What sport should you choose, when to start training and how?

If you wish to do sports with your dog, you should at first think about if it’s right for you pet, no matter if you want to do it for leisure or top-level. And not only from the point of view of your pet’s nature but also of its physical predispositions.

In order for a sport to be beneficial for a dog and not harmful, it is necessary to consider at first whether it is suitable for the given breed considering its physical characteristics. Otherwise, we could cause health problems instead of improving its physical condition.

The basic questions are if your companion is not too large for the given discipline
(or too small) and whether it’s physically mature enough. For heavy, mollosoid breed, i.e. heavier dogs, sports which include jumping (such as agility or frisbee dog) are not very good, endurance sports (e.g. dog trekking or canicross), on the other hand, are not good for small and brachycephalic breeds. Then it also needs to be considered whether the breed tends to have some health problems, such as canine hip dysplasia. In such cases, it is better to consult a vet on the choice of a suitable sport.

You can start doing sports with your companion even when it’s still a puppy. But you cannot overload its developing skeleton and psyche. This doesn’t have to stop you in the preparation of your puppy for a sports career by training putting down things, running around them learning to fetch and so on. But you should avoid jumping and pulling before the end of the physical development.

Before a training session, don’t forget to stretch with your dog and end it before the dog is too tired. After your training, don’t forget about taking a breath and walking and don’t immediately put your dog in a cage or a car. Do not overload it and do not want more than its condition, age and skills allow.

If you aren’t able to train properly and sufficiently with your dog, keep it fit at least by walks, jogging or running. Imagine how you would feel if you were required to suddenly run a marathon or play a tennis match without any other physical activities. It would definitely tire me out. It is also unsuitable for your dog’s joints and muscles to do a sports activity only once a week during the weekend. Simply, for every dog sports it is true that if you don’t prepare your dog’s body for it systematically, it is harmful. Therefore, also fitness training is necessary besides usual training sessions.

You also have to be careful because of injuries. For example for agility, the most common injuries are caused by bad bouncing or falling on the obstacle but also joint diseases. sDuring coursing, there is a danger of a muscle fever. During dog trekking and coursing, we can avoid backaches by choosing a good harness and protective shoes for scraped, cracked or otherwise injured paw pads. When playing frisbee dog, a dog can injure gums or teeth, bite through its tongue and there is also a danger of joint diseases and tendon diseases because of unbalanced or wrong landings.

How did you choose your sport? Did you think about the options and needs of your dog companion? What did you take into account?