How many times do you hear people introduce a new puppy as their next agility project? Or new flyball project? Or new obedience project?
Lots?
What about when people say “I compete in obedience only,” “I just train agility,” or “I exclusively train therapy dogs”?
Lots.
Or how about “I would never let my obedience dog learn how to barn hunt because it will teach them bad habits,” or “I won’t do obedience with my disc dog because it will squash their drive,” or “I can’t let my dog do conformation and rally on the same day”?
Lots!
I think oftentimes us dog sport people can get caught up in our own goals within our sport that we don’t allow our dogs to create goals of their own.
What exactly do I mean by this?
Meet Macey:
When I got Macey, I wanted her to be an agility dog through and through. Nothing else really mattered except that she excel at agility.
But…
She struggled with it. She was not a born agility dog. At all!
And she didn’t really like it… (at first)
So I made a deal with her. I committed to only one night of the week for agility training so I could be happy. And then I committed another night to a new sport so she could be happy.
We played agility one night and started playing flyball another night. It worked wonders! Macey and I were so happy to oblige the other that we both fell in love with both sports.
Shortly after I started flyball, I got a puppy and became very interested in investing in competitive obedience with him. So Macey got roped into obedience too.
And then at the UKC Premier dog show we discovered and got involved with drag racing.
And then lure coursing.
And then dock diving.
And then barn hunt.
And then nosework.
And then freestyle.
The more sports I added, the happier my dogs and I were. And their smiles. So big and gleeful.
But it also meant some negative feedback… (this is the dog world after all…)
I was told that my dogs would get confused, lose focus, lose interest, learn bad behaviors, mix behaviors up, and start throwing the wrong behaviors in the wrong sports…
Except…
None of that happened.
Why?
Mainly because dogs are smarter than we like to give them credit for… But also because I worked with Macey to understand different contexts. Here are a few of the ways we keep our list of sports straight.
I use different gear for different sports: Macey has a slip lead for agility, a flat buckle collar for obedience and rally, a show lead for conformation, a waterproof collar for hiking or water activities, a harness for nosework, another harness for flyball, and an extra wide martingale for lure coursing.
Another way we differentiate is with our warm up routine: for obedience, I don’t need to physically warm her up as much as I need to mentally warm her up so we play lots of brain games and self control exercises. For agility I need a good warm up both physically and mentally so we will walk outside for a bit, then walk inside for a bit, then play some fitness games, then some brain games, etc. All of this helps create the mindset I need for a particular sport.
And finally, I can literally just tell my dog what we are going to do next. How often do you catch yourself before saying “let’s go for a walk” because your dog knows exactly what that means? Dogs pick up on cues so easily! I can tell my dogs “ready to go find it?” and they know they are doing nosework or “you see it?” and they know a lure coursing machine is nearby.
So, if you and your dog want to try something new and explore other sports, that’s awesome! The more the merrier. Let your dog have a say in what you do and you will be amazed at what joy it brings to all involved.
Or, if you and your dog are in love with your one chosen sport and feel more secure staying there, that’s awesome! I respect your dedication to your sport.
Or, if you and your dog are content to watch dog sports from afar from the luxury of your couch, that’s awesome too!
Not every dog needs to be a sports dog.
It’s ok to just have fun… 🙂
Questions or thoughts? Comment below!
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