# Sports people- Choosing your dog



## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

I thought this might be interesting to discuss. 

Disclaimer: Don't think there's any 'right' or 'wrong' just something I've been curious about. Sport could be whatever sport you are involved in.

How important was doing well in your chosen sport to choosing your dog? How would you rank sporting ability vs other desired traits in your dog (size, looks, other companion qualities)

Did you choose a breed or line well known for competing in your sport? 

Was it important for you to get 'the best' breed/line/whatnot for the sport or did you get a breed known to do well enough but maybe not the percieved 'best'? Or was that not a factor at all and you just chose a breed you liked regardless of sport ability?

What level of sport was/is your goal with your dog? For fun? Casual competition? Specific titles? Nationals/worlds?

Just thought it might be an interesting conversation.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm pretty into sports now - more than I thought I would be - but I only go so far as casual competition and maybe a title or two down the road. I would be pretty sad if I ended up with a Next Dog, years and years down the road, that absolutely could not do agility on any level and have fun doing it. I'd miss it in MY life. A lot of my thoughts about Next Dog way down the line (and it is WAY down the line) my breed choices gravitate toward dogs who do well with agility and veer away from breeds I would have once had on 'the list' but aren't quite as biddable or drivey (or are just huge). 

I might take on a very specific small BC if one came my way and it was a personality I enjoyed and fell in love with. But Most BC personalities don't work for me/with me. I have no interest in Aussies at all. I already liked shelties, corgis and paps, and those happen to be the best agility dogs 'on my list', so those moved to the top. But dogs I didn't like weren't put on the list for sports ability. Having a pet that I enjoy living with his still my top priority.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

When I picked my breed I only had passing interest in sports. I wanted to dabble and try new things, but I didn't have much interest in competing. Even now, I'm slightly more serious, but I'm not particularly competitive and don't care much about the competition part. I do feel pressure because he might be bred and I hoped to have performance titles first. If it wasn't for the breeding thing I wouldn't care that much about titles or the timeline for when we get titles.

My breed is known to be ok in sports, but not the top pick. They are fairly biddable, athletic, and like to do things with their people, and those are the main requirements for sports. In general, those are the types of breeds I'm interested in whether I wanted to do sports or not, so any breed that I would like as a companion would be a passable sport breed. I'm not interested in breeds that are independent or low energy. I also wouldn't get a breed just because it was good at sports if I didn't think I would enjoy it as a pet and companion.

Lots of dogs in my breed don't have performance titles, and there aren't many breeders focusing on sports performance. I might look harder for a performance line for my next dog, but I don't want to limit myself too much just based on titles. If I switch to another breed, like Aussies, who do tend to have a lot of performance titles, I would look for a breeder who was breeding for performance. I don't need the craziest highest drive dog, but looking at breeders focusing on performance would help narrow the search.


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

When I was looking for a dog I knew I'd like to do some sort of sports with him (I come from a horse training/showing background). I wanted one that would do something, but preferred agility to be one. 

Ranger was listed as smart, biddable, and he fit into the categories that were our "hard lines" (good with other dogs and cats, etc). My goal is just local competition (which I have now found can be up to and including National....eep), but in general as long as Ranger is having fun we will keep going. 

We're also starting nosework next week so if he likes that we'll keep going too.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

I keep wavering on whether I am ok picking a breed that does decently at sports or if I want to go all in and pick something more likely to be more competitive. Argh, it's hard. Experiment with something new or go for a sheltie from a breeder that produces a lot of worlds and nationals dogs?

I do want a breeder that produces sports dogs, preferably high level, or even better sports themselves. 

Realistically I probably won't make it to a super high level but I've always dreamt of MACHing a dog eventually. It's been a big goal of mine. I really mostly want a dog that can play somewhat competitively for a long time.

