Are you interested in doing fun, exciting stuff with your Poodle?
WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE OUT THERE THAN CRAZY DOG PARKS TO HAVE FUN WITH FIDO? That’s right! How about organized activities that are safer and run by professionals for the fun of playing and bonding with your dog?
In the last few years, performance sports have become increasingly popular and a variety of new formats have been added. Suprisingly there is still a huge disconnect between the pet owner and all these fun activities! Why are the clubs not doing a better job of bringing these sports to the average dog owner? I think a lot is budget strains since most are on very limited funds. We as breeders could probably do a better job in general with promoting them as well but when is the right time? There is SO much to cover with our clients when they are buying a puppy it can become overload. BUT, I think if people gave them half a chance, they would be pleasantly surprised. Hopefully we can help do our part to spread the word as nothing would make us happier than to know this blog inspired people to get out there and have some fun with their dogs! I personally believe if there was a way to get the majority of people interested in any of these events, we would see more dogs staying in homes and less being turned in to shelters as there are SO many benefits to making training fun and interesting as well as an outlet for both owner and dog.
Now before you go thinking these are all about lots of skill and time consuming dedication as well as expenses, think again. There are many options that are lower on skill levels and high on fun factor as well as very affordable on a budget! I firmly believe there’s a great deal of people out there that if they only knew how to find these options, more would be turning up to go just have some fun bonding play time with Fido! Well, YOU CAN!
Let’s start with the two largest Kennel Clubs in the U.S. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say most have heard of AKC but are you familiar with UKC or United Kennel Club? I bet not. And one reason is that both clubs don’t have unlimited amounts of money to spend on advertising and UKC has even less being smaller. Both offer more than just dogs running in circles around a show ring. Perhaps some of you have heard of Obedience but there’s so much more on offer out there. We fully support both kennel clubs but for today’s blog, I am going to emphasize UKC simply because I find they are much easier to navigate and a bit friendlier to novice owners. There are also smaller entities that offer things like Trick Dog titles – you don’t even have to travel someplace to earn them but can send in videos!
First I will post a link to the main page for United Kennel club here: https://www.ukcdogs.com/ You can find a lot of good information so we encourage you to explore their website. You’ll notice they have a tab for Hunting and a tab for Show. Now I know many of you aren’t going to be into Hunting or Showing dogs. HOWEVER, Click on Show and you’ll find so much more than conformation events! There is an option on the main page in the center of it to put a location in and you’ll see all the different things going on around you! Also, watch for future blogs as I think it would be fun to offer up something on several particular sports options in more detail.
Click on this link here – you owe it to that brilliant puppy to see what is on offer! https://www.ukcdogs.com/show Lure Coursing, Agility, Dock Diving, Drag Racing, Obedience, Nosework and more! I personally love Lure Coursing – very little skill is needed and Poodles like many dogs have enough prey drive to chase a lure around a course and have a blast doing it. Does your dog chase squirrels? Give Lure Coursing a try! Is your canine’s nose always working? Click on nosework and give that a try.
And of course here are a few options you can do from your own location. Simply send in videos of you and your incredibly smart and gorgeous dog having fun doing some fancy tricks because they’ll send you a fancy certificate for it! You might enjoy meeting and networking with others or perhaps organize some meet ups with others in your area and make it a group activity!
Here’s a link to the AKC Trick Dog title. If you scroll down they give you an option to do online entry! I love the title – DO MORE WITH YOUR DOG! https://www.domorewithyourdog.com/trickdog/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=286&Itemid=146
A new sport growing in popularity is Dog Parkour and there are probably several options out there but here is a good link to get you familiar with it. https://www.dogparkour.org
So! Hope we at MnJ Poodles have inspired you to get out there and go have some fun with your Poodle Pooch! Exercise those brainiacs mentally and they will LOVE IT! As always, if there are any questions we can answer or help you find sports in your area, please don’t hesitate to ask us no matter where your canine companion came from – we want all the doggies to have a good time with their people! Give us a call, email us or you can contact us through our website. We would LOVE to hear some feedback on this or any of our blogs too!