Now that you know that there are so many dog sports to choose from, how do you pick?
General Research
Reading about the experience of other pawrents, or talking to friends with experience in dog sports, can be one way to familiarize yourself with the sport. So can watching YouTube videos of classes or competitions.
The websites of the various venues can also provide a wealth of information, including connecting you with dog clubs in your area that host competitions and/or classes.
Here are the websites of various groups I’ve referenced this past month.
Ziggy and Cookie waiting their turns in an agility class, circa 2019.
Research dog trainers or dog clubs in your area. Sign up for classes to better gauge what the sport will entail long term. If you take a class and the sport interests you, but you’re unsure, consider trying classes with another instructor. Everyone has different teaching styles and personalities. Look for someone you’re comfortable with and that prioritizes the well-being of your dog.
Assess Personality & Interest
Cookie at a CPE agility competition in March 2019Ziggy competing in Barn Hunt instinct 2019. Credit: Pix N PagesChip goofing off at graduation time for his CGC certificate, November 2023
A good place to begin is assessing you and your dog’s personalities and interests. Is your dog high-energy? Agility may be a great fit. Does your dog have a knack for sniffing? Perhaps barn hunt or nose work would interest them. Can’t keep your pup out of the pool? Give dock diving a try!
If you recently adopted your dog, or perhaps your dog is still a puppy, you may not know their interests. Obedience is always a great place to start, even if you don’t compete, because obeying basic commands will be important in any sport, if for no other reason than good behavior in classes and competitions.
Safety
Safety and physical well-being is also important. This may be true of all sports, but the one that I’m most familiar with is agility. The high speeds, twists, and turns can put a strain on your dog’s body. If you’ve never used any agility equipment before, don’t introduce your dog to them without guidance from an instructor. Young pups are developing their bones and muscles. Introducing them to tight weave poles too young can cause long-term damage. This is an excellent article about preventing orthopedic injuries in dogs that compete in sports.
Budget Considerations
Depending on your goals for your dog, some sports are more expensive than others when you add up classes, entry fees for competitions, travel expenses, and any equipment you may choose to purchase for at-home training.
Start slow and make sure you want to commit to the sport before investing heavily.
Bottom Line
There countless canine sports available to try. Take your time to find one that best suits you and your pup. And, remember, the competition and titles are a distant second to having fun and bonding with your pup!
Next up for National Train Your Dog Month is barn hunt!
As always, these posts focus on my knowledge and experience of the sport. Consult the various links in the posts for more information.
What is it?
Cookie competing in a barn hunt trial, January 2020.
The essence of barn hunt is hide and seek with rats in a maze of hay bales. Fear not; the rats are safely secured inside plastic tubes with holes. Depending on the level your dog is competing in, the number of rats hidden will vary. There will also be at least one tube that is completely empty, while another will have “litter” (or bits of hay/bedding that smells like rats).
The tubes are hidden in a course of bales of hay. Your dog is to sniff out the rats, signal to you that they found a rat, and you proclaim, “Rat!” In addition to successfully identifying all hidden rats, your dog must also climb atop a bale of hay and complete a tunnel.
As far as I know, the only organization that sponsors barn hunt trials is the Barn Hunt Association. Your dogs must be registered with them to compete in trials hosted by various dog clubs. When you earn barn hunt titles, the American Kennel Club (AKC) will recognize the title, for a fee, of course.
How we started
Ziggy finds rats in a barn hunt trial, January 2020
When Cookie started her journey with agility, we became members of a local dog sports club. Barn hunt was another sport that they hosted competitions in. I was a bit averse to the concept of searching for rats, but friends in the group suggested trying it, telling me that no training was needed.
So I did. Cookie and I signed up for an initial trial. She started with the instinct level, the most basic round. There are 3 tubes that are not hidden in hay. They sit in a rack on the other side of the tunnel. Climb and tunnel are optional at this level. The goal is for your pup to identify the tube with the rat, for you to correctly guess based on your dog’s cue, and move on.
Chip shows off his RATI (instinct) title, August 2023
Cookie, Ziggy, and Chip all competed in barn hunt, but Cookie is the only one not to title in Instinct. The reason is that titling in instinct isn’t required to compete in the next level up, and once you title in novice, you can’t compete in Instinct.