I would not pick a breed solely for sports if they did not fit but luckily a lot of what I like in dogs as pets seems to lend itself right to agility. We had shelties and papillons long before the agility bug bit. I definitely think I want to revisit both breeds but with a more sport oriented breeding/pup in mind.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

Another thing that is influencing my choice of breeds is that I may not do much in the way of sports with NextDog. We are planning to have a kid in a few years and I don't think I'll have the time for lots of training and classes for a couple years. So right now, I'm more focused on a good pet who can also dabble in sports. Maybe in the future I will have the time again and be more interested in being seriously competitive.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

I've dabbled with some activities, but honestly I have yet to find a sport that I couldn't live without. Even mushing, which I adore, I could walk away from if my dogs couldn't do it any more. I would miss it, but I wouldn't feel empty or anything. Rally, we haven't gone to class or trialed in months and I don't really miss it at all. I recently signed Squash up for a foundations agility class, so we'll see how that goes. 

At the end of the day I guess I'm more likely to choose a sport to fit the dog than the other way around. But having said that, mushing will probably be in the back of my mind when I pick future dogs because I do enjoy it a great deal and it's great exercise and relationship-building. So I need a dog that has a reasonable about of drive for pulling, but who can focus on the task rather than the bajillion distractions on the trail. And not that I want to be top-level competitive, but I do like the skijor races so I need a stable dog who is not DR/DA. Pretty much Alaskans (real Alaskans not Squash Alaskans, lol) should fit the bill, or some lines of Sibes.

But, it can be hard to find what I would consider responsibly bred Alaskan puppies, so it is very likely that if I go that route I will look for young sled dog "wash-outs" who can't cut it on the big racing teams but are still very suitable for a recreational skijorer like me. There's always a ton of them floating around out there. Then of course the challenge will be finding a dog I can live with in the house.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

My solution- I obviously just need 4 dogs.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

Having my working dogs at work,,, I chose a calmer background for my personal dogs who did just fine in friendly competition levels... If I was going to be seriously committed I would find a breeder who was active in that sport not only for the experience of the breeder handling success but what they wanted out of their breeding program.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Or five.....

I get my dogs from the local kill shelter. Look for dogs that can easily handle the sort of things agility puts them through, not interested in a heavy built dog, brachy face, short legs, or a super heavy coat for instance. Once you have a dog that is middle of the road so far as agility is concerned conformation wise you can title them. USDAA's program was designed for English Springer Spaniels for instance and it wasn't until I had been in agility for a couple years that we even started to see Border Collies. Sure they are great and all but other dogs are as well. Max is lacking 3 super Qs for whatever the USDAA performance champion title is for instance and I am not a particularly good handler and only trialed once a month AND that was split between CPE, NADAC and USDAA. I decided he wasn't USDAA champion material because his best efforts in steeplechase wasn't good enough and in that level he had 2 super Qs! 

I do not have the chops to be a top level handler period. I do not want to go through what my friends with high powered dogs go through, cannot think that fast. A handler as bumbling as I am with a dog like that will have issues trialing for 4-5 years, with the dogs I get I have success right away. Max Qed his first time out for instance.

This is a team sport. If I am not able to get my dog interested in working with me that is on me, not the dog. Perhaps my shelter dogs are just super needy and willing to do whatever I want to do, no idea but so far so good.

I do want to title. I do want a champion dog. I do want to go to nationals as a participant but as an excuse to watch the finals without expectation of being one of the finalists.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

As I was a lot older when I started in Agility than most people, I just did it with the dogs I had. Susie retired early as she got hurt so I started with Remmy and he did great, lots of ribbons and three titles. I started Kiska but as she did not particularly like it, I retired her from Competition but she still loves to run a course at home. I also started Lucy but have not done a lot with her yet. Remmy, Kiska and Lucy are all Shih Tzu x Maltese so even though they are fast, they are not Border Collie quick so suit me fine.

