Here Are Some Ideas To Keep Your Dog Busy!

Dog Training

Hi all,
Did you have fun yesterday playing with your puppy?

Today, I would like to share more ideas on............

Keeping Your Dog Busy

The following is a list of activities that you can engage with your dog. These activities are not only fun, but they also provide a great way to exercise and to preserve your dog's natural instincts and abilities.

Tracking:
Tracking is a great way to get your exercise and wear the dog out. It means exactly what it says: The dog follows a track laid down by another person. An article of the owner's is placed at the end of the track and the dog must find that article by following the track. It is often said that a tracking test builds real character, as the terrain is often difficult and the weather is sometimes completely undependable; since the owner cannot assist the dog in any way, everything seems to be left to God and the dog! Training this exercise is more time-consuming than difficult, and it requires a great deal of patience.

Several different tests are available from different associations, with different degrees of difficulty. Basic tests cover short tracks that have only a few turns and a short lag time between laying and running. More difficult tests include more turns, cross tracks, and several items left on the track to be found, with a longer lag time between laying the track and running it.

Weight Pulling:
Weight pulling has long been a favorite sport for the Alaskan Malamute and Samoyed breeds, but in the past few years this competition has spread to many other breeds, including, of all things, the desert-dwelling Basenji. Pulling divisions are divided by weight and experience. Dogs are put in harness and must pull a sledge loaded with varying amounts of weight for varying distances in order to earn their points.

Herding:
Herding competition has long been recognized in European countries and has been found in many forms in the United States. Many communities have stock dog fancier clubs or associations. Several breed clubs have initiated herding instinct tests, and the AKC has just initiated a Herding Instinct Test. These beginner levels allow you to assess any possible herding instincts in your dog and allow you to see if that type of competition would be of interest to you.

"Real" herding, which consist of gathering, driving and penning, as performed by the working stock dogs, is an event that will catch your heart. To see these intent animals working stock at great distances all on their own is truly an amazing sight.

Sled Racing:
Sled racing can be anything from a friendly competition between two men and their dogs to a competition as strenuous as the thousand-mile Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race. Here again, the dog's natural talents are emphasized. While Arctic breeds are most visible, many other breeds (including Poodles and Irish Setters) or mixed breeds can be very competitive.

I think that's enough for today, shall share with you more ideas tomorrow.

Till we 'woof' again, have fun.

Cheers.

Dog Training