Once Cookie got started in novice, she quickly moved up to earn her novice title and came one qualifying run short of titling in the open. Cookie got stuck in open when Ziggy came along. When Ziggy started competing, he would bark the entire time that Cookie was competing, and she instantly became more preoccupied with the well-being of her brother than finding rats.
When the pandemic hit and Ziggy’s cancer journey began, all competition stopped. Last August, we signed Chip up for his first barn hunt trial. He’s a pro at finding the rats but is too nervous to tunnel. And Cookie remains uninterested in finding rats.
What they don’t tell you
The club that I started with in barn hunt always said that you didn’t need training in barn hunt and to just rely on your dog’s instincts. This worked for Cookie and Ziggy, but Chip would benefit from training (which I didn’t know was a thing for barn hunt until after his first trial). While the instinct may be there to find the rat, your dog may need training to learn to tunnel or also to exit the ring. Chip was hard to catch once our turn was up. The judge advised that it is something that he could be disqualified for, which would be a shame had he qualified in novice.
Competing in barn hunt is significantly more expensive than agility. It may seem surprising at first, but upon inspection, it makes sense. The equipment in agility can be used for years through countless competitions. But the key “equipment” in barn hunt are live rats. Additionally, while bales of hay can be reused while they remain intact, it’s not uncommon for dogs to mark on them (or paw or bite them). While it’s common to charge the owner a fee when this happens, bales of hay don’t last nearly as long as agility equipment.
How dogs signal that they’ve found a rat can vary wildly. I’ve seen some dogs go CRAZY barking and biting bales of hay to say they found a rat. Meanwhile, others, like Cookie, go completely still. (According to the judge who made this observation, Cookie was “disgusted” by the rats!)
I also learned how your dog signals can change over time. Once Cookie started getting stuck in open, I wish I had taken a break from trials and instead took a couple of classes or done a fun run to learn if she was changing how she was signaling or if she truly lost interest in the sport.
The bottom line
A proud Cookie showing off her barn hunt ribbons in January 2019 (before Ziggy came along).
Barn hunt is a less physically demanding sport compared to agility. It leverages your dog’s natural hunting instincts but can benefit from practice and classes.
Like with everything else, explore your dog’s interests and simply HAVE FUN!! Even if your dog doesn’t find a rat in the competition, every judge we’ve competed under has made sure that a rat tube is presented to the dog to sniff and for excitement to be demonstrated so they leave the ring on a pawsitive note.
Whether it’s the pressure of society’s traditions or marking the end of a larger moment in time, many of us are motivated to form New Year resolutions. Last year was the first year that I formed resolutions for my pups.
Cookie and Chip’s resolutions were hopes that I had for what I would accomplish with each of them in 2023.
Resolution Tips
Any article about resolutions will give you advice that is applicable to all resolutions – keeping them realistic, achievable, etc. But there are three that are particularly important with your dogs.
First, keep it fun. Even if there’s a serious goal of improving behaviors (a la Chip), training should be fun – for both of you.
Second, consider your dog’s personality and interests. You may want to get them to jog with you, but if they don’t enjoy it or are not otherwise equipped for it, don’t do it! Make it YOUR resolution, not theirs.
Lastly, if the resolution is exploratory in nature like Chip’s trying new sports, be sure to monitor their response to it and adjust accordingly. Chip has a knack for barn hunt, and seemed to have fun. But, he refused to tunnel (a requirement to title beyond Instinct) and was difficult to leash up after his run. So, instead of just entering him in more trials, I’m going to take the time to try some training with it.
Similarly, I wanted to try nose work with him. After trying some initial training attempts after an unrelated class, he’s afraid of boxes. So whether or not we pursue anything will depend on whether I can help him overcome his fear.
Chip’s 2023 resolutions
Chip and his 2023 resolutions last year.
Chip’s resolutions were easy, considering he was a few days shy of six months old and still learning how to behave. Here are his resolutions (and subsequent outcomes):
Change [his] “official” name from Leave It Drop It No Chip to Good Boy Chip!