When I got Kris, my Dobe, I thought about doing Agility with her but think I could not do her justice so I am going to stick with Rally and Obedience for now. I still can't resist doing some Agility with her just for fun.


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## kadylady (Sep 23, 2010)

I'm very interested to read the conversation as I have yet to choose a sports dog. My current dog was the reason that I pursued sports. We got Zoey as another pet/companion for our family and I soon realized that she was going to require a lot more. She loved to run, jump and climb so we tried agility. Loved it and are now hooked. 

Now that I am fully engrossed in agility and competing and loving it, I do think about what types of things I might want in my next dog (years away) and what breeds or types that presents me with. I am a competitive person. I showed horses for years and now agility is taking over that place in my life. I love trialing and I certainly do want to be competitive with my current and future dogs. While I want a dog that I can be competitive with, it's most important that it's a dog that I can happily live with for the next hopefully 15 years. There is a very strong possibility that my next dog will be a Golden. I have always loved them (Luke is half) and now seeing and meeting them in the agility world makes me love them even more. I know that I would get along great with a Golden, the sporting group is definitely my type, they have all the traits I love and desire in a dog, I'm very attracted to them, and they have great potential in agility. It's fun to fantasize what it would be like with a Border Collie though. Then I remember that I have to live with that dog too and hesitate.


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## Miss Bugs (Jul 4, 2011)

I couldn't care less about stacking odds for sports. I love dog sports, I've been doing them forever and I have no intention of ever stopping, but basically everything comes before sports for me when choosing a dog. I choose the dog I want, from a rescue or breeder that I am morally comfortable with that has the traits I want, and whatever dog that happens to be, I train for sports lol. Now that said, my general desire of traits works well for sports lol


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## Seanán (Apr 28, 2014)

I didn't get my dog for sport, but for work, but some of the same things can be taken into account, so I'll answer anyway 




> How important was doing well in your chosen sport to choosing your dog? How would you rank sporting ability vs other desired traits in your dog (size, looks, other companion qualities)


I chose my dog purely on working potential. I actually though he was kind of ugly when I first saw pictures, but obviously the look has grown on me. Size WAS important because he had to be a certain size to be able to do the things I needed - and you could say the same for a sport dog. I wouldn't choose a giant breed if I wanted to do primarily Barn Hunt, because they're probably have a hard time fitting though the tunnel. I wouldn't get a chihuahua if I wanted to do lure coursing because they might find it difficult to complete the course. 



> Did you choose a breed or line well known for competing in your sport?


I wasn't actually looking at collies at all. But there are a lot of collie service dogs, and this line in particular has produced a lot of service dogs - the caveat there that Logan was the first, and most of the rest came after him lol. But he did have some service/therapy dogs in his lineage as well as other working dogs (his dad was a therapy dog and SAR dog and came from working herding dog lines). But I specifically didn't want a lab or golden, because they're a terrible match for me, even though they're the "standard" service dog. 




> Was it important for you to get 'the best' breed/line/whatnot for the sport or did you get a breed known to do well enough but maybe not the percieved 'best'? Or was that not a factor at all and you just chose a breed you liked regardless of sport ability?


I had never considered collies before, I chose a dog purely on whether he was a good candidate for what I needed. Like I said earlier, though they're definitely not the #1 choice for service dogs, collies aren't uncommon. I really, REALLY wanted another boxer, but couldn't find what I needed in boxer form, so I had to go for something else. 




> What level of sport was/is your goal with your dog? For fun? Casual competition? Specific titles? Nationals/worlds?


Although at the time I wanted him purely as a service dog, I DID want to do at least rally. As it turns out, he's also mad about coursing and barn hunt. My original obedience goal for him was to get his CD and RE. He's got his BN and RA right now, but after this last trial I WILL be getting his RE and I'd really love to get him to UD, UDX, or beyond in obedience. I think obedience will be "my" sport, although I originally thought agility would be the one to capture me.



