dog sports....how to pick something to suit your dog
I am interested in finding a good dog sport that Oskar and I can participate in at some point in the future. (It's pretty far in the future now: he's only in his second puppy class, and doesn't even really have a good handle on the basics of obedience yet!) I did agility with my GSD years ago, until it became clear he really didn't enjoy it (which I blame more on old fashioned coercive training techniques more than anything else). I don't want to compete so much as I want an activity that we can do together that will be fun for us both.
How do you choose something that your dog will like? Are there things that NKs are better (or worse) at?
Because Oskar is very calm and steady personality wise, someone suggested I train him to become a therapy dog, but I realized I'm not super interested in that, though training for the basic CGC is not a bad goal for us.
I think he's really too big and clumsy for agility. Flyball seems way too athletic for the same reasons.
I'm interested in Schutzhund, but I don't think Akitas do well in that, and honestly, Oskar would not be the right dog for that....he's very soft mouthed, somewhat timid with strangers, and overall is calm and hard to work up even into excitement (when the trainer tried to get him excited recently so we could work on distractions, he just looked at her like why are you behaving so oddly? Why are you jumping and clapping? I'm going to ignore you!)
He likes to please (well, he is still an NK, but he's relatively eager to please!), loves to play games, and is super good at the "touch" command. I don't think he has a super strong urge to work, but he is interested if it's fun for him. (And is pretty food motivated, but even more toy motivated, as I have discovered).
Has anyone done anything with freestyle? (I think that's what it is called....a kind of dancing with dogs thing?) Or have any other ideas?
And on another note, the behavioralist I'm working with said that my male Shiba, Toby, is so focused and so food/prey driven, he might enjoy nose work. (http://www.funnosework.com/) Anyone done anything with that?
How do you choose something that your dog will like? Are there things that NKs are better (or worse) at?
Because Oskar is very calm and steady personality wise, someone suggested I train him to become a therapy dog, but I realized I'm not super interested in that, though training for the basic CGC is not a bad goal for us.
I think he's really too big and clumsy for agility. Flyball seems way too athletic for the same reasons.
I'm interested in Schutzhund, but I don't think Akitas do well in that, and honestly, Oskar would not be the right dog for that....he's very soft mouthed, somewhat timid with strangers, and overall is calm and hard to work up even into excitement (when the trainer tried to get him excited recently so we could work on distractions, he just looked at her like why are you behaving so oddly? Why are you jumping and clapping? I'm going to ignore you!)
He likes to please (well, he is still an NK, but he's relatively eager to please!), loves to play games, and is super good at the "touch" command. I don't think he has a super strong urge to work, but he is interested if it's fun for him. (And is pretty food motivated, but even more toy motivated, as I have discovered).
Has anyone done anything with freestyle? (I think that's what it is called....a kind of dancing with dogs thing?) Or have any other ideas?
And on another note, the behavioralist I'm working with said that my male Shiba, Toby, is so focused and so food/prey driven, he might enjoy nose work. (http://www.funnosework.com/) Anyone done anything with that?
Comments
Just a thought.
Where breed specific tendencies come into play is how well your dog is *likely* to do in the hobby. I cite the example of Tyson because he's near and dear to my heart. He's a wonderful dog with tons of drive to hunt large game, but I'm training him to hunt small game. Why you may ask? Because that's what I find fun and have relatively easy access to. He's never going to win any awards or impress a knowledgeable bird hunter with his style, but we go out and have a great time together. And that's really what it's all about.
So when it comes down to it, pick the hobby that you are likely to enjoy doing the most with him because that's the one he'll enjoy the most too. Just make sure you calibrate your expectations for his performance according to how well his natural tendencies suit the task. Follow that recipe and you won't be disappointed. :-)