Result: Achieved! He’s not perfect, but we did five classes with him throughout 2023, culminating in earning his American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen certificate.
Try new sport(s).
Result: Achieved! I hoped to introduce him to multiple sports this year, but we only managed one – barn hunt. While he earned his Instinct title, he has a lot to improve upon before competing in another trial. Hopefully, in 2024, we can try a barn hunt class to see if he stands a chance of competing again.
Make [his] sister ❤️ [him].
Result: Achieved! As evidenced by the below photo taken yesterday, Cookie let Chip snuggle with her for more than 10 seconds (it lasted several minutes!). Cookie is not particularly affectionate and usually relocates almost immediately after any attempt to snuggle with her. She is increasingly tolerant, and she even sometimes worries about him being left behind. Make no mistake, Chip is still an annoying little brother that Cookie needs a mental health break from on occasion. But she no longer wants to return him.
Cookie letting Chip snuggle with her on the sofa, December 2023.
Dig more holes ‘cuz [he] ain’t nothin’ but a hole digger!
Result: Much to his father’s dismay, achieved! This was clearly a silly resolution and one that we hoped wouldn’t come true. But Chip has a penchant for digging holes. We’re managing the behavior by limiting his time unsupervised in the yard and ensuring he has better outlets for his energy.
Cookie’s 2023 Resolutions
Cookie posing with her 2023 resolutions.
At the time, Cookie was eight, going on nine, years. Over the years, she’s taken road trips and competed in multiple sports. The perennial good girl, defining resolutions for her was more challenging.
Do more sports (at a senior pace).
Result: Achieved! Similar to Chip, I’d hoped to do more than one sport with her at a senior level, but we only made it to barn hunt. While she participated, she is clearly no longer interested in the sport. I may enroll her in a class with Chip just to see if she regains an interest by taking a formal class. This resolution, though, was more about doing stuff with Cookie. She’s always enjoyed classes and loves pleasing us. So maybe it will take the form of classes next year, or maybe just going out for fun activities like farmers’ markets.
Tolerate [her] brother more.
Result: Achieved! Cookie has always been pretty patient, but she’s truly embraced the role with Chip. She is even more likely to initiate play with him than she was a year ago.
Eat more homemade food.
Result: The jury is out on this one. I intended on putting a Christmas gift from last year to use by making homemade treats. For many reasons, I ended up not doing this. On the other hand, we replaced Cookie’s kibble breakfasts with gently cooked food. Technically, it’s not homemade, but it is fresh food and higher quality than her kibble.
Move upstairs without anyone noticing.
Result: Failed! Like Chip’s fourth resolution, this was meant to be a joke that she would fail at. Sometime early this year, Chip developed a fear of the upstairs, so it’s now Cookie’s refuge. When she needs an escape from him, she goes upstairs and either lays in the guest room bed or next to my husband when he’s in the office.
2024 resolutions
I’d hoped to share our 2024 resolutions in this post, but I haven’t decided on them yet. I’m still reflecting on what we achieved last year and where I hope the pups are a year from now.
Follow us on Instagram to see us reveal our resolutions in a few days!
Welcome to my site! I’m Jessica, and I’m a Dog Mom. I started the pawrenting journey in 2014 when my husband and I adopted Cookie. Since then, we’ve also adopted Ziggy and Chip. I’ve learned a lot over the years, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you.
About me
Photo Credit: My mom
I’ve always loved dogs since I was a kid. I convinced my parents that I should get a dog because I was the only one who had never had a dog, and fish didn’t make good pets because you couldn’t take them for a walk. (I was 8, and I was terrible at walking Lady.)
After my childhood dog passed away while in college, I decided I didn’t want to get another dog until I was on my own. Like in many households, I may have been the one that advocated for getting and ultimately picked Lady, but she quickly became my mom’s dog.
I have worked in the corporate world in marketing and product management. In the years since adopting Cookie, I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of “crazy” Dog Mom. I would love to be a stay-at-home Dog Mom or otherwise immerse myself in the world of dogs. Maybe that’s in the cards, or maybe my love of dogs will be what keeps me sane in the professional world.