I suppose in the end, the answer depends on how seriously you take your sports, and how disappointed you'd be if your dog doesn't work out as a sport dog. Are you okay with the dog being "just a pet" or dabbling in low level sports if that's all your dog can do? Or will you rehome the dog and try again if it doesn't work out? Or is the dog a pet first, and sports are just a side hobby? The right answer is different for everyone, so it's something you need to think about and answer for yourself. Come up with "What if my dog ____" scenarios and see how you might feel/react if that was the case with your sport prospect. "What if my dog had dysplastic hips?" "What if my dog wasn't fast enough to be competitive?" "What if my dog didn't enjoy my chosen sport?" "What if my dog could not compete at all in any sports?" etc


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Seanán said:


> "What if my dog had dysplastic hips?" "What if my dog wasn't fast enough to be competitive?" "What if my dog didn't enjoy my chosen sport?" "What if my dog could not compete at all in any sports?" etc


"I'd keep this dog, love it, find something it enjoyed and get a second (or third) dog." 

Though I'm about as competitive as a pineapple, and there aren't many dogs out there who can't dog SOME dog sport on some level.

I am going to say that a service dog and a sports dog are radically different. OF COURSE you are going to choose a service dog for working ability... but if your dog can't work you're out an important piece of equipment necessary for living your daily life. No matter how much you miss agility, not being able to do it is just not the same thing.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Ugh god that's hard for me.... I have a dog now that can't compete and I really do not want a second that can't compete. And with my current competing dog being older it is really important that Nextdog can. That sounds bad but it is the truth. Now if that actually happened... I'm sure I'd deal with it. But I'd rather not and would much rather have a dog that can play. I don't care so much about level but I want a dog that can play.

I wouldn't be totally opposed to 4 if need be but that's the absolute max # of dogs. Ideal is 2 and I'm already looking to go over that for a dog that can compete.


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## Seanán (Apr 28, 2014)

CptJack said:


> "I'd keep this dog, love it, find something it enjoyed and get a second (or third) dog."


That's not the same answer for everyone, though. And even if it IS their answer, I'm looking more for emotionally, how would you feel - if not being able to compete in the level and sport that you want to is going to send you into a pit of despair, you should probably be more careful about your choice than if it's a hobby that you do a couple times a year and can take it or leave it. Some people CAN'T get another dog. I would have kept Logan even if he hadn't worked out as a service dog, but it would have made my life harder and I wouldn't have been able to get another dog to try again with until one of my current dogs passes.



> I am going to say that a service dog and a sports dog are radically different. OF COURSE you are going to choose a service dog for working ability... but if your dog can't work you're out an important piece of equipment necessary for living your daily life. No matter how much you miss agility, not being able to do it is just not the same thing.


For some people, sporting IS what they live for, and it IS that important to them. Believe it or not, some people that are hardcore into sporting WILL rehome a dog that doesn't work out - because they don't need another pet, they need a sport dog. If it's THAT important, then yes, you'll choose for working/sporting ability. If you dabble, maybe not. And either way, it's fine, this is why it's a personal, individualized decision, and there is no one answer that fits everyone.


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

Seanán said:


> That's not the same answer for everyone, though. And even if it IS their answer, I'm looking more for emotionally, how would you feel - if not being able to compete in the level and sport that you want to is going to send you into a pit of despair, you should probably be more careful about your choice than if it's a hobby that you do a couple times a year and can take it or leave it. Some people CAN'T get another dog. I would have kept Logan even if he hadn't worked out as a service dog, but it would have made my life harder and I wouldn't have been able to get another dog to try again with until one of my current dogs passes.
> 
> 
> 
> For some people, sporting IS what they live for, and it IS that important to them. Believe it or not, some people that are hardcore into sporting WILL rehome a dog that doesn't work out - because they don't need another pet, they need a sport dog. If it's THAT important, then yes, you'll choose for working/sporting ability. If you dabble, maybe not. And either way, it's fine, this is why it's a personal, individualized decision, and there is no one answer that fits everyone.



