# Want to get started trying a dog sport



## Click-N-Treat (Nov 9, 2015)

Rally is fun. Noelle loves it. Maybe you can find a rally class to try.


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## Minie (Oct 4, 2021)

We go to rally and it's great fun. The sidekick is obedience. Luca and Matteo got bored at ordinary obedience classes but enjoy rally.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Lily and Javelin both have rally titles. Lily and I have had tons of fun getting to the Rally Champion title and she still likes doing it at the age of 13+ years. A class is good for having the distractions of other dogs and people around and you will get experience with full courses too, but one nice thing is that there is a lot you can do on your own. Agility to be successful needs good handler/dog connection and the dog has to be able to be aware of and have focus for both their handler and the obstacles. I also have really great love for traditional obedience and Javelin does too. I generally prefer sports that enhance the bond between dog and person over those where we sort of just send them off to do something that doesn't connect us more deeply.


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

Loki took intro to Rally. We really liked it and wanted to take more classes. The trainer is taking the summer and suggested the local dog training. Unfortunately, they combine all levels of rally and require your dog to be off leash. 
The other option was








Rally-FrEe and Musical Freestyle


Rally-FrEe is a unique sport combining trick behaviors of Canine Musical Freestyle with the format of Rally-Obedience. It emphasizes the precise execution of fundamental freestyle and obedience skills while encouraging creative and novel behaviors on a Rally-Obedience style course.




www.rallyfree.com





Under the Videos, there are Skills videos. I think these are mostly tricks, but learning tricks to do while waiting in the other classes while help keep Loki from living up to his name.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I would recommend Rally too. 

Some clubs handle registration for classes differently - look around what's available in your area. I have my puppy Theo in agility - they have a sign up on line and first come first served. I'm on my computer ready to type exactly at 9 pm when registration opens and I always get in. My other club has waiting lists. I'm lucky to know the system (I'm on the obedience committee) the day I picked up my puppy I got his name down on the lists for all the obedience classes, including competition. He's in the novice obedience class- and dogs sit in this class for maybe a year or two or more preparing for novice title before they can move onto the open class. Because my other dog has titles - we skipped several lower level obedience classes after Theo got his CGC. I know people with older dogs on the waiting lists for these classes and they will wait a long time- I completely understand your frustration. There are only so many people qualified to teach at this level and only so much time that the building is available for classes. With covid dogs bulging the waiting lists, it's pretty bad. This second club is being as fair as possible - you get into a class when there is an opening and they go to people by the date they requested getting in. They keep careful records - she knows the date you requested a class.

Personally I prefer dog sports where I have to train my dog and I have a working relationship with them - even scent work requires training and you're a team. That's why I don't care for lure coursing. Many dogs love to run and chase - there isn't much training although for people extremely serious in the sport they do keep their dogs active and fit. I understand the joy of earning ribbons and titles - but there doesn't seem to be much connection.

I also prefer scent work to barn hunt. To be honest I've never done barn hunt - but I don't want my dogs focused on the scent of rats when we visit my daughter and her barn. The rodents belong to the barn cat and she doesn't like competition. With Scent work I have to train my dogs - around the house, in local parks, different places where I get permission. There's a lot of skills to work on. People make the assumption that just because dog's can smell they can perform in scent work - but it's like agility - dogs can naturally jump and run - but there's a lot of training for both dogs and humans to learn to navigate and compete in both sports.

Also not all dog sports are offered everywhere - there is no freestyle where I live.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

I'll add tricks and parkour to the list. Both Do More With Your Dog and the AKC offer trick dog titles, and there are several organizations that offer parkour titles. My favorite is All Dogs Parkour, but I've also titled dogs with The International Parkour Association, and a few others. 

If you are having trouble finding in-person classes near you, then check out online options, like the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - Home They offer instruction on pretty much everything from basic house manners to top level competition coaching in a variety of sports. They have on-demand videos, weekly webinars and workshops, as well as six-week-long classes.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

I like FastCAT because you just show up and do it. I’m also lucky to live right next to a very active FastCAT group. They’re about to break for summer, so for the next few weekends we will be doing it on the weekends. It’s a way to do a dog sport and be around dog people without a ton of time or money spent at clubs. It has been SO good for exposing Phoebe to other people and dogs, and a busy scene where not very much is expected of her, and she is so happy after she runs. I haven’t seen CAT offered here locally, and I don’t know if I would do it, for 2 reasons, 1: Phoebe runs to me, she doesn’t really chase the lure. 2: if the turns are sharp, I worry about bone/joint damage. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know if the turns are as sharp as in Lure Coursing (which I thought was restricted to sighthounds still?).

We also do trick training for fun. That is a family activity, I teach the dog, but I also teach the kids how to teach the dog. She learns that she has to listen to them as well as the adults, and it strengthens their bonds further. I get so much joy out of seeing them work together. I think one of my sons might try to do her tki evaluation with her if that is allowed (haven’t really looked into it.)


