Goldendoodle wins in agility
A Goldendoodle enjoying agility with his owner

It’s a proven fact that all dogs are better behaved when they are involved in activities. Activities to exercise both their minds and their bodies.

A BORED dog is often a mischievous dog, and some can even become destructive dogs. Chewing, digging and barking are common outlets for bored dogs.

You might want to take a look at the list below to see if there’s a dog sport or activity that you’d be interested in doing with your dog. You can also check to see what’s available for you and your dog in your local area.

These links are meant to provide information to others who may be looking for activities that they can participate in with their canine companion.

Websites Dedicated to Dog Sports:

  • Dogsportmagazine.com – A website/Magizine dedicated to dog sports.
  • DogPlay.com – a website dedicated to all the different activities and sports you can do with your dog with tons of information. Links below.

Dog Games, Sports and Fun Ideas

Here is a list of sports and activities you can do with your dog. For more info and links to sites that offer help.. please use the links listed below the list from Dogplay.com

  1. Obedience Training – Beyond learning the basic commands, if your dog loves to learn, you can go on to compete in obedience trials. Your dog can earn obedience titles, and awards. You can work with other dog loving people and their pets. Getting Started in Obedience
  2. Agility - Your dog will learn to maneuver through an obstacle course of jumps, poles, ramps, tunnels, and other equipment. The course is determined ahead of time, and the dog must run the course (off leash) in the correct order from start to finish. You may communicate with your dog by clapping, talking or signaling to help them through the course
  3. Go Fetch -
    • Disc Dogs – Disc dog competitions are becoming more and more popular. Some of the best disc dogs in the world are mixed breed dogs, but Retrievers, Border Collies, and Australian Shepherds also excel at this sport. But just for fun any dog can do it, if they enjoy it.
    • Flyball – Dogs work on relay teams jumping a series of hurdles to release a ball, and retrieve it. They return over the jumps.
    • Retrieving – Some dogs are born to hunt. Let them build on their natural ability by training them to retrieve, and entering them in retrieving trials.
  4. Dog parks/ Take a walk – Walking with your dog can be great exercise for both of you. There are many parks that are designed specifically for our four legged friends. Some of the parks even allow you to walk with your dog off leash. Some are enclosed, and some are open.
  5. Hiking and Camping – Camping with a dog (or dogs) can be a joyous experience for both owner and dog. Dogs discover interesting features you might otherwise overlook, and a dog is thrilled at the new smells and sites of a camp site. You will see new characteristics in your dog when you are camping with him or her (or them); my dogs walk a little faster, open their eyes a little wider, and raise their heads a little more high when we’re out in the wilds. Unlike hiking, your dog does not have to be in the best physical shape to go camping, and you can take more supplies with you than you can when hiking.
  6. Earth-dog Trial – AKC earthdog tests are intended as noncompetitive venues in which the handlers may gauge the small, short legged terriers natural hunting aptitude. These dogs were bred to hunt vermin and other quarry which lived in underground dens. Earthdog den trials involve man-made underground tunnels that the dogs must negotiate, while scenting a rat, the “quarry.” The dog must follow the scent to the quarry and then “work” the quarry. Depending on the sanctioning organization, “working” means barking, scratching, staring, pawing, digging; any active behavior. The quarry is protected at all times by wooden bars across the end of the tunnel.
  7. Tracking – All dogs have the ability to track. The purpose of a Tracking Test is would be to demonstrate the dog’s ability to recognize and follow human scent, a skill that is useful in the service of mankind. Tracking, by nature, is a vigorous, noncompetitive outdoor sport. Tracking tests demonstrate the willingness and enjoyment of the dog in its work, and should always represent the best in sportsmanship and camaraderie by the people involved.
  8. Teach your dog a new trick – Teach your dog to do some fun tricks like rolling over, or balancing a biscuit on their nose.  Most dogs love to learn new tricks, and show them off for some love, or a treat.
  9. Pet Therapy – In recent years, the experts have been relying on pet therapy as a valuable aid in reaching out to the elderly, the infirm, and to ill or abused children through-out the country. Therapy animals go to convalescent homes, hospitals, day care centers, juvenile halls, and prisons. Pet Therapy is not for all dogs, but if you have a well socialized, well-trained dog, pet therapy can be a very rewarding activity.
  10. Drill Team – If you’re looking for something fun to do with your dog and know at least one other person looking to do the same, you may want to start a canine drill team. Read more at: Canine Drill Teams: Fun for You and Your Dog
  11. Herding – If you want to work with your dog for fun or to have help on a farm or ranch, teaching your dog how to herd may be just the sport for you. Certain breeds have been bred to herd sheep or cattle over the centuries and will take to the sport quickly. But there are some dogs you might not expect that can also excel at herding…Dog Herding Info
  12. Harness and pulling activities – There is little doubt that some dogs just love to pull. They like to be out it front and they aren’t the least bothered by putting quite a bit of effort into it. Click here for More Links.
    • Carting – Your dog is hooked to a cart or a wagon to pull. The cart can range in size from very small, for a toy breed, to a cart that can pull a child for larger breeds.
    • Sled Dogs – Any breed of dog can be a sled dog, especially if it is just for fun and exercise. Malamutes, and Huskies excel at this activity, but it does not mean that other breeds won’t enjoy it. You can train one dog or a team of dogs to pull the sled.
    • Skijoring – Skijoring with a dog is a sport in which a dog (or dogs), assist a cross-country skier. From one to three dogs are commonly used. The cross-country skier provides power with skis and poles, and the dog adds additional power by running and pulling. The skier wears a skijoring harness, the dog wears a sled dog harness, and the two are connected by a length of rope. There are no reins or other signaling devices to control the dog: The dog must be motivated by its own desire to run, and respond to the owner’s voice for direction.
    • Rollerblading – Rollerblading with your dog allows you to get exercise and bond with your pet at the same time. This activity requires excellent rollerblading skills and an obedient, well-trained dog, as well as coordination and the ability to think fast on your feet. With advance planning, proper equipment and consideration for your own needs, as well as those of your pet, rollerblading with your pooch can be rewarding for both of you.

