r/k9sports

Hi! I am about to enter my dog into his first live novice rally and beginner novice obedience trials and I would like some advice on how to handle itching, from a try not to lose too many points perspective.

My dog fairly frequently will stop to scratch his neck. There’s a combination of factors here, he almost completely stops if I do a practice run with no leash or collar so I think he’s somewhat bothered by that, everyone always says displacement, I’m sure that’s happening, and he also genuinely is a dog with chronic allergies that is on medication to manage but has good and bad days.

So with all of that in mind, usually what happens is it’ll be when he is asked to sit, or front, etc, he’ll just start scratching and sometimes it’s a quick itch but usually he will just keep going for 15+ seconds. Not looking for suggestions on the itching we are trying lots of things with collars, training, and his vet.

How can I deal with this in the ring???

I know if I tug at him a little bit I can sometimes get him back on track, or clapping, or calling him but I know that any tight leash will lose me points in either event, and obedience is stricter on saying anything to your dog. So is my best bet to just do the tug, lose the points, keep it moving? Or wait him out? Any other suggestions?

Hello! I’m in a rural town on the border of south western Nebraska, I’m looking for any bitesport clubs near me. Ideally north of Denver if in Colorado. I just want to observe and learn hands on before getting a dog for it. Thank you!

I’ve started doing research for my future dog and discovered the realm of dog sports. It’s truly incredible what these animals can do! However, the only sport that kind of throws me off is barn hunt. Let me be clear: I’m not an expert on dog sports and don’t claim to be. I’m making this post so I can learn from people more experienced than I am.

From my understanding, rats are put into small cages and hidden inside a barn. It’s the dog’s job to sniff out the rat and find it. It’s extremely concerning to me that these rats have to go through this on a regular basis. People say they are desensitized, but can you really train out something as instinctual as fear of predators? I’m curious if this is a polarizing sport, because I couldn’t find much discourse on Reddit.

I’m curious how the trainers can tell the rats are not scared when a dog is sniffing them out. How exactly do you go about the desensitization process? Have freak accidents happened where the dog finds away to attack the rat?

If anyone here is experienced or knowledgeable on barn hunt, I would love your input. I’m trying to learn as much about dogs as possible.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who helped me learn about barn hunt! I can now say I fully support this sport! However, a PSA:

I’m not sure why some people assumed I hated this sport, but was going to do it anyway. I never said I planned to participate in a sport that made me uncomfortable.

And most importantly, why have people assumed I’m anti-hunting? I LOVE non-trophy hunting! Hunting for food is one of the most ethical ways to eat meat. I also support the hunting of invasive species, INCLUDING rats, guys! Where did I say I was against pest control? I was INITIALLY disturbed by barn hunt because I thought rats were being antagonized for the sole reason of entertainment. However, rat hunting in areas where the species is invasive has a purpose; it helps the ecosystem, which is why I was never against it.

Moral of the story, don’t assume guys! However, most people on this post have been respectful in their comments, which I appreciate.

My SUV is super small which sucks so a large will almost completely block the back window. My dog is 23inch to her ears, 19inch to tip of shoulder, 30inch long. My way back space is small, 40inch max length, 22inch max width, 25inch max height. Whenever I did the quiz it said it wasn't big enough so idk.... for the quiz it says to measure to top of shoulder but when I click on the ? It says to measure to top of ears, so I really don't know which to do. If I measure to ears it says large, if I measure to shoulder it says intermediate

I wanted the ruffland BUT I've heard issues about warping and "melting" in the extreme heat, is this such an issue that I should get a gunner kennel? I don't really have money for a gunner but I also dont want the kennel to warp in the heat. My dog is a Chow chow, so she's VERY fluffy and gets hot quick.

(I currently live in vermont but am moving to Oregon once I save up enough)

I started working with a private Agility trainer and she has me working on marks with my dog as fundamentals. She wants my dog to be able to run between marks at home without me next to her- so put her paws on one and lay down, and then do it to the other one.

I’ve been working on this with her a few times per day- usually she will get flustered and do the first mark, I click, then have her go to the second, she will start barking as if complaining that she has to do so much work lol. But I hold strong and don’t reward with jackpot now until she has done 2-3 marks.

