By Susan Spisak
Dog sports have terrific benefits for you and your four-legged companion! They create a stronger bond through teamwork, enhance mental stimulation, boost confidence, and improve physical fitness. For those dogs with bad habits, sports can channel negative energies. Participating in and mastering new sports can give them a sense of accomplishment. And they connect you and your dog to other like-minded people and pets, increasing socialization and relaxation.
RAYN MOORE, PHOTO CREDIT: NIKKI IRELAND
SpeedWay is an interesting sport similar to the popular Agility. It’s simpler with hoops, tunnels, and barrels, but it’s along a shorter course, depending on the events. It’s fun for dogs and their owners and is a fantastic way to release energy. For those who aspire to compete, they can at Canine Performance Events or CPE.
Brandi Moore, CPDT-KA, Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Wag It! Games Certified Instructor, and owner of Lincolnville’s Spot On Dog Training Center, said that dogs and their humans love SpeedWay because it's a low-pressure sport for all ages and abilities.
“It builds drive and confidence in dogs, which is excellent foundation work for Agility. It promotes a partnership in the dog/handler team that carries across to other dog sports, as well as enhances the relationship between the dog and its human partner.”
She added that in addition to new students trying out this sport, several students have signed up for every session. “All breeds are able to enjoy and be successful in SpeedWay. We have students who compete in SpeedWay trials, as well as a couple of regulars who have no interest in competing but do it just because they and their dogs have so much fun!”
Readers are welcome to watch a class or take your dog and try it out for yourself. SpeedWay is offered most Wednesdays, 6:45 pm to 7:45 pm. Peek at all the classes her facility offers at spotondogtrainingcenter.com/dog-training-classes-1.
Nosework is a fun detection style sport designed to utilize dog’s olfactory receptors in its nose. Depending on the trainer, expect that your dog’s scenting abilities will be further developed with games and hide-and-seek type exercises.
Sara Sokol, Owner/Trainer of Mr. Dog Training (Voted BEST in Maine!) offers Nosework classes and shared, “A dog’s brain is uniquely wired for scent work—in fact, the portion of a dog’s brain devoted to analyzing smells is about 40 times larger than humans. Because of that, any scenting activity provides deep mental enrichment. In addition, sniffing helps dogs regulate their nervous systems, offering emotional balance, and decompression—much like people taking a few slow, deep breaths to calm themselves.”
For those looking for other types of sports for their pet, she said Agility is wonderful to add another layer of enrichment by fostering communication and teamwork between dogs and their handlers. “It can be a fun and engaging activity that builds confidence, strengthens the bond between dog and human, and creates a shared experience they can enjoy together." (mrdogtraining.com)
Positively Best Friends! Dog Training & Canine Activity Center in Edgecomb has a goal to celebrate the human-canine bond by providing dogs and their owners with a positive educational and recreational experience through classes and workshops, encouraging enrichment activities while enjoying the company of like-minded people in a relaxed, comfortable, supportive, and friendly atmosphere.
RALLY, PHOTO COURTESY OF POSITIVELY BEST FRIENDS
Managing member Marcia Welch has been teaching people to train their dogs for over thirty years and has trained her own dogs in Obedience, Agility, Herding, Rally, Tracking, K9 NoseWork, and Musical Canine Freestyle.
Marcia agreed with Sara on Nosework’s benefits, “Generally, any kind of scenting activity is rewarding to most dogs. It doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to what we refer to as NoseWork. All dogs enjoy interpreting various scent ‘messages’ through the use of their sensitive noses.”
In Nose Work, dogs learn how to locate “target odors,” i.e., various essential oils which are placed in different areas. Some of the locations are on vehicles, in containers, or in a specific room. Working detection dogs inspired the activity which became a sport providing enrichment for dogs and people, creating a strong bond.
This Edgecomb studio offers many of these as well including the popular Agility. “Most dogs like to run and jump and climb. Agility is a perfect activity to provide enrichment and access to all those activities. Being agile is not really a prerequisite for either the dog or the handler at the foundation level. Obstacles are introduced slowly and carefully to help with confidence building. After becoming familiar with the basics: jumps, tunnels, planks and tippy boards, obstacles are arranged in a numbered course. Dogs and their handlers navigate each obstacle in sequence…Agility is an activity that can be enjoyed by all breeds of dogs and all ages and abilities of the human part of the team,” said Marcia. (positivelybestfriends.com/)
For dogs with lots of get up and go, Flyball may be good for them. Flyball is a fast-paced tennis ball relay race for dogs. Each dog sprints over four jumps to catch a tennis ball released from a spring-loaded flyball box and then races back over the four jumps so the next dog can go.
FLYBALL, PHOTO CREDIT: DAVE STRAUSS
Rebeccah Aube of Flyball MAINEiacs, a 21-year-old group that is based out of Portland, said that most join with a dog who has a lot of ball drive and/or energy and they want a positive outlet. “Flyball provides both mental and physical engagement, but it’s not an overnight process. It typically takes at least a year to fully train a dog to compete. What keeps people involved is that flyball is truly a team sport: we train together, support one another, and compete together.” For more information about the team, beginner flyball classes, demos or introduction seminars, please feel free to email her, flyballdogz@mail.com.
This spring, they’re hosting a flyball tournament on May 30th and 31st at the Dover Ice Arena. The event serves as a fundraiser to support their team and ongoing training efforts. Spectators are welcome and encouraged to come watch the excitement, though they ask that personal dogs stay at home so the competing teams can focus and stay safe. (flyballdogs.com/flyball_maineiacs/.)
For those who participate in or are interested in starting, Rebeccah runs her own Portland-based business focusing on canine strength training and conditioning, essential for helping sporting dogs, Power Up K9, LLC. (facebook.com/PowerUpK9/)
For Agility, Obedience and Tracking clinics and seminars, count on North Star Dog Training School in Somerville. Owner Carolyn Fuhrer has a background in teaching, and she has taught students at all levels throughout her career. Her skill and knowledge as a teacher are the keys to her success in helping people to understand their dogs and achieve their goals.
TRACKING, PHOTO CREDIT OF NORTH STAR DOG TRAINING
Carolyn shared that their most popular dog sport is “without a doubt” AKC Tracking. “Tracking is the ultimate team sport and success depends upon an intense personal relationship with your dog. Those who work to achieve goals in tracking enjoy a great sense of satisfaction.” Email or check the Facebook page for the schedules. (facebook.com/NorthStarDogTraining/)