  13. Dog Coursing and Racing – Lure Coursing is a humane sport which attempts to imitate the coursing of the rabbit or hare by sighthounds but without the hare. Dogs chase an artificial lure, usually a white kitchen garbage bag, sometimes tanned rabbit skins, or fake fur strips.
  14. Dog scootering is a sport where one or more dogs pull a human riding an unmotorized kick scooter. It is similar to mushing, which is done in the winter, but generally with fewer dogs and with a scooter instead of a dogsled. The dogs wear the same harnesses that sled dogs wear, and are hooked to the scooter with a gangline. The gangline usually incorporates a bungie to smooth out the shocks of speeding up and takeoff. Most of the same commands are used, although dog scooterers tend to be more relaxed about their commands, sometimes using “right” and “left” instead of “gee” and “haw”, for example.
  15. Schutzhund (German for protection dog) -  is a dog sport that was developed in Germany in the early 1900s to test whether German Shepherds exhibit the traits necessary for police-type work, rather than simply evaluating a dog’s appearance. Today, many breeds other than German Shepherds can compete in Schutzhund, but it is a demanding test for any dog and few are able to pass successfully. 
  16. Conformation shows, also referred to as breed shows, are a kind of dog show in which a judge familiar with a specific dog breed evaluates individual purebred dogs for how well the dogs conform to the established breed type for their breed, as described in a breed’s individual breed standard. As the breed standard has only to do with the externally observable qualities of the dog such as appearance, movement, and temperament, separately tested for qualities such as tests for ability in specific work or dog sports, tests for genetic health, tests for general health or specific tests for inherited disease, or any other specific tests for characteristics that cannot be directly observed, are not part of the judging in conformation shows. When a dog has completed the necessary number of wins in conformation shows, and fulfilled any other conditions that may be required by the individual breed club or kennel club, the dog is said to have completed a conformation championship. The exact rules of conformation showing and requirements for championships vary with the regulating kennel club or breed club.
  17. Field Trial - A field trial is a competitive event at which hunting dogs compete against one another. There are field trials for retrievers, pointing dogs and flushing dogs. Field trials are usually organized by kennel clubs or other gun dog organizations. Field trials are generally considered more competitive than hunt tests in that success at a field trial requires a higher level of training than success at a hunt test requires. For example, in Retriever Field Trials, dogs retrieve over longer distances with a more complex path than a Retriever Hunt Test would generally provide. Field trial dogs must be “finished” in order to enter. Their purpose is also different, as they exist mainly for breeders, while hunting tests are made for users.
  18. Tracking trial -  is an event to encourage dogs to make use of their strongest facility, the ability to follow a scent trail. The competition emulates the finding of a lost person or article in a situation where the performance of the dog can be fairly assessed. Because of this, the tracks laid are straight-forward, not the wanderings that may characterize a lost person, nor do they include deliberate attempts by the tracklayer to deceive the dog.

INFO Links:

More Dog Games:

  • DOGOPOLY is the original “opoly” game for the pet lover in all of us.

Thanks to Dogplay.com for all the useful and great ideas and links.

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