| Obedience Agility Flyball Schutzhund
There are more canine sports than you can shake a stick at. Besides basic obedience, there are options for everyone and every puppy or dog such as agility, flyball, musical freestyle, herding, frisbee, service dogs, lure coursing, Schutzhund, tracking, performance dog, skijoring, bikejoring, and more. Below is information on four of the most popular sports and where to go to find out more.
Obedience training is one of those required sports that every responsible puppy or dog owner must provide. Obedience training is one of the best things you can do for your dog or puppy and yourself. Obedience training doesn't solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem.  Training opens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to instruct your dog about what you want her to do. Read more about why obedience training is so important at Perfect Paws with Gwen Bohnenkamp. Gwen also has written books that you may be interested in. Just click on the covers to read more about them.
Also visit 101 Dog Training Tips for dog training tips that are basic to all canine behavior programs.
Running a dog in an agility trial is the ultimate game for you and your dog and is one of the most exciting canine sports for spectators. In an agility trial, a dog demonstrates its agility and versatility by following cues from the handler through a timed obstacle course of jumps, tunnels, weave poles and other objects. It is an activity that strengthens the bond between dog and handler and provides fun and exercise for both which might explain why it's so enjoyable to watch and has become the fastest-growing dog sport in the U.S.
 Agility is a fun and exciting canine sport that began in England to add entertainment at the world-famous Crufts International Dog Show in 1978. A rousing success at Crufts, agility has gained steady popularity around the world. It is a sport that provides a spectacular display of stragtegy and teamwork between dog and handler on a colorful playground. Spectators love it and dogs are the stars of the show.
For more information about canine agility, visit Katie Greer at Agility Ability.
Every profession, sport, or occupation has its own special vocabulary of terms, definitions, and slang. Agility is no exception. What follows are some of the more common (and not so common) agility terms. Stuart Mah describes agility terminology at Beardie Agility Diehards.
Flyball is a team sport for dogs that was invented in California in the late 1970s. Legend has it that Herbert Wagner first showed it on the Johnny Carson Show to millions of Americans.  Soon afterwards dog trainers and dog clubs were making and using Flyball Boxes. In the early 1980s, the sport became so popular that the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was formed and they are the worldwide authority for Flyball.
Flyball is a relay race with four dogs on a team. The course consists of a starting line, four hurdles spaced ten feet apart and a box. The first hurdle is six feet from the start line and the box is fifteen feet from the last hurdle for a 51-foot overall length. The dog jumps the hurdles and steps on a spring loaded box that shoots out a tennis ball. The dog catches the tennis ball and then runs back over the four hurdles. When the dog crosses the starting line the next dog goes. The first team to have all four dogs run without errors wins the heat.
More information about flyball can be found at Flyball Dogs, I-Flyball, and others.
The German term Schutzhund translates protection dog. Schutzhund is a dog sport that was designed for breeders to measure the working ability of their dogs. Schutzhund is a three-phase, three-level dog sport involving obedience, tracking, and protection work at novice, intermediate, and master levels. There is also an advanced tracking degree (FH) offered.
 A traffic-steady companion dog test degree and a temperament test must be passed prior to showing in a Schutzhund trial.
The obedience phase involves numerous and demanding exercises which include heeling on and off leash, a gunfire test, walking through a group of people, motion exercises, recall, a ten to twenty-minute long down, retrieving, and jumping.
In the tracking phase, the dog must draw from inherited abilities by using his/her nose to find a person's track and discover articles that have been dropped along the way.  Depending upon the title sought, all tracks will vary in length, shape and age. Tracking is usually done in dirt or on grass.
The protection phase of Schutzhund training is intricate, advanced, and taught with control in mind. Because bite work is involved in this phase, a dog competing must always have a reliable temperament and show courage without viciousness.
To read more about the sport of Schutzhund, visit the following websites:
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