Anyway just wondering if yall think this sounds like the right approach, or should I break it down even smaller if she is barking with frustration? Or is she on the right path? Thanks for any advice :)

(edit: for the record I did start with just 1 mark and reward and then once she understood moved on to 2-3 marks when next to them, now am standing further away. 2 yo Sheltie who generally is obedient)

We entered our first Fetch competition last weekend and only Q'd 1 of 4 attempts. She forgot nearly every command she'd ever been taught, she even peed in the ring. The good news is, we weren't the only pee-rs and we weren't the only ones to lose their minds!

Remember, you might fail but you're not going to be the only one! "We're gonna work on that" is easy to spot when they run circles around you lol. On the bright side, she was a well-behaved hotel guest.

My first dog was a reactive byb German Shepherd. I did cadaver search work with her as an outlet, and that community was incredibly accepting. Many people worked spicy dogs, so there was only ever one dog out at a time, and on leash moving between areas at a conference or whatever people were respectful and didn't let dogs run up on each other. We didn't make it very far as a team. She was naturally very handler focused, and I was a terrible handler. We failed our first attempt to certify rather dramatically, and I found out she had hip dysplasia, and I started a new career, and well life happened, and she became a wonderful pet for many years. She loved all humans, was incredibly responsive off leash, and generally was a great dog to live with. Still, it was hard not being able to take her places where there might dogs in tight places or inconsiderate/oblivious owners. Watching her age with hip dysplasia was also really difficult and not something I would wish on anyone.

When it came time to get a puppy, it felt like a chance to do everything right and get a confident, healthy sport dog and adventure companion. I still wanted erect ears, but I wanted health and confidence and a smaller package to be easier to take places. Every rat terrier I had ever met was outgoing and ball crazy. I looked for breeders and found one that was highly respected. Her fb page was filled with the kind of dog I was looking for - hamming it up at a conformation show, crushing it on the agility field, relaxing under a cafe table, hiking and backpacking with their people.

Fast forward a couple of years and now I have a reactive rat terrier. He's reactive only in the literal sense of overreacting vs the colloquial sense of aggressive, but it's still something I have to work on and think about every time we go anywhere. We joined a rally class to learn how to function around other dogs, and he did so well my instructor convinced us to enter a trial.

Turns out rally is NOT an accepting community for spicy dogs. The whole venue was crowded and chaotic and way beyond what my dog and I were ready for. We still gave it our best shot, but he was over aroused and unfocused. We were supposed to go fast toward the ring gate and do a U-turn, but I completely lost him on the go fast (my handling didn't help) and there was a dog on the other side of the gate right at the U-turn that he barked at. We were invited to leave and not come back ("I would never tell someone to scratch... I just wanted you to be aware that you could be DQ'd... not be allowed to do any dog sports... it's an optics thing... it's up to you").

I see the people who don't have to care. The people whose dogs walk through a crowd confidently. The people who stand in a queue of dogs and chat with each other instead of paying attention to what their dog is looking at and what he's feeling. The people who join group classes and listen to the instruction with their full attention because they know their dog is fine.

I'm still trying. My dog loves to train, and when we're on point, he's absolutely gorgeous. I alternate the fun classes with the behavior classes so we can mix in some things he's good at with the things he's not. We do scent work around the house and when we travel. We hike on a long line. We run fast cat. We practice seeing a dog and giving attention. We practice relaxing. We practice doing challenging things in small slices to build confidence. He's making progress, but sometimes it's just hard.

Hi hi!

Basically what it says on the tin. I've got a little rescue terrier with insane focus and drive. He's thirteen pounds and mix primarily between Boston Terrier, Chihuahua, Rat Terrier, and APBT. His favorite things in the world are chasing and tug. I think sports would be really beneficial for him overall because he's still young with lots of energy, and he can be fearful so I'm hoping it would help build confidence and give him the right outlet for his energy.

This is where the issue lies: he has a luxating patella. This was identified by 2 different vets when we rescued him, estimated to be around grade 2. Because he's young and part Boston, the vets guess its congenital. Right now surgery isn't on the table because he lives a very normal and fulfilling life. Instances of the knee cap actually popping out have gone from a few times a week to only once in a few months too.

