They say that a dog is a man’s best friend.
We are of the belief that a dog is more faithful than other animals and sometimes, even more, faithful than humans.
Man’s Best Friend
We call dogs as “man’s best friend” just because dogs allow us to be their best friends. Thus, we take pride in our dogs, and sometimes show them off to others. We all love to play with dogs and hold them close. And we consider them as many people believe their animal companions as family members.
Sometimes, we get caught up in so many things in life. And it is always comforting and soothing when there’s a pet dog around. No matter what the situation is, your dog is happy to see you. You are greeted with the same enthusiasm every time you walk in that door.
We can also learn so many things from a dog’s behavior, personality, demeanor, and resiliency. And most importantly, their unconditional love, loyalty, and companionship down to their very last breath. Dogs, as man’s best friends, are no doubt, adorable creatures.
Dogs and human bonding through sports
Moreover, we can also share precious moments together with our loyal and fluffy dogs through sports.
How?
Dog sports are sports in which dogs actively participate. There are extensive ranges of activities that may include the term.
Many of the sports have human interacting with dogs to give direction. While others have minimal involvement from humans during the competition. This kind of entertainment is widely favorite, and a large number of audiences are watching on television.
Let us take a look at some examples: Musical canine freestyle, also known as musical freestyle, freestyle dance, and canine freestyle. It is a modern dog sport that is a mixture of obedience training, tricks, and dance. This game allows for creative interaction between dogs and their owners.
The objective of musical freestyle is to display the dog and the handler in a creative, innovative, and original dance using music. And intricate movements to showcase teamwork, artistry, costuming, athleticism and style in interpreting the theme of the music.
The sport has developed into competition forms in several countries around the world. Musical canine freestyle started in many places almost simultaneously around 1989. With demonstrations of the talent of healing to music being shown within three years of each other.
The first official musical freestyle group, Musical Canine Sports International, was founded in British Columbia, Canada in 1991.
Soon, other groups followed as well.
How do you play musical canine freestyle?
There are two types of musical canine freestyle: freestyle heeling or heelwork to music and musical freestyle.
Freestyle heeling focuses more on the dog’s ability to stay in variations of the heel position while the handler moves to the music. It incorporates traditional dog obedience and the art of dressage with the inclusion of musical interpretation, dance elements, and costuming with an emphasis on non-standard obedience movements.
Musical freestyle, on the other hand, demands that the dog perform a variety of tricks and other obedience talents. Dancing in place and other innovative actions where they encourage the dog to plays off the dance moves of the trainer.
Dog agility
Dog agility is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. Dogs run off-leash with no food or toys as incentives, and the handler can touch neither dog nor obstacles.
The handler’s controls are limited to voice, movement, and various body signals. It requires exceptional training of the animal and coordination of the controller.
The history of dog agility can be traced to a demonstration at the Crufts Dog Show in the late 1970s in the United Kingdom. Dogs run around a course designed similar to horse jumping courses during intermission as a way to entertain the audience. Since then, it has rapidly spread around the world.
How do you play dog agility?
An agility course consists of a set of standard obstacles laid out by a judge in a design of his or her choosing in an area of a specified size. The surface may be of grass, dirt, rubber, or special matting. Depending on the type of competition, they are marking the obstacles with numbers indicating the order in which they will finish.
They are giving the complicated courses and that dogs cannot compete without human direction. That is why a handler must assess the course, deciding on strategies, and direct the dog through the path keeping in mind the precision and speed.
There are also giving maps that a handler can use to help them plan their course strategy. Each dog and handler team gets one opportunity together to attempt to complete the course successfully.
Scoring of runs is base on how many faults are acquired. Penalties can include course faults, such as knocking down a bar in a jump, and also time faults, which are the number of seconds over the calculated standard course time.
Obedience trial
An obedience trial is another dog sport in which a dog must correctly execute a predefined set of tasks when directed to do so by his handler.
According to American Kennel Club, the primary objective of obedience trials is to recognize dogs that have been trained to behave in the home, in public places, and in the presence of other dogs, in a manner that will reflect credit on the sport of obedience at all times and under all conditions.
How do you play obedience trial?
The judge will evaluate and score the dog and handler who will perform various predefined obedience exercises. The dog must demonstrate basic proficiency to receive a passing score.
A handler may choose to train for a higher degree of accuracy and style to receive more points. The dog and the handler teams with the four highest scores in a given class will receive placement ribbon, and sometimes additional prizes.
Brings joy and happiness
Indeed, dog sports demonstrate the joys and fun of bonding with your pet in fun yet sporty way. With these sports, you can work as a highly tuned team. It also helps to increase the dog’s mental stimulation and physical activity. More importantly, it provides a fun and challenging hobby for the dog’s owner as well.
Through participation in dog sports, the close relations, loyalty, and companionship between dogs and humans go deeper.
We can all learn so much by observing the way our pets rejoice in life’s simplest moments. Take time every day to celebrate the many hidden gifts in the ordinary events of your own life like engaging in a dog sport.
