You do extra activities with your dog. Tell me about them!
February 2, 2025 10:00 AM Subscribe
I'm interested in activities to do with my (future) dog, like search and rescue, agility, frisbee, surfing, kayaking, hiking, scent work, hospital therapy dog, etc. Looking for anecdotes/experience about activities you and your dog have enjoyed, whether casually or competitively/professionally. Obviously the doggo's interest is primary, but what other factors are there?
Which ages/breeds/sizes/temperaments, if any, are most or least suited? How fit/experienced does the human need to be? What does the training program look like? Can it be done casually, or is it mostly competitive or professional? Is certification required? What is competition like - travel? local? Does training need to start in puppyhood or do adult dogs pick up the activity readily? Any negatives to the activity? Generally interested in the landscape of possibilities.
For example years ago I met somebody (a regular civilian) who trained her dog to do water-based cadaver searches. She would get called up perodically to ride around in dinghies to help with police and coast guard searches, and found it very rewarding. I wish I had asked her more questions.
Which ages/breeds/sizes/temperaments, if any, are most or least suited? How fit/experienced does the human need to be? What does the training program look like? Can it be done casually, or is it mostly competitive or professional? Is certification required? What is competition like - travel? local? Does training need to start in puppyhood or do adult dogs pick up the activity readily? Any negatives to the activity? Generally interested in the landscape of possibilities.
For example years ago I met somebody (a regular civilian) who trained her dog to do water-based cadaver searches. She would get called up perodically to ride around in dinghies to help with police and coast guard searches, and found it very rewarding. I wish I had asked her more questions.
Best answer: I was extremely active in agility for many years. Herding breeds are the most successful but all kinds of dogs can succeed. There are several different agility organizations, each with a different style of competition, some requiring more fitness from the human than others. Competition can be done casually but is so much fun that both human and dog get very into it. It's an amazing way to make friends because it gives you all the factors that lead to relationship-building: regular contact, shared adversity, common interests, and lots of downtime. Competition can be local depending on where you live but most people end up traveling a lot. Opinions differ on when training is best started but most now think that there's no real rush and for sure you want to wait until growth plates close before starting jump training. The big downside is the real risk of injury to the dog. Agility people are constantly debating how to make the sport safer.
Another interesting thing about agility is that it's virtually all women. I'm not sure why this is other than the fact that to succeed at agility you absolutely have to train using positive reinforcement and put a lot of effort into understanding things from your dog's point of view--any hint of punishment slows the dogs down and undermines their confidence--and that seems to be a harder concept for men than for women, at least the ones I've seen attempting to compete. Obviously there are some good male competitors but the vast majority, and also the true greats in the field, are women.
posted by HotToddy at 11:37 AM on February 2 [2 favorites]
Another interesting thing about agility is that it's virtually all women. I'm not sure why this is other than the fact that to succeed at agility you absolutely have to train using positive reinforcement and put a lot of effort into understanding things from your dog's point of view--any hint of punishment slows the dogs down and undermines their confidence--and that seems to be a harder concept for men than for women, at least the ones I've seen attempting to compete. Obviously there are some good male competitors but the vast majority, and also the true greats in the field, are women.
posted by HotToddy at 11:37 AM on February 2 [2 favorites]
Best answer: My first Westie was a therapy dog for many years and absolutely loved it. He was very people-oriented and loved attention/praise, so he really enjoyed interacting with his patients. He only worked with adults because he was unpredictable around children. Regular dog-training classes were the only training he needed, but he had to be tested and certified before he could start visiting. Basically, he figured out on his own how to be a good therapy dog because I had no idea of what therapy dogs should/could/would do. And there were real challenges for him to overcome: elevators, hospital smells/equipment, patients ranging from virtually comatose to young and active, dealing with psychiatric and dementia patients, and so on. The only physical demands on me were picking him up multiple times to put him up on patients' beds and then lifting him down.
posted by DrGail at 12:04 PM on February 2 [1 favorite]
posted by DrGail at 12:04 PM on February 2 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My very excellent lab mix, Shakima Greggs aka Kima aka Moosie aka Shoshee recently crossed the chocolate-covered rainbow bridge recently.