Why Blog, Why Now
In March 2019, my husband and I adopted our second dog, Ziggy. He was three months old when we brought him home. About six months into the pandemic, in October 2020, Ziggy was diagnosed with cancer. Two months shy of his second birthday, his hind leg was amputated, and right around his second birthday, we finally learned what kind of cancer he had – hemangiosarcoma.
Hemangiosarcoma is a cancer of blood vessels. It is common and often has a very short survival time (about six months). Ziggy lived with hemangiosarcoma for 17 months. He died just three months after his third birthday.
As our journey into canine cancer began, I learned SO much – not just about canine cancer, but canine health in general. There is so much that seems obvious when you learn it, but it is counter to common knowledge or what we knew as kids with our dogs.
Dogs are incredibly precious to me. They are loving, and loyal and bring us so much joy. No matter how long they live, their lives are always too short.
With each of our dogs, I learn something that makes me a better Dog Mom to the next dog in our life. I want to do everything I can to give them the longest, best life possible. And I want to help like-minded pawrents do the same for their pups.
Meet The Pups
Now it’s time to meet our dogs, and the family dogs, that will make appearances in future posts.
Cookie
Photo Credit: Robin T. Brumfield
Cookie made me a Dog Mom. My husband and I adopted her in September 2014 when she was three months old. She benefitted greatly from being an only child for years.
She is incredibly smart, a fast learner, a good two shoes, strong willed, friendly but anti-social, and an amazing athlete. Cookie introduced us to the world of dog sports beyond obedience.
While Cookie earned titles in agility, barn hunt, and tricks, she also tried tracking and nose work.
We brought Ziggy home in March 2019, also aged three months. He was our first second dog. Ziggy was my greatest teacher and the inspiration for this blog.
There will be many posts about everything that Ziggy taught me, but the top two are how to advocate for your dog and how to pawrent two dogs.
Ziggy was the happiest, friendliest, and sweetest pup. His tail was always thumping, and he was delighted to go with the flow. I hate that he had to be one for half of his too short life, but he was also a fantastic patient.
Cookie introduced us to dog sports, and Ziggy introduced us to canine holistic health care.
Chip
Photo Credit: Me
Seven months after Ziggy passed, we made room in our hearts for our second second dog, Chip. In October 2022, Chip became the third dog to enter our home at the age of three months.
Chip is a firecracker, and our biggest challenge. He is vocal, anxious, stubborn, silly, sweet, and smarter than I often give him credit for. Chip lived through a lot in his first three months of life, and it shows. It hasn’t quite been a year, but he has come SUCH a long way.
In under a year Chip has taught me that patience and love pays off. He reinforced a lesson learned with Ziggy – that every dog is different. Most importantly Chip is teaching me how misunderstood reactive dogs are.
The family dogs
Lady & Me, early 2000s Photo Credit: one of my parentsBrie Photo Credit: Me or my mom
Lastly are two girls no longer with us, Lady and Brie.
Lady joined our family in 1991 and passed in 2004. Compared to the dogs I have now, she was tiny – just 20 pounds! But boy did she have presence. While she was only ever taught the most basic obedience commands, Lady was very well behaved and super smart. She was healthy her whole life, until the last year or two when she was on several heart medications.
Brie replaced me when I moved out on my own. My mom lasted five months after I moved out before bringing home Brie. She was at least a year old when she joined the family in 2007 and she crossed the rainbow bridge in 2019. Brie never played, was a steady companion, apparently could hold a grudge, had separation anxiety, and taught Cookie how to behave and paw at the door. (Meanwhile, Cookie taught Brie how to bark and eat grass.)
Here we Go
In a nutshell that’s me and the dogs of my life. I look forward to sharing lessons learned, resources I turn to, products I’ve tried, and countless silly stories.
An important note and reminder: I’m not a veterinarian, certified dog trainer, or other dog professional. I’m a dog mom sharing her tales in pawrenting.
While I hope that my experiences help you, I’m only an expert in the dogs that I’ve lived with (and even with them, I’m always learning). So please, consult the experts that are part of your pack for the needs the pups in your life. When applicable, I’ll link to accounts of the professionals that I follow.
pawrentingtails.com 