UpDogs Soar into Brooksville
By Brenna Fender March 18-20, disc dogs from all over the country will meet at Florida Classic Park in Brooksville, Florida, for the first annual UpDog International Finals. UpDog Challenge is a new dog disc organization designed to be accessible to more dogs and s. UpDog is made up of a variety of games, some requiring strategy instead of long throws and others designed for [...]
What is a Title?
By Brenna Fender If you attend dog training classes or talk to people who compete in dog sports, you might hear them talking about titles. Are they referring the latest bestselling books? Probably not! In the dog training world, titles represent accomplishments in specific sports like obedience and agility. Each sport has its own titles and they are generally offered at several levels. In most [...]
Lure Coursing – The Fastest Fun You Can Have with Your Dog
By Brenna Fender Lure coursing was originally a sport just for sight hounds – dogs bred to run extremely fast while chasing a rabbit or other game. Competitors created a motorized line and attached bags to it so that the bags zipped around a course at high speed, inciting their dogs to chase. And for many, many years, only sight hounds got to have this [...]
How to Choose a Safe Flying Disc for Your Dog
By Brenna Fender If your dog loves to catch flying discs for exercise or sport, you may have noticed that not all discs are created equal. Some are hard, some are soft, some are chewy, and some are floppy. But did you know that some types of discs are not safe for your dog? There are many inexpensive discs available for canines. Pet stores sell [...]
NORTH AMERICA DIVING DOGS DOCK JUMPING COMPETITION
Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19, 2015 Schedule Both Days Field Opens 8:00 a.m. Splash 1 9:00 a.m. Splash 2 11:00 a.m. Splash 3 1:00 p.m. EV 3:00 p.m. Pre-registration is $20 for each splash. Registration received after April 16 is $25 per splash. Spectators are free! Event rules and dog registration available online at www.northamericadivingdogs.com. Photographs available from professional photographer Chalynda Preval of [...]
Tighten Those Turns
By Brenna Fender Several dog sports benefit from tight turns. Agility is the most obvious one, but rally and traditional obedience also include about turns that are best done tightly around the handler. Turning tightly is not necessarily a natural behavior because it requires a dog to collect their stride (taking smaller steps) rather than moving in extension, which dogs often do naturally. Fortunately, there [...]
AKC Coursing Ability Tests (CAT) are for any breed!
(as opposed to lure coursing tests that are for sighthound breeds only) Below is a link to the AKC’s summary description of the CAT. This outlines the distance of the course based on dog size (300 yards or 600 yards), rules for dog age and what collar they may wear. To pass the course, the dog must complete the course: Uninterrupted With enthusiasm In under [...]
Homemade Agility
By Brenna Fender Before you could buy agility equipment online, and even before plans for making agility equipment became available, people practiced agility for fun in their backyards, and you can too! As long as you keep safety in mind, you can keep your dog active, help him get in shape, challenge his mind, have fun, and do a little training all at home without [...]
New Dock Diving Opportunities in Florida
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is now recognizing dock diving titles and Courteous Canine, Inc. is giving Floridian dog s their first in-state opportunities to compete! Dogs attending North America Diving Dogs (NADD) sanctioned events can earn titles that s can then apply to have recorded on their dogs’ AKC records. That means that NADD titles can become part of a dog’s AKC pedigree and [...]
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender: What is UpDog?
Tampa Dog Trainer Brenna Fender: What’s UpDog? UpDog is a brand new dog sport organization created by Kat and Jack Fahle, Andrea and Jason Rigler, and Babz Mahony. These dedicated disc doggers wanted to expand their favorite sport to include a wider variety of dogs – and people – than seen at typical disc dog events. Traditionally, while many people enjoy games with discs in [...]