She worked as a therapy dog and it was her happiest place. She liked people, she was so calm, if a person was ever upset she would go to them and sit on their feet or lap. She never showed signs of aggression, let the cats sit on her, and she also adored the chickens and was very protective of them.
Whenever there was a conflict between the other dogs and cats, she would go stand in between the feuding pets and stare into the distance until they broke it up.
She LOVED kids and would go to school with me (I'm an educator) and would plonk herself down next to kids and let them pet her.
She did regular dog training and my friend had a certified therapy dog and she felt Kima was the right temperament, so she was tested and got her official license.
Every morning she would wait to see if I was getting out her harness and if I did she ran to the door and sat quietly, tail going crazy. She would hop in the car in her special place, and even though she was happy to work she always entered buildings calmly.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 12:48 PM on February 2 [4 favorites]
She worked as a therapy dog and it was her happiest place. She liked people, she was so calm, if a person was ever upset she would go to them and sit on their feet or lap. She never showed signs of aggression, let the cats sit on her, and she also adored the chickens and was very protective of them.
Whenever there was a conflict between the other dogs and cats, she would go stand in between the feuding pets and stare into the distance until they broke it up.
She LOVED kids and would go to school with me (I'm an educator) and would plonk herself down next to kids and let them pet her.
She did regular dog training and my friend had a certified therapy dog and she felt Kima was the right temperament, so she was tested and got her official license.
Every morning she would wait to see if I was getting out her harness and if I did she ran to the door and sat quietly, tail going crazy. She would hop in the car in her special place, and even though she was happy to work she always entered buildings calmly.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 12:48 PM on February 2 [4 favorites]
Best answer: You will need to consult your dog! They're all individuals with their idiosyncratic preferences. Another consideration is how much time you can invest. Again depending on the dog, you will already need to spend non-trivial amounts of quality time by just being with the dog. Calculate how much time you have left over for more structured dog activities. In these uncertain times, I would also reconsider extremely athletic dog activities. Athlete dogs get expensive injuries like athlete humans do.
My late beloved Rottweiler would have been a perfect therapy dog. She loved people and was conscientious around toddlers and old people because she didn't want to knock them over. Yet the amount of time needed to get the therapy dog certification, and the time commitment once you get into a therapy program, was way too great in light of my existing time commitments. So we settled for walks, scritches and cuddles.
posted by SnowRottie at 1:16 PM on February 2
My late beloved Rottweiler would have been a perfect therapy dog. She loved people and was conscientious around toddlers and old people because she didn't want to knock them over. Yet the amount of time needed to get the therapy dog certification, and the time commitment once you get into a therapy program, was way too great in light of my existing time commitments. So we settled for walks, scritches and cuddles.
posted by SnowRottie at 1:16 PM on February 2
Best answer: I tried agility with my mini-poodle mix. In the beginning she loved it. Absolutely loved it. She probably could have competed if i had the time to commit to it more than once a week, but it just wasn't in the cards. I was working with her to be better at distance commands (so i needed to run less - it is possible to be in less than peak condition as a human if you have a good dog) but unfortunately my pups back legs began to have some issues so we quit. If we were actively competing, surgery could have been an option, but definitely not worth it just for fun. We looked into some lower impact stuff, but at that point her pain (that i didn't notice at first and still feel bad about) had kind of ruined my girl's enthusiasm.
Agility dogs will benefit from a very solid training foundation when young, but a good trainer won't have them do anything high impact until they are full grown (~1 year) to prevent injury. But with an older dog as long as you have a solid sit/stay and recall, you can work from there for fun if the dog is into it.
If i was in better shape myself with all the time in the world to devote to keeping a dog active, I would love to have a border collie to do agility with. Breed standard, those dogs are so smart and talented and just wired for it - but dang you need to be committed as an owner to make sure those dogs have that outlet for their brains and their activity needs. Meanwhile my agility trainer competed with belgian malinois (ie police dogs) and dang those dogs were intense!
