So who's into dog sports...?

[QuestJan]

I moved into a new neighborhood in Feb. I grew up with front porches - but this is in the southwest, where they have been replaced by garages with electric doors. I am just meeting my neighbors.

In the 80's I showed dogs in obedience but we also participated in tracking, carting, herding, 4-H (dogs), and whatever else I could do with them. Then the kids wanted to do martial arts instead and my narrow interest changed.

One of my brand new neighbors is a dog fanatic. Yesterday I was invited to join my neighbor & their friend while they did a Dock Dive event - they also do Barn Hunts: both new events since my first retirement. There's no agility within 2-hour radius, so maybe start a club.

It was a fun day!

 

[Misery]

There are dog sports?

I have no idea what a dock dive or barn hunt is, in terms of that, but there's dogs involved so it's probably pretty great.

 

[Tom]

I don't participate myself, but having 4 dogs what I'd like to see is synchronized pooping.

 

[QuestJan]

There are dog sports?

In the 80s My dogs competed in obedience, and we partnered in tracking, carting, herding (ducks), agility, therapy, and whatever else presented itself. I feel bitten by the bug again with all of the new events.

I have no idea what a dock dive or barn hunt is, in terms of that, but there's dogs involved so it's probably pretty great.

@Misery No one has more fun than these dogs. Their enthusiasm is legend. But like any sentient being, different strokes for different folks. But even the huge mastiff had a great time and their personal best jump was only 5 feet. Some of the dogs jumped >30 feet.

The dogs were totally enjoying being dogs. They make amazing companions, but they excel as partners. When they do tracking, barn hunts (humane ratting), and even dock diving (jumping off a dock to retrieve or save a life) - they are performing jobs that humans do poorly. They are truly serving when they do these events and that is joy.

 

[DogzSpirit]

I don't participate myself, but having 4 dogs what I'd like to see is synchronized pooping.

Ha ha ha ha... Husband celebrates when all do a group poop during a walk.... He brings home the stats to me if I was absent from that walk... ha ha.. synchronized pooping.

 

[DogzSpirit]

One of my brand new neighbors is a dog fanatic. Yesterday I was invited to join my neighbor & their friend while they did a Dock Dive event - they also do Barn Hunts: both new events since my first retirement. There's no agility within 2-hour radius, so maybe start a club.

It was a fun day!

Sounds like fun... What does a Barn Hunt event consist of?

 

[clg114]

I don't participate myself, but having 4 dogs what I'd like to see is synchronized pooping.

That is a good idea. Training might be tough, but it would be worth it.

 

[Streetwise]

Sounds like fun... What does a Barn Hunt event consist of?

usually in the UK, Jack Russell terriers are encouraged to run into a structure and find rodents(these people in the UK are psychopaths and take these dogs to kill any wildlife like the endangered British badger or rabbits )grab them by the neck !and shake them until their neck breaks, if you'd like to die like that ,you'd probably be called a masochist by a clinical psychologist.

 

[QuestJan]

Sounds like fun... What does a Barn Hunt event consist of?

Barn hunt I had a Norwich Terrier who did kill rats in my FIL's barn. But now any dog can test its mettle in a full day of 'being a dog' while owner hangs with other like-minded dog nerds.

That is a good idea. Training might be tough, but it would be worth it.

Try click&treat (they used to give it away free - sorry, I'll give a quick low down)

step 1. click & give treat until dog associates click with treat (you can use a pen, click fingers, clap, etc.)
2. Next, click when dog looks at you (then go wild with sit, down, etc. using following procedure)
3. In appropriate location, give click & preferred treat precisely as dog completes poop (pls don't interrupt the behavior)
4. Once dog knows pooping is rewarded, label the desired behavior (choosing something comfortable across contexts i.e. in front of your grandparents, priest, and young children)
5. Reward behavior when you requested it
6. The other dogs will learn through observation and start earning clicks too.

Full disclosure: This is a type of ABA training. I use ABA to teach initial communication skills to kids who are acting out b/c of lack of communication and for teaching my dogs vocabulary/positioning. It is great for teaching any living creature such as horses, ferrets, cats, etc (fast forward to 55)

 

[Streetwise]

If you are unfamiliar with dog sports, research how the dogs on the Iditarod race are abused !and all the companies who will no longer sponsor it !.

 

[DogzSpirit]

I must be weird (we all knew that eh?). I don't know about the hunt aspect. While it seems like it would be fun for the dogs... Well even if the rats are in tubes, I cannot see that as being fun for the rats like they say on this Barn Hunt Association

It's one thing for a dog to chase after something that can escape up a tree etc... and that said is for the barn hunts where the dogs do not get their mouths on the rodents.

Just something off on this somehow. We only fantasize about our cat and squirrel fetish in my pack lol. We have fake toy squirrels for that role playing. It releases their inner hunter, no harm done.

My dog came face to face with an unexpected cat on a store shelf, and I was rather glad the cat gave a quick lesson to his nose. lol. It gave him lots to think about, and he did at that for the entire store visit, as the cat chased him down the aisles ha ha

 

[QuestJan]

grab them by the neck !and shake them until their neck breaks, if you'd like to die like that ,you'd probably be called a masochist by a clinical psychologist.

This is a quick way to die, @Streetwise.

These dogs helped to defeat the plague pandemics as they reduced rat populations whose fleas carried the bacteria. Cats are great for mice, but not up to taking rats and no more humane. One needs a dog. A quick snap of the neck is more humane than traps or poison.

