# Possible Dog Sports For My Mix Pup



## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Ok...I know it's going to be a while before my boy is ready for anything more than just the basics, but I've been daydreaming about all the places we might go and was hoping for some realistic feedback. He's starting his first puppy obedience classes in 2 weeks. 

*Rally* - I'd love to do this with him as soon as he gets going on the basics. I think he could probably do this at any time without issues. This is probably the only idea I have that I can do with him for the next year or two as he grows, except perhaps formal obedience down the road as his brain grows in. 

*Skijorr/bikejorr* - I have the bike and the skis and I'd love to be able to involve him in these kinds of outings, but it would be at about the 2 year mark where I might consider starting. There my concern is that, being half St. Bernard, he'll won't have the stamina. I don't mind if he's a slow, steady puller or if we couldn't go out on long jaunts, but it would be fun to do shorter, slower outings with him if he might be up to it. Anyone see a St. skijor?

*Search and Rescue* - There is a real need for volunteer S&R pairs up here, but I'm not sure if either of us would be cut out for it. I'm guessing his size might be a liability and dh isn't sure he'd want us out in dangerous conditions. It would be a great way to help people, though, but I understand the training is very intense. It's an idea that has kind of been tickling at the back of my head, but it might be best to leave that to the marathon runners with their super dogs.

*Therapy Dog* - This seems like a more realistic way to help people together, given his breed and my family situation. It wouldn't get us both in the outdoors or working off energy, but it might fit wonderfully with rally and obedience and him being a gentle giant.

*Schutzhund* - This is another one of those tickling ideas. He LOVES to tug and seems naturally protective and we suspect his dad may have been a GSD. However, our local club is selective on who is allowed to join and I wonder if his size and the St. in him might mean he won't be suited for it. Also, I worry that they'll have some training methods I might not enjoy as much.

Thoughts? For now, we're enjoying the puppy days, but it is fun to dream of the dog he'll be and all we could do together.


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

Does he like to chase things? You could do Coursing Ability if you get an AKC canine partners number. I know there is at least one Alaskan club that puts on Coursing Ability tests.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

@ChaosisaWeim - He's not much of a chaser yet. If you throw something, he might eventually lope over to it. He doesn't appear to have much drive as far as that goes, although he loves tug and I was considering a flirt pole for him. Maybe that will appear later on?


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## ChaosIsAWeim (Feb 12, 2011)

packetsmom said:


> @ChaosisaWeim - He's not much of a chaser yet. If you throw something, he might eventually lope over to it. He doesn't appear to have much drive as far as that goes, although he loves tug and I was considering a flirt pole for him. Maybe that will appear later on?


You could always take him to a trial, just to watch and gauge his reaction. I mean I thought BB might like it some, never would have guessed she would go crazy, and I would have to hide her view just to be able to hold onto her, I had scratches all down my arm, and she got into a shouting match with a scottie too lol. 

If he still doesn't care for it, no biggie, it's just one of many sports you can do with him.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

To be honest, I'm not sure I'd try to pin down too much for him at this age. Thud was absolutely apathetic about everything until he started hitting 5 months old or so. He was just a big moving, slow, dopey puppy. Somewhere in the last month or so, various parts of his brain have 'switched on' and he's all over fetch, as well as tug, and swimming, and-

I think the stage of true baby-hood lasts longer for bigger dogs. Kylie was all over fetich and swimming and water retrieving and tug by the time she was 3.5 months old. Thud's just clicking in, at twice her age. If you'd asked me two months ago how drivey he was, I would have said 'negative', but it's starting to come out in spades. And the only real indication of that I had was that he was always super mouthy. At this point I've gone from a dog I thought might be a good therapy dog or rally-obedience prospect, to one I'm pretty sure I could get into flyball, dock diving, and schz. if I were really inclined. He is turning into a LOT of dog.

(And ironically, re: slow maturing, I am seeing no actual signs of maturity/adolescence from him yet, beyond tooth loss and his coat *very* slowly changing over. LIke he's not hitting 'teenager', he's hitting where Kylie was at 4 months at 'slightly older puppy with some stamina).