My trainer also trains a lot of scent dogs, which looks interesting, but I already knew my pup would be a disaster - she cant smell a treat on her nose to save her life. The dog's natural ability will always play a significant part in their success with dog sports - same as with humans.
posted by cgg at 2:46 PM on February 2
Agility dogs will benefit from a very solid training foundation when young, but a good trainer won't have them do anything high impact until they are full grown (~1 year) to prevent injury. But with an older dog as long as you have a solid sit/stay and recall, you can work from there for fun if the dog is into it.
If i was in better shape myself with all the time in the world to devote to keeping a dog active, I would love to have a border collie to do agility with. Breed standard, those dogs are so smart and talented and just wired for it - but dang you need to be committed as an owner to make sure those dogs have that outlet for their brains and their activity needs. Meanwhile my agility trainer competed with belgian malinois (ie police dogs) and dang those dogs were intense!
My trainer also trains a lot of scent dogs, which looks interesting, but I already knew my pup would be a disaster - she cant smell a treat on her nose to save her life. The dog's natural ability will always play a significant part in their success with dog sports - same as with humans.
posted by cgg at 2:46 PM on February 2
Best answer: My little terrier mix had the best nose for finding hidden toys and playing seeking and retrieving games.I never ended up taking classes, but I always wanted to get him into Truffle hunting. He'd have been a natural at it and would have had a blast doing it.
posted by ljesse at 3:13 PM on February 2
posted by ljesse at 3:13 PM on February 2
Best answer: Over the years, to keep my cowdogs busy, I've slowly made and gathered most of the items for agility. I've had a border collie and a couple heelers that needed to stay busy. While I've never competed except in fun shows, it's great fun for the dog and good exercise. But if you're looking for something to do, there's tons of ideas for DIY obstacles--many inexpensive ones out of pvc pipe. You can build your own movable wobbleboards, teeterboards, ramps, A-frames, etc. Kids' play tunnels work well for tunnel runs, although not as sturdy. They've worked for as much as I do. I agreed about the risk of injury and that you can do too much speed work and jumping. The serious competition I've known had dogs with joint issues. Other sports that are great fun for dogs are frisbee and flyball, but every dog I know that has done a lot of either has come up with injuries. Some it can be due to poor conformation or genetic issues, and some of it can be general health or being a 'weekend warrior' without serious conditioning.
In addition to natural ability, if you're going to do scent work, or especially search and rescue and/or cadaver work, you have to be all in. These activities require a large commitment of time and money, unlike other sports and fun activities. They can be extremely stressful for both you and your dog, and they require a good physical condition and a lot of exertion with a possibility of injury, minor, but it happens. You can compete at low level agility or obedience and still do well without the sacrifice those three activities call for.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:03 PM on February 2
In addition to natural ability, if you're going to do scent work, or especially search and rescue and/or cadaver work, you have to be all in. These activities require a large commitment of time and money, unlike other sports and fun activities. They can be extremely stressful for both you and your dog, and they require a good physical condition and a lot of exertion with a possibility of injury, minor, but it happens. You can compete at low level agility or obedience and still do well without the sacrifice those three activities call for.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:03 PM on February 2
Best answer: I am working with my dog towards rally and also agility. (He’s a Bernese Mountain Dog/St. Bernard cross but on the small/thin side.) Those breeds are slow to mature so even though he’s 18 months old his focus is just coming in for off-leash stuff, and he’s still growing. Still, the foundations are great. I don’t intend to compete seriously in either, I just want fun stuff to do with my dog that keeps his cattle herding/guardian brain happy. (He’s is definitely a herder…be aware that herding dogs need careful, positive handling. When he attempts to herb humans it’s 90 lbs coming at you.)
I also intend to get him therapy dog-certified because he is a very kind fluffy cuddle big soul.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:39 PM on February 2
I also intend to get him therapy dog-certified because he is a very kind fluffy cuddle big soul.
posted by warriorqueen at 5:39 PM on February 2
Best answer: We have done both agility and nosework (scent work) with our greyhounds, which people found entertaining because they're not usual suspects, so to speak. Not competitively, but for a time we were pretty into it (until our oldest started having back leg issues) and eventually the place closed.
