Dog Sports

I'm new to the forum so I was just wondering how many people on here actually compete in dog sports or obedience with their dogs?

If you are active, what do you participate in. Always looking for new contacts

 

Conformation....APBT & Patterdales

Weight Pull....APBT

A lil' swamp runnin' here and there.

Fixin' to start using the Patts as catch dogs too!

 

What organization(s) do you pull under?

 

My APBTs compete in conformation, obedience, agility, weightpull, and flyball. They will be competing in dock diving and UKC dog sport, when we have a local trial that I can get them to. They also are certified therapy dogs, and visit nursing homes twice a month.

 

Ok, I may be opening Pandora's box with this question but I have to ask. This forum seems to be geared around the working APBT yet it doesn't seem that many people are working them (via this thread or any others that I can locate). I'm just curious as to why someone would go to such great lengths to find or breed a dog from such good working lines if they are not going to work them (unless you are doing something illegal which I don't really care to know about). Feel free to smack me on the side of the head because I could be way off in my assumptions.

PS - I consider just about anything physically demanding as working (weight pull, agility, flyball, dock diving, tracking, farm work (have a friend who works their pits on her farm (pulling bails of hay, herding, etc..), hunting, search and rescue, narcotics detection, bite sports, etc...

 

^ not everyone competes in the same kind of working events. i have a few that are in training for weight pull, but we do farm work aswell ( rustling cattle)
many use them for hunting, etc.
the dogs are worked, maybe just not in the more ~politically correct~ sense, but worked none the less

 

Again, when you say ~politically correct~, what exactly are you talking about? I'm I really just being that naive?

 

hunting, catch dogs, ratters, vermin killers,cattle dogs-things of that nature. many dont see that as politically correct-hell, some even find weight pull "inhumane". it doesnt have to be in the box to be dubbed "animal abuse" by society at large

 

Understood, I have caught many an attitude for doing drag weight training with my guys on the hiking trails near our house. I was just curious what everyone was doing since these guys are working dogs and without a job, what is the point of owning one :confused:

 

I guess that depends on what you mean by a job. Weight pull competitions, agility, dock diving, etc. are not jobs. They are sports.

ETA: If you are defining dogs and breeds by true work alone, then that limits the options to what the breed was originally bred for. Which means that your lab, even though he competes in different venues, is a sport dog, not a working dog, since he is not retrieving game. And pit bulls, we all know what work they were bred for.

I'm just saying that there is a difference between a working dog and a sport dog.

 

Well honestly I think that is just symantics and a bit off topic but I could certainly put the argument together that a dog doing weight pull, agility, dock diving, etc.. is a working dog. Honestly what is work when you break it down to the level you are going for? Work is nothing more than an "exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something". Now that is EXTREMELY vague and could be interpreted into many different things but I guess my original post was geared towards finding out what people do with their dogs?

In a day and age when the need for many of the "jobs" that breeds were designed for is no longer needed than yes, we do need to look for other outlets or "jobs" for our dogs. When a dog is tracking it is working to find an article or person, when a dog is weight pulling it is working to pull that cart 16 ft, etc... Would you not agree that a Lab that is a service dog for someone is not a working dog? I don't think that the activity the dog is active in has to be the exact purpose the dog was designed for.

But quite honestly the intention of my post was to find out what people were doing with these well bred dogs. Does your dog work on a farm? Is your dog involved in sport venues, etc...

 

Conformation, looking to do some tracking work with Amp as well. Some low level obedence like CGC/TDI as well.


IMO hoghunting or working rough cattle stock is the best legal test for an APBT. But anything that keeps them happy, exercised and out of trouble is IMO a great thing.

 

Very cool

I do AKC tracking with my Lab but my give Schutzhund tracking a try with Kayden my APBT. Two very different styles but I've always wanted to try my hand at Schutzhund tracking

 

Conformation, UKC and ADBA with the two young dogs.
Weight pull, UKC currently, IWPA and APA when available.
Obedience, UKC.
Agility, UKC
I really want to try dock diving, and have heard there's a club starting up down here soon. Fingers crossed.

 

Conformation...UKC / ADBA / AADR
(Patterdales in UKC / PTCA)

Weight Pull...ADBA / Fixin to go UKC

Hunt...When we have the time (hogs / opposum / coon)

 

Conformation-AADR, ADBA, soon UKC
Weight pull-ADBA, soon UKC

Training for obedience (UKC), training in Schutzhund, and training for agility (UKC).

When Havoc is old enough he will get his TDI and go to schools and stuff

 

I'm starting obedience class in Jan and plan to show in obedience and rally. Maybe agility in a couple years if her leg will hold.

 

I did some training in Schutzhund and French Ring w/Xanny, as well as conformation (UKC, ADBA, NKC) weight pull (UKC, ADBA, NKC, IWPA) also therapy dog work TDI, and a variety of temperament test stuff.
Soleil pulls in APA, ADBA, UKC, and has her CGC and initial therapy dog certification. She's just started agility classes, and has her UKC conf Ch

 

Conformation UKC/ADBA
Agility NADAC/USDAA
Schutzhund USA/UKC
Obedience UKC
Weight Pull UKC/ADBA
I have 2 Therapy dogs that are TD inc (they are APBT's)
Currently we are working hard on tracking and running the blinds for our Schutzhund 1. I hope to get SCH B's on five of our dogs, and Schutzhund 1 on 2 of our dogs at the next trail in March.

We love "working" APBT's no matter what they do. It's good to see everyone that is getting involved with dog sports. I really like to see the dogs working livestock. Of course it takes a certain APBT to do that, many would just have lunch. I used to work 2 of my dogs on cattle and sheep till they changed the rules. They will not let non herding breeds compete anymore:mad:

We need more working people in NM all we have out here are weight pullers.

 

Very cool everyone

It is cool that some of you are competing in Schutzhund and bitework. It is so hard to find a club that will work your dogs much less has any knowledge of how to work the bully breeds