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

CptJack said:


> To be honest, I'm not sure I'd try to pin down too much for him at this age. Thud was absolutely apathetic about everything until he started hitting 5 months old or so. He was just a big moving, slow, dopey puppy. Somewhere in the last month or so, various parts of his brain have 'switched on' and he's all over fetch, as well as tug, and swimming, and-
> 
> I think the stage of true baby-hood lasts longer for bigger dogs. Kylie was all over fetich and swimming and water retrieving and tug by the time she was 3.5 months old. Thud's just clicking in, at twice her age. If you'd asked me two months ago how drivey he was, I would have said 'negative', but it's starting to come out in spades. And the only real indication of that I had was that he was always super mouthy. At this point I've gone from a dog I thought might be a good therapy dog or rally-obedience prospect, to one I'm pretty sure I could get into flyball, dock diving, and schz. if I were really inclined. He is turning into a LOT of dog.


That is definitely good info to keep in mind.  I'm willing to adjust to whatever fits him, so I guess I'll just have to put the daydreaming off a bit longer. For now...obedience and taming the landshark. He's definitely a mouthy fellow as well! 

I think it's also easy to forget just how young these giant breed pups are. People all the time think Sam is older than he is and I even find myself having to stop and remember how young he is despite his size and adjust my expectations accordingly. It's a lot like having a child who is bigger than average and everyone expecting the kid to be much more mature than they have every right to be.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

packetsmom said:


> I think it's also easy to forget just how young these giant breed pups are. People all the time think Sam is older than he is and I even find myself having to stop and remember how young he is despite his size and adjust my expectations accordingly. It's a lot like having a child who is bigger than average and everyone expecting the kid to be much more mature than they have every right to be.


DH and I talked a lot about that, and still do. It was worse when he was 2 months old and the same size as Jack. We had to constantly remind others, the kids, and ourselves, that he was a baby. That he IS STILL a baby. I'm prone to expect him to act like an adult, if only unconsciously. He isn't. That he's the size of a lab does not make him 2 years old. He's 6 months old (almost 7!) and acts like he's 4 months old. He's an awesome, amazing, incredible puppy but he's still a puppy.

Which I have to KEEP telling myself. We have, however, achieved housebroken and not bleeding, so win on that front.


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## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

CptJack said:


> DH and I talked a lot about that, and still do. It was worse when he was 2 months old and the same size as Jack. We had to constantly remind others, the kids, and ourselves, that he was a baby. That he IS STILL a baby. I'm prone to expect him to act like an adult, if only unconsciously. He isn't. That he's the size of a lab does not make him 2 years old. He's 6 months old (almost 7!) and acts like he's 4 months old. He's an awesome, amazing, incredible puppy but he's still a puppy.
> 
> Which I have to KEEP telling myself. We have, however, achieved housebroken and not bleeding, so win on that front.


Manna's still a puppy at 90#
Her brain is still far from growing into her body but it doesn't stop us from dreaming about her acting a little more mature. 
We have housebroken, no bloody bites, and 2nd in basic obedience class though that seems to have gone out the window lately.

Maybe there should be a large breed support group lol

As for "jorring" of most kinds, I have seen plenty of large breeds do it (I plan on it when Manna is old enough) though I would think that you would exchange speed for either pulling power or endurance. Until appropriate age though I would stick with the lower impact sports like obedience and rally.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

It is great to hear from other people with big guys and gals. It's too easy sometimes to fall into the trap of comparing your dog to other dogs the same size or even age since giants mature so much more slowly and it's good to hear from others that your experiences are normal. 

It's also good to hear there are some of the giants doing jor sports. Around here, I pretty much see huskies and malamutes along with the occasional lab-type. I know we wouldn't be speedy, but I was just thinking since I already mountain bike and ski that maybe in a couple of years it might be something fun to do together.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Any dog can skijor. I've seen some Saint and Pyr mixes doing it. There is a couple around here who does skijor races with their pair of toy poodles! Of course they are doing it for fun and not competitively, but the little wee ones love it. They don't pull, they just run out in front of the skiers. So dogs don't have to necessarily love to pull for you to enjoy skijoring with your dog.  

I've had Squash in some sort of class almost continuously since he was a puppy. If something looked like it might be fun, I tried it. Puppy class, several obedience classes of various levels, a tricks class (which was super fun), rally, lure coursing, a "for fun" agility class... whatever. And just stuck with the things we enjoyed the most.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

I'd love to see toy dogs skijoring!  Actually, you kind of inspired me to start thinking about it when I heard that you don't skate ski when you skijor. Every introductory class I'd seen up here for it stated, as a requirement, that you should be comfortable skate skiing before attempting it.