We originally started as first time dog owners because our greyhound was very checked out. We happened to go to a dog fair where trainers demoed activities you could do with your dog. He loved it. He went so hard that he wanted to Take All the Turns and would fall asleep in the back of the car on the ride home. It brought him out of his shell and helped us find more ways to interact with him. By the end, he was doing exterior car searches with scents.
I'm a huge advocate of any structured activity you can do with your dog that demands mental and physical commitment. It helps you understand and work with your dog more, and it is just so much fun.
posted by canine epigram at 6:04 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]
We originally started as first time dog owners because our greyhound was very checked out. We happened to go to a dog fair where trainers demoed activities you could do with your dog. He loved it. He went so hard that he wanted to Take All the Turns and would fall asleep in the back of the car on the ride home. It brought him out of his shell and helped us find more ways to interact with him. By the end, he was doing exterior car searches with scents.
I'm a huge advocate of any structured activity you can do with your dog that demands mental and physical commitment. It helps you understand and work with your dog more, and it is just so much fun.
posted by canine epigram at 6:04 PM on February 2 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Some of this also depends on your local resources and how you best learn -- for instance, I've tried doing online classes, but I'm pretty terrible at keeping up with it and taking videos of us working together to get feedback on. I'm best doing structured learning in classes, so I haven't done much fun trick training that others do via social media. Other people can do a lot with online classes and live further away from classes so they can do that. So we've generally looked at what local classes are offered and if you're interested in competing, what events are nearby -- and this is very dependent on your local area. If you're looking at agility classes, I would ensure that the facility does have better equipment (sandbagged tunnels, etc.) so your dog doesn't get hurt learning. Typically the foundation class has no obstacles-- I'd steer clear of classes that have you lead them over obstacles with a leash or treats.
I've seen people who are less fit do agility -- I think AKC tends to have courses that are more dense and UKI has larger courses (if you're looking at what's popular in your area). I would say that I wish I did some athletics earlier in life, so that I have better body awareness of what I'm doing while I'm handling her. My husband's actually a much better handler than I am, because my dog responds better to his high-energy/play nature and he has better body awareness -- he was handling her for the past several months but he's been burned out at work, so I'm back training with her.
You can also look into functional breeding, which is very intentional about which specific dogs would be bred together to hopefully create some characteristics for specific functions (pet dog, agility, etc).
But I would say get the dog that you want to have at home because that's where your dog is most of the time. Some of our agility instructors compete with mixed-breed dogs (and won at national competitions with them). Our friends intended to do some agility work with their border collie that came from herding lines, but they didn't really have the time for it so she had a rough time acclimating to an urban home. My plan for our corgi was if she was a pretty chill dog, we'd do some therapy volunteering with her; if not, we might do agility (and she loves it).
We actually got a herding ball recently to do something else while it's raining (you can potentially find competitive treibball), but we aren't intending on competing. Just training for fun and hopefully getting some of her herding needs met. You can compete in herding livestock, but herding classes are pretty far for us and the one closest isn't positive-reinforcement-only, which would go against the relationship-building that we'd want to do together. She hates water, so any water activities are out, and you would think corgi bodies are weird for some of these sports -- but I've seen corgis do dock diving and frisbee.
I've seen other corgis get so ball-fixated that we didn't train fetch for 2-3 years. We now do limited fetching (with delays) and frisbee now, because she does love chasing things and I get tired running around with a flirt pole. A fair number of people with agility corgis that I've talked to have gotten X-ray checks that their hips are ok and growth plates have closed before starting agility with obstacles. Each breed might have different health checks you'd want to do, and it probably depends on how much you're training and invested in competing. We also limit the amount of weaves that she's allowed to do and running a-frames and if we were competing, we'd likely jump at lower jump heights and a-frame via preferred/select. There are also conditioning classes to help avoid injuries. There are probably strategies to mitigate injuries in every dog sport, but it's certainly no guarantee.
