 2 year old frenetic mass of comical attitude thinly disguised as a Sheltie to satisfy my agility junkie needs.

[doggietrio]

Lure Coursing occassionally. It's *fun*!! but honestly the most dangerous for the dogs. BCs put way more *heart* into the turns than the hounds do. If the lure goes 90 degrees, so do they!

 

Seriously...border collies can lure course? Mine must be broken. Our lure "coursing" goes something like this...

 

I take Fuze to the line, she is straining in her harness and screaming (one of the rare times she vocalizes when she's excited). The crowds stop to watch her...I hear mumblings..."this is gonna be good"..."wow, look at that dog, she's rarin' to go"..."hey, we gotta watch her, she's gonna be FAST".

 

The lure makes it's appearance. Fuze strains into her harness, pulling, willing me to let her go. Whooosh, the lure races in front of her, Fuze yips, I let go. Fuze is off like a rocket. Such immense power and speed for a small dog. Incredible. The "oohs" and "aaahs" from the crowd swell my heart with pride...

 

Until...

 

Fuze is off-line. She's no longer behind the lure, but racing to the side. "Is she trying to cut the turn" I hear someone ask. "What is that dog doing" Hmmm...she hasn't been on this course before, so I know she's not anticipating the turn. I wonder, what is it she's doing?!?! Then, she drops into a down.

 

But, I've seen that stare, that intense gaze, that...OH MY GAWD...I know what she's doing...WHAT IS SHE DOING...that's not a sheep! But, the instant the lure stops, Fuze squares out and goes wide. The lure operator doesn't know what to do and the lure continues to sit motionless. Fuze goes to balance and slowly, intently with more eye than any BC on the planet stalks up on the lure. She is going to fetch it back to me.

 

The crowd is silent. They cannot figure out what in the world this crazy dog is doing.

 

I start laughing.

 

I tell the operator to just make the lure go. He looks at me like I'm two cards short of a full deck, but does as I ask. Fuze cannot believe that stupid plastic bag didn't bow to her pressure, so she is off again like a shot. She is going to get to the head and turn this uncooperative bag if it kills her. I think she spent 1/2 the course running backwards, trying to get to the front of the bag.

 

I am still laughing when Fuze comes back and I need to re-leash her. I realize that I may not have a very competent lure coursing dog, but I sure have the world's best lure HERDING dog!

[Kat762]

My Finn is just over a year old and has been practicing with a flyball team.He may run this weekend for the first time in Maryland, but if not, definitely in October in Pennsylvania.He LOVES flyball, and being a BC, well, he's fast and totally focused on the ball and the job.I don't care about points or titles, I just want Finn to have an activity he loves.I 'm on a team of good people who all feel the same way .

 

My last BC, Scout, passed away at 12 1/2 years old due to disintigrating discs/vertebrae.The last year plus of his life was downhill on steroids and pain meds.I'm quite convinced frisbee was the cause.Obviously I did not know the damage it can do to their musculoskeletal system, when they land on the ground.Finn will never play frisbee.

[Kat's Dogs]

Our lure "coursing" goes something like this...

:D

 

That was really fun to read.