And yeah, in all this, I'm not really looking to be competitive or for what he might be the best at, but more what could be fun that we could do together.  I think trying lots of things, appropriate to his physical development, sounds like a great idea to find what works for us.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

If you just want to have fun with your dog, it's not necessary to skate ski at all IMO. I MIGHT get some skate skis next year if I can find a reasonably priced used pair, but if I can't... oh well. I think if you want to skijor competitively, you do need to be able to skate ski, but I'm just out there having fun with my dogs. 

Regional differences are so interesting. The skijor community around here is all about "anyone can play!!" and so it would never have occurred to me not to try it with touring skis.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

We have so many insanely good skiers up here, along with groomed, lighted trails...the cross-country ski culture is pretty crazy. It's good because there are so many great places to ski and events and such, but it can also be pretty intimidating if you're just a recreational skier like me.


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## Kevin T (Apr 22, 2013)

Carting?

I am considering looking into it for our Sammy.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

Carts are cool and definitely a good fit for at least half his breed.  I've looked at them, but they tend to be expensive...and require space to store. I did see one cart that looked like it was made out of a collapsable milk crate kind of thing, though, that might be a possibility. I wonder if it might be a little too sedate, though? I guess if you were training for competitions, that might be fun and exciting, but I could see that if you just "carted" around the neighborhood, the novelty could wear off quickly? It is something worth considering, though and I think we do have some active draft activities in town.

With bikes, skates, skis, and other assorted equipment for an active family of four...storage space becomes a big issue.


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## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

I've seen some large dogs pull a rickshaw before, seemed fun.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Have you considered agility? Of course he's not going to be super fast and agile, or able to jump until he's much older, but agility can be fun for all levels. You could take classes and do it for fun at an easier level that works for him without having to compete.


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## BlueDiamond (Mar 18, 2013)

How do you know he is going to be a gentle giant? Its usually the high energy, high drive dogs that do well at these athletic canine competitions. After obedience, start with a basic agility class. If he is gentle and calm, you could do more obedience and try for a CGC cert.


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## BernerMax (Mar 15, 2013)

We did carting informally with the Boxers (as in went online bought a little 2 wheeled wooden cart with fat rubber tires that did rugged trails really well) and had a ball taking my daughter on trail adventures, packed a picnic etc.... she loved riding in the cart-- and your Sam will have the phsyique for it! The Berner so far is too skittish for it (the Boxers seemed to take it in stride)...


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

One thing to consider with Search and Rescue, I looked into it a little bit myself. It can take a very long time to actually get out there to be doing real searches, to be depended on as a real SAR dog there is testing and titles, there can also be a lot of politics involved. It may be possible to do some SAR without credientials, but to actually be called upon for SAR there are lots of hoops to jump through. If you are interested in the tracking/scenting type of thing you could consider looking into searching for animals. Yeah, might sound silly, but seriously think. If you can teach your dog to search for missing dogs and or cats....how cool would that be. There is one person that I've heard of that does this (and if I understand correctly is paid for it). There is even a book on how to train it. 
Just my two cents....


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

BlueDiamond said:


> How do you know he is going to be a gentle giant? Its usually the high energy, high drive dogs that do well at these athletic canine competitions. After obedience, start with a basic agility class. If he is gentle and calm, you could do more obedience and try for a CGC cert.


His mother was a Saint Bernard and, even as a pup, seeing him next to most other, more active breed pups...he's a pretty laid back young fellow already.  I love him for what he is and I'm fine with finding things we enjoy even if he'll never be the "best" at them. We're not out to win ribbons or awards or races...just have a whole lot of fun together.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

So...my plan...(And I know what they say about the best laid plans!)

*From now until 2 years old*...basic obedience and then rally. Then we'll see where his drive and temperment are as far as therapy dog or any of that, as well as where my skiing and biking skills are on my own and my own fitness level. I could break or tear something between now and then...you never know.

*2 years* - If I'm still biking and skiing on my own, start him with skijorring, very short bits and training with pulling and commands. See where that leads and if that goes great, possibly try bikejorring.

I think, given my family and work situation, SAR probably just isn't realistic. I also think, as much as I know everyone loves agility, that I doubt it would be for us. I tend to like to spend most of my leisure time outdoors, away from the world.

In the end, after the amazing weekend we all had together, I think we'd even be happy just hiking together every weekend.  I loved just watching him sniff and explore and being out with him. Nosework might be fun as well..."Mr. Bignose" does tend to like to have his nose in everything.


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