Are there any sport reccomendations for a little guy like him? Something like fastCAT seems like it would be a perfect fit, but I'm nervous about the patella of it all. I've started to introduce some scentwork stuff at home, and he's had a very tepid reception. It's okay to him, but nothing like tug or chasing something. We're still going to continue down the scentwork trail until he really just shows no interest, but I'm looking for other suggestions too!

Keep in mind, this would be my first entrance into the world of dog sports, but I'm not looking to compete on any large scale.

this weekend we ran our fifth senior barn hunt trial and for the fifth time we came out with no Q's. i was finally feeling optimistic again after our last trial experience was so bad that it completely changed who my dog is for months afterward.

i looked back at my records from all of the trials, and i know that senior is hard, but is a ~5% Q rate normal?? in 4 tests this weekend only 3 TOTAL Q's were earned. it feels insanely low and really demoralizing.

I do not see that option anywhere on their website! Help!

we want to hear your brags, progress, training success stories, training failure stories, goals, whatever it may be. use this thread as a place to just talk about what you’ve done the past week or even what you’d like to improve on in the following.

feel free to link any pictures, videos, etc. to your comments.

Can I do fastcat with my people reactive dog? This will be me and my dogs first event aswell. If someone tries to touch my dog she may try to bite them, should I get a muzzle? If so where?? And even if she does have a muzzle I don't wanna stress her out when a judge touches her

she's fine around people and crowds, she just gets upset if someone reaches for her - she was a rescue and clearly not properly socialized. she's never bit anyone, however she growles/bears her teeth and if someone ignored her warning she may bite them. she can heel in crowds and is fine around loud noises, and alot of other things, she just doesn't like being touched

My mom will be releasing and I will be catching

Hey folks, figured this would be the best place to ask about this. I have a working line German Shepherd puppy whom I intend to participate in IGP with. We do basic obedience and tug to build towards the protection and obedience phases, but I'm a little lost with tracking!! Not sure how to go about introducing my dog to tracking, nore how to even lay a track in the first place. Any advice would be appreciated!! Not yet in a club although I'm hoping to check some out in person soon.

I’ve been trying to place one of my dogs forever and I can’t, I need creative ideas. she’s on all nscsw and akc odors, progressing in flyball foundations (working on ball carry right now and recall in a fake lineup scenario). outside of sports she’s social, prong collar and e collar conditioned, lives with dogs of all sizes. my reason for rehoming is she’s not a good bite sport candidate and we just haven’t bonded that well. but i get no traction posting her and don’t want to of course dump her into a rescue. any helpful tips appreciated

How do I look up the invitational breed ranking points? I was curious and wanted to look at the points among the different breeds.

My 8 yo GSD has been tolerant at vets in the past, but at this new vet does not want to be touched and will growl/bark for a temp check or anything where they rush in and get grabby. Part of it is the pace of the techs coming in and maybe it is the environment, but obviously this is a problem. He is under my control and fully muzzle trained, but we still need to get work done and everyone feel safe.

Here is my issue, I know my dog very well and the more out of it he is the MORE likely he is to react if he doesn't have his faculties. If it is fight or flight he will choose fight. Even in the house if he happens to be on a sedative or even just really tired he will get up and bark at random sounds when he otherwise would not. It takes a lot of sedatives to get him down like for a surgery (normal amount at past vets but this one A LOT) and until he's down it's a disaster. They tried gabapentin at this vet last time and it was predictably worse after and that is in the chart. Now they want me to give gabapentin and trazadone before they fully put him out for an X-ray and I am concerned this is the wrong choice and explained it to the tech that called several times and they insisted.

I'd like advice on whether I should just follow their instructions and tank him up the night before and right before the procedure knowing the likely results, skip it or some third option.

I just signed our 2-year old flatcoat up for her first dock diving competition. She took a basic class here in Atlanta last month and today started the intermediate class. I've never had a dog in any competition so I feel like I'm going into this blind...wondering if anyone has any chestnuts of wisdom or helpful tips. She consistently jumps 18-19 feet and today sailed past 20 so it seems she can be somewhat competitive. I know that's not elite level, but she absolutely loves it and so I want to make sure we give her a great experience.