Homo sapiens are the demagogues of cruelty - that no other animal would ever do. Humanity has devised acts of torture and destruction against each other, all species, and our planet.

But that said, I am a big fan of Jaak Panksepp. He was a huge advocate of rats.

My new acquaintances believe the rats relax once they know they're safe. I know how cats love to tease dogs when they know they can't retaliate as @DogzSpirit shared. And I have to see for myself.

"The more I know people, the better I like my dog"

 

[Tom]

But not in the pool!

Btw, Stumbled on interesting study. Says dogs aren't paddling. They are doing same motion as running but with exaggerated stride.

New Dog Swimming Study Surprises Canine Community

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

I love watching the Great American Dog Show that is on tv every year.

I think people who can train their animals to do things like that are very clever.

 

[Misery]

You think masochism is psychologically healthy, I don't, so I disagree with your whole statement

@QuestJan is right: Dogs kill very quickly, when they kill at all. That violent shake they do is not meant to cause the animal they're holding to come apart slowly, it's meant to snap the neck immediately so as to stop the thing from struggling or escaping (dogs ARE natural hunters, after all, so they have this instinct for a reason. I mean, it's kinda hard to eat prey if it jumps out of your mouth and runs away, so... they dont let it do that).

No, if you want slow kills, that's what CATS do, not dogs. And I have no idea why they do it. Even cats that I've owned... the sweetest darned things... I saw them do it. Come home one day and the cat is just sitting on the porch, purring... while this small rabbit slowly bleeds out next to it, very clearly still alive but unable to get up. I never figured out the "why", and I'm not sure I would really want to know.

Note that this is all coming from a very long-time dog and cat owner, and someone who has a special interest in both, and a very strong connection to both.

Strangely, the cat that brutalized that rabbit was the cat who I was also super close to... she never seemed to have a mean/hostile/aggressive bone in her body. I carried her around the house all the time, or she'd follow me around. So friendly... she still did that, though. Cats are odd beasts, one way or another.

 

[watersprite]

That is a good idea. Training might be tough, but it would be worth it.

No doubt a highly specialized diet with early morning workouts to get the plumbing activated in good time.

 

[Streetwise]

@QuestJan is right: Dogs kill very quickly, when they kill at all. That violent shake they do is not meant to cause the animal they're holding to come apart slowly, it's meant to snap the neck immediately so as to stop the thing from struggling or escaping (dogs ARE natural hunters, after all, so they have this instinct for a reason. I mean, it's kinda hard to eat prey if it jumps out of your mouth and runs away, so... they dont let it do that).

No, if you want slow kills, that's what CATS do, not dogs. And I have no idea why they do it. Even cats that I've owned... the sweetest darned things... I saw them do it. Come home one day and the cat is just sitting on the porch, purring... while this small rabbit slowly bleeds out next to it, very clearly still alive but unable to get up. I never figured out the "why", and I'm not sure I would really want to know.

Note that this is all coming from a very long-time dog and cat owner, and someone who has a special interest in both, and a very strong connection to both.

Strangely, the cat that brutalized that rabbit was the cat who I was also super close to... she never seemed to have a mean/hostile/aggressive bone in her body. I carried her around the house all the time, or she'd follow me around. So friendly... she still did that, though. Cats are odd beasts, one way or another.

you never acknowledge me and I think what you said is indicative of the way humans find destruction too interesting

 

[Misery]

you never acknowledge me

Er...

I kinda responded directly to you? ....Also not a single thing I said has to do with "destruction is interesting". I seem to recall very specifically saying that I find CATS AND DOGS interesting. I thought that was rather obvious.

Look, I'll be honest here: This comment of yours, and the way you were acting earlier in the now-deleted posts, REALLY seems like you're out to pick a fight. And heck if I know why.

Doing that with me specifically serves no purpose and wont accomplish anything at all.

If you're in a mood that finds you doing that sort of thing... it might be time to take a break from the forum/computer/phone for awhile.

 

[ForestGumpett]

So to try to stay on topic, I really love to watch the dogs do all the tricks on the shows and have a dog that actually keeps me safe by keeping people away from me. I fall apart easily (Ehlers-Danlos is the culprit) and even the slightest nudge or getting into or out of a chair can throw a bone or ligament out. The giant dog not only keeps people away he’s strong enough to help me get up when I fall and just to be there to steady myself. He has been so good we’re considering getting another of the same breed, he’s a mastiff and can kick butt so I guess he’s a sports trained dog? I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of this sport lol. We weight pretty much the same but he’s taller than I am when standing. Old pic, he’s a lot bigger now.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

So to try to stay on topic, I really love to watch the dogs do all the tricks on the shows and have a dog that actually keeps me safe by keeping people away from me. I fall apart easily (Ehlers-Danlos is the culprit) and even the slightest nudge or getting into or out of a chair can throw a bone or ligament out. The giant dog not only keeps people away he’s strong enough to help me get up when I fall and just to be there to steady myself. He has been so good we’re considering getting another of the same breed, he’s a mastiff and can kick butt so I guess he’s a sports trained dog? I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of this sport lol. We weight pretty much the same but he’s taller than I am when standing. Old pic, he’s a lot bigger now.
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What a little sweet heart! I love those bully breed nanny dogs!!! You are melting my heart with this pic!!