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## PowersPup (Aug 28, 2020)

My local humane society, where I took Topper for puppy kindergarten through five levels of obedience, offers a few dog sports classes, including a sampler where you can try out several sports to see what works for your dog. We took a tricks class that earned Topper his first title - AKC Novice Trick dog! They also offer three levels of nose work, which we did last year and have practiced on our own since then. The ability to do it on our own is key because of what so many posters have mentioned - long waiting lists for classes. Another factor for me is the Minnesota cabin season, in which I go to our vacation home for a week or two every month in the summer. That limits our availability for the typical six-week class. Around here, for a sport like agility, you need to commit to a training school and stay in classes (so I've been told by a trainer). We did find an agility for fun class last winter and will try to do another one next winter. Topper loves it and is pretty good at it (his maternal grandmother and uncle are agility champs), but our ability to pursue it is limited by my schedule.

We're doing our first nose work trial next weekend (despite the fact that we're still struggling with the buried search) and will do some lure-coursing for fun and maybe a FAST-CAT this summer. We tried barn hunt, and may do more of it. However. it may have undone all the work I have done to have Topper "leave it" when we encounter squirrels on our daily walks. They resemble rats with fluffy tails and he thinks he should be rewarded for "gitting" them. Hmmm...I may prefer that he limit his searching to birch, clove and anise.


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## kuriooo (Feb 17, 2010)

I will check around for Rally and FastCAT. I’ve heard of them but don’t know what they are.
The lure coursing is kind of informal- there is some kind of string or rope that gets designed into a square or some design. It looks like it’s remote controlled, they tie plastic bags to the string and the dog chases the bags. Great sprinting exercise, but the person just stands there, so more like the joy of getting your dog exercised and watching them run happily. No skill required.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

You can get a lot out of a rally class that has combined levels and is off leash even if you are new to it. Look at 94Magna_Tom's thread about the rally class he has been going to.


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## kuriooo (Feb 17, 2010)

lily cd re said:


> You can get a lot out of a rally class that has combined levels and is off leash even if you are new to it. Look at 94Magna_Tom's thread about the rally class he has been going to.


I will look - I’ll be honest, just a quick search on the internet “what is rally?” Didn’t turn me on. Maybe it’s one of these things that is more fun when you actually try it? I’ll check out the thread.


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## For Want of Poodle (Feb 25, 2019)

Rally is significantly more fun to do than to watch  

It's a lot of practice with eyes on the human while the human asks for weird things, often around other barking dogs. I started rally classes to work on Annie's focus on me around other dogs, and now just genuinely really enjoy it! We tried a few sports and that was the sport she took to. Scent, agility, and flyball weren't her thing. Dock diving is never going to happen (she hates swimming). CKC obedience classes don't seem to be held here, either. She loves tricks, too, but rally feels more like a sport and less like a certificate program.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I had never thought I would be very serious about rally. When I was first showing Lily in novice obedience I entered rally just to check it out. In the long run Lily enjoyed rally much more than obedience and she has just achieved the highest title there is in rally so at age 13+ she is now retired for the most part, but will still show for fun when close to home or if she comes along with Javelin showing. I think of a rally course as a series of tricks with a little heeling in between.


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## Sroodle8 (Dec 23, 2021)

I love agility. It checks all of my boxes: time spent with my dog, active, problem-solving, learning, teaching, competition. I will never get to the point where I can say "whelp, that's it. I know how this sport works now." I will never give up geeky over-thinking of my last run. 

On the other hand, my current dog likes spending time with me, but is not born to run agility. She would be just as happy swimming in the river. OK, more happy. Agility can be time-consuming. It can be tough to find a facility/teacher. Depending on where you live, it can be hard to train at home--space, climate, equipment.

We did Rally for a bit because there was a wait list for pre-agility. It was fun, it kept us learning things, and if we had not found agility, I think we would have continued with it. I would do FastCat but it seems like One More Thing. Tracking and scent work seem intriguing. 

I think you just try some things out. See what clicks.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

By the way, dog parkour isn't like some of the videos that you'll see of dogs running loose through the streets, jumping on and over things. It's actually very safety oriented, with rules about supporting your dog on and coming down from obstacles. 

This is Simon's first "big dog" submission.


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## Carolinek (Apr 2, 2014)

Agility is our sport, and the bond you form with your dog is incredible. Great way to keep in shape and meet other cool dog folks. It is way more challenging than it looks though! I haven’t tried other sports, maybe after I retire. A lot of people like rally. Pic of Gracie at a recent trial, it was Kentucky Derby weekend and that was the theme for the trial. She won the rose garland for having the fastest time in her class. Also an older action shot.
I would pick the brain of the private trainer you’re going to, they can help you get started.


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