I wasn't presuming to speak for everyone - It was my across the board answer to the list of questions you asked.

And yes. You can live for it, but putting sports dogs and service dogs on the same level is frankly just insulting and offensive. No matter how much they live for it or rehome a dog that doesn't do the sport (and I don't have a problem with that, or rehoming a dog for any reason if done responsibly), no one NEEDS or has a RIGHT to do dog sports. People DO have the right to live as normal a life as they can - and service dogs are a big way that is accomplished. People have the luxury of deciding not to do dog sports with their dog if it doesn't cut it. You don't have the luxury of deciding you dont' need a service dog, if you need a service dog. They're just apples and oranges.


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## Seanán (Apr 28, 2014)

CptJack said:


> I wasn't presuming to speak for everyone - It was my across the board answer to the list of questions you asked.
> 
> And yes. You can live for it, but putting sports dogs and service dogs on the same level is frankly just insulting and offensive. No matter how much they live for it or rehome a dog that doesn't do the sport (and I don't have a problem with that, or rehoming a dog for any reason if done responsibly), no one NEEDS or has a RIGHT to do dog sports. People DO have the right to live as normal a life as they can - and service dogs are a big way that is accomplished. People have the luxury of deciding not to do dog sports with their dog if it doesn't cut it. You don't have the luxury of deciding you dont' need a service dog, if you need a service dog. They're just apples and oranges.


The selection of a dog for a certain things is the same - my dog was selected for one set of characteristics. A sport dog for another set. A different kind of working dog for another set. A pet for yet another set. I never said a sport dog and a service dog are the same - but their selection can absolutely be similar. 

Do you have a service dog? I do, and I don't find stating that selecting a dog based on its characteristics for a given purpose is offensive or insulting. Just true.


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

I have always wanted to do sports. Thankfully, I always wanted an Aussie, which are pretty common in sports. I did choose a versatility breeder over a conformation breeder to make sure I got a "sportier" dog among other reasons. If you want a dog that will do sports, I think you should at least sort of stack the odds in your favor. My dog is showing good promise for agility, but if it doesn't work out, she is first and foremost my companion.

I will never own a sporter collie or what have you that has no off switch. I want a dog that can be a normal dog inside and an awesome sport dog on the course. What that means, I don't even know yet because I'm just starting out.


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## Remaru (Mar 16, 2014)

I've always wanted to do sports but never really been in a place to actively do so. With my first dog (as a child) I had little control over being involved in dog sports (my parents didn't want to do it so I couldn't). I trained her as if she was a show dog and my friend and I set up a little agility course in her back yard with the help of her father (he was the coolest) and taught our dogs to run it. We had fun anyway. When I adopted Duke he was task trained to manage my son, that was his primary purpose. He did a little cart pulling but it wasn't competitive, just to entertain the kids. Blue is just, well we joke if she did any less she would stop existing altogether. At this point Remus would benefit from some sort of dog sport but if he didn't I wouldn't be heart broken about it. Hubby would like to run with him (we have several local runs that dogs can participate in and even get awards). I would love to do disc dog or agility with him, even carting but he needs to work on his obedience first. 

I did go out and actively adopt Dove for the purpose of dog sports. She isn't for me, she was adopted for my youngest son. He is so eager to do something with dogs and I want to support him in that (I might have talked hubby into it a little bit). He might be heartbroken if she can't do anything but I doubt there is absolutely nothing she can do. She is clever, full of spirit and energy and will do anything he asks of her so far. If she can't do agility for some reason then obedience or rally. He tells her every day that she is "the awesomest dog ever" so I know he will love her anyway. If he should become interested in showing we will have other issues but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

I'm starting to catch the sports bug, I think, but I believe I'd be more inclined to find the right sport for the dog as opposed to the right dog for a sport, if that makes sense.


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