List of dog sports Information & List of dog sports Links at HealthHaven.com

Dog sports are activities that involve dogs.

Training a retrieve in Schutzhund, a dog sport.

There is much discussion about what exactly defines a sport^[note] for dogs. Some issues:

Must a sport be entertaining to watch? Agility, Disc dog, and Dock Jumping are very entertaining to spectators, and often televised.
If a human companion is not actively involved, is it actually a sport? Take greyhound racing, for example, or hunting from, say, a duck blind, from which the dog retrieves the game.
Is any activity a sport if a casual observer does not understand the nature of the competition? For example, in a conformation show the handler and dog move around a ring for a judge to evaluate the dog's appearance and structure; the skill and knowledge required are not obvious to those uninterested in the sport.

This list is intended only to represent anything that anyone is likely to refer to as a dog sport, not to argue its validity as sport.

An Alaskan Malamute going over an A-frame during a dog agility competition

A Golden Retriever Dock Jumping into a pool.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Agility
Bikejoring
Cani cross
Carting
Competition obedience
Conformation showing
Catchball (A variation on Flyball)
Disc dog
Dog fighting
Dock Jumping
Dog hiking, Pack Hiking
Dog scootering
Earthdog trials
Field trials
Flyball
French Ring Sport
Greyhound racing
Hare coursing
Herding or Stock Dog
Hunting
Hound Trailing
Junior Showmanship
Lure coursing
Mushing, Dog mushing
Musical canine freestyle; Canine Dressage; Heelwork to Music
Obedience training
Protection sports (including Schutzhund and French Ring Sport)
Rally obedience
Retrieving trials
Scent hurdling
Scootering
Schutzhund
Sheepdog trials (or Herding)
Sighthound racing (including Greyhound racing, coursing, and lure coursing)
Skijoring
Sled dog racing
Tracking trials (see also Tracking (dog))
Water rescue
Weight pulling
Weiner Racing (i.e. racing Dachshunds)

[edit] Notes

note: ^{^} The oldest definition of sport (1300) is of anything humans find amusing or entertaining.^[1] Other meanings include gambling and events staged for the purpose of gambling; hunting; and games and diversions, including ones that require exercise.^[2] Roget's defines the noun sport as an "Activity engaged in for relaxation and amusement" with synonyms including diversion and recreation.^[3] An example of a more sharply defined meaning is "an athletic activity where one competitor or a team of competitors plays against another competitor or group of competitors [with] a conclusive method of scoring...not determined by a judge."^[4]

[edit] References

^ Douglas Harper. "sport (n.)". Online Etymological Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
^ Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. The Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff. Springfield, MA U.S.A.: G&C Merriam Company. pp. 2206, sport.
^ Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/sport.
^ Andrew Goodman (July 27, 2007). "That's absurd, golf isn't a sport". New Jersey Herald (newspaper). http://www.njherald.com/289450476013270.php. Retrieved 2008-05-16.

[edit] See also

Racing

[0] Douglas Harper. "sport (n.)". Online Etymological Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2008-04-20.

[1] Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged. The Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff. Springfield, MA U.S.A.: G&C Merriam Company. pp. 2206, sport.

[2] Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/sport.

[3] Andrew Goodman (July 27, 2007). "That's absurd, golf isn't a sport". New Jersey Herald (newspaper). http://www.njherald.com/289450476013270.php. Retrieved 2008-05-16.

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