I've also looked into nosework/scent work, and we also have barn hunt out here. You can definitely do nosework training at home and it seems like the beginner stuff is great for all dogs, and often is recommended if your dog tends to be anxious.
I have a friend who trained Bernese Mountain dogs for search and rescue, but would research if there are any organizations in your area and the requirements are for becoming a member and getting training.
posted by sincerely yours at 3:20 PM on February 3
I've seen people who are less fit do agility -- I think AKC tends to have courses that are more dense and UKI has larger courses (if you're looking at what's popular in your area). I would say that I wish I did some athletics earlier in life, so that I have better body awareness of what I'm doing while I'm handling her. My husband's actually a much better handler than I am, because my dog responds better to his high-energy/play nature and he has better body awareness -- he was handling her for the past several months but he's been burned out at work, so I'm back training with her.
You can also look into functional breeding, which is very intentional about which specific dogs would be bred together to hopefully create some characteristics for specific functions (pet dog, agility, etc).
But I would say get the dog that you want to have at home because that's where your dog is most of the time. Some of our agility instructors compete with mixed-breed dogs (and won at national competitions with them). Our friends intended to do some agility work with their border collie that came from herding lines, but they didn't really have the time for it so she had a rough time acclimating to an urban home. My plan for our corgi was if she was a pretty chill dog, we'd do some therapy volunteering with her; if not, we might do agility (and she loves it).
We actually got a herding ball recently to do something else while it's raining (you can potentially find competitive treibball), but we aren't intending on competing. Just training for fun and hopefully getting some of her herding needs met. You can compete in herding livestock, but herding classes are pretty far for us and the one closest isn't positive-reinforcement-only, which would go against the relationship-building that we'd want to do together. She hates water, so any water activities are out, and you would think corgi bodies are weird for some of these sports -- but I've seen corgis do dock diving and frisbee.
I've seen other corgis get so ball-fixated that we didn't train fetch for 2-3 years. We now do limited fetching (with delays) and frisbee now, because she does love chasing things and I get tired running around with a flirt pole. A fair number of people with agility corgis that I've talked to have gotten X-ray checks that their hips are ok and growth plates have closed before starting agility with obstacles. Each breed might have different health checks you'd want to do, and it probably depends on how much you're training and invested in competing. We also limit the amount of weaves that she's allowed to do and running a-frames and if we were competing, we'd likely jump at lower jump heights and a-frame via preferred/select. There are also conditioning classes to help avoid injuries. There are probably strategies to mitigate injuries in every dog sport, but it's certainly no guarantee.
I've also looked into nosework/scent work, and we also have barn hunt out here. You can definitely do nosework training at home and it seems like the beginner stuff is great for all dogs, and often is recommended if your dog tends to be anxious.
I have a friend who trained Bernese Mountain dogs for search and rescue, but would research if there are any organizations in your area and the requirements are for becoming a member and getting training.
posted by sincerely yours at 3:20 PM on February 3
« Older What can I do in my spare time to benefit society? | What is this felting yarn and what do I do with it... Newer »
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
I would put him in a sit stay, show him an item and then go somewhere else in the house and hide it. It kept him busy and entertained while I was doing something else. It also helped him learn SO many words when I was in the room with him and guiding him. Words like under, behind, left, right, couch, and the names of rooms.
We also played find the kid - and that was useful to help remember the kids names and we thought might be useful if one of the kids ever was lost in our back woods, etc.
As a very small puppy, I started bringing him to playgrounds and we did all the ladders and wobble bridges, etc to get him more agile and so he could figure out how to understand back foot placement.
It helped him learn to climb ladders which was very useful at docks and for boats.
Learning left and right helped when we mountain biking and hiking (and a zillion other ways). He liked to run in front and I would give him a heads up which way we were going when he got to an intersection/fork in the trail.
posted by ReluctantViking at 10:14 AM on February 2 [4 favorites]