There are so many different dog sports or disciplines that you can do with your dog now that there is no reason that your best friend needs to stay at home while you go play, you can go play together.

Whether or not you choose to compete in the sport that you like or just choose to make it time to have fun with your friend is up to you. Any thing you choose will make your dog happy to going with you and pleasing you rather than be left at home alone. It will also make the bond between you much stronger. The more you work with your dog the more you will get to know about your dog and be able to read them. It will amaze you what you didn’t know about your best friend.

I know that some of that sounds a bit airy, but until you have trained a dog to a high level, no matter the sport or discipline, as the cliché says ‘you don’t know what you are missing’. When you train to a high level you and your dog become partners and you gain a whole other level of awareness. People are...

The Blue Heeler, Queensland Heeler or Australian Cattle Dog were bred in Australia to work cattle and sheep in the Outback. Ranchers bred various established herding breeds to the Dingo to get dogs that were very hardy with strong will to be able to handle the rugged conditions and wild livestock. The ranchers wanted dogs that would work quietly thus not to spook the stock. The dog though strong had to not be to aggressive with the stock.

The Heeler was bred to be very protective of owner and territory. They bond strongly with one person in the family and tolerate every other family member. The are suspicious of strangers and can be very intolerant of them.

Bred to be more independent to be able to handle the conditions of the outback and the dangerous temperament of wild cattle, the heeler is not as readily responsive to the handler as other herding breeds. They need a handler with a strong personality to handle their strong personality. It would be very hard for a person with a soft personality to gain and keep a heeler’s respect.

The Heeler is very protective of home and family.

In working with aggressive bulls the...

 I am going off breeds for today. This is a subject that I will be harping on because most times it is avoidable. This article went a bit long but I believe it is worth the time to read.

Contrary to what people want to believe aggression is 85% of the time is fear. So that big bad dog that is barking and growling and having a fit is afraid. I have seen people bring their big bad dogs to K9 handlers and watched that K9 handler chase that dog right off the field. (Don’t try this, if you don’t have your body language exactly right you will get bit)

Next an aggressive dog is 95% of the time caused by owner error. The aggression problem is usually caused by ignorance(My sweetie pie isn’t mean, just……) or arrogance( I want a big bad dog).

For those who want to remain ignorant they avoid seeing all the warning signs or make excuses for them. This is not okay and can get someone badly hurt and your dog killed. One breeder and trainer of English Springer Spaniels was asked to come to a home to evaluate one. When she got to...

Though some of us would like to say that the name Terrier came from terror, it didn’t. The root word is Terra or Earth, so they are earth dogs. They are bred to hunt under ground varmints, so under earth.

Whether you want to think of them as earth dogs or terrors it is good to remember that most of the terriers are smaller than their prey. If you think about the size of a Jack Russell or a rat terrier they are smaller in size and weight to the city/roof rats that they were bred to kill.

To be able to successfully hunt and kill very aggressive prey, a terrier would have to be agile, smart, strong willed, fearless and tenacious. This is why Jack Russells can easily bounce six feet in the air from a stand still, why a terrier will rip through any wall or dig through any floor at the possible sound or smell of a rodent.

They make good agility dogs, some make good obedience dogs. There are terriers both small and large used for search and rescue work. A few make therapy dogs.

Oh yeah, they excell in earth dog competitiions which were made...

Hounds were bred to assist man in the hunt. Bred to work in packs they are naturally tolerant of other dogs.

Most hounds like people, like to be pet and are very smart but they are very independent and do not feel the need to be with people. Many people believe a hound’s lack of wanting to obey is a lack of intelligence, this is far from the truth, they learn things very quickly but don’t care to listen unless there is nothing better to do.

Remember hounds were bred to be drug to a spot, turned loose to chase down whatever they chose and wait for the human to come and get it. No were in there is the dog doing anything for a human just for it’s self.

The hound group is split into two specialties, the sight hounds and the scent hounds. The names imply the style in which the dogs hunt. Sight hounds focus on movement. When they see prey move they start the chase. Scent hounds focus on scent. When they catch a scent of their prey they track the scent to the animal. Scent hounds make distinctive baying sounds some were between a bark...

The Golden Retriever breed was started by Sir Dudley Marjoribanks (later the first Lord Tweedmouth). He started his stud book in 1865 with a male, Nous, who was a yellow coated retriever from a litter of black wavy coated retrievers. Nous was bred to Belle, a Tweed Water Spaniel. The resulting litter produced 4 females who became the foundation of the breed. At various time he outcrossed to black wavy coated retrievers, an Irish Setter and a sandy colored bloodhound.

Golden Retrievers were bred to retrieve both water fowl and upland birds. Dogs that could ‘mark’(remember were multiple birds feel) were bred for. Also dogs with good scenting ability were chosen, so if an injured bird moved from where it fell the dog could still find and retrieve it.

Golden Retrievers are bred to bond strongly with humans. They have a strong desire to please, so strong some times that they get over happy when praised.

Golden Retrievers have a friendly, easy going temperament. They can be high energy and pushy, but should never show any aggression towards people or other animals.

The Golden Retriever has become very popular as family pets because of their easy going nature. Like all...

The Labrador Retriever originated in Newfoundland from dogs brought with fishermen from other countries. The Labrador was bred small and as strong swimmers to retrieve from dories as well as with endurance to hunt upland birds.

English sportsmen and women liked them for their size and their good disposition. As these sportsmen and women moved to the United States they brought their Labradors with them.

Today the Labrador still boasts a great disposition, the ability to swim all day in cold water retrieving water fowl or work all day in the heat retrieving upland game.

As with many of today’s breeds the Labrador is being split in two almost separate breeds by the show line and working line people. The working line dogs still have the endurance and athleticism to work all day retrieving. The show line dogs are becoming more round with short legs, and are losing their endurance.

The Labrador excels as Search and Rescue dogs, detection dogs, service dogs, family pets and retrievers. They compete well in obedience and (the working line) in agility.

The Labrador is a flat coated breed, with the hair to be tight to the body. The coat of the males should be...

Yes, if a pattern is showing up, I LIKE herding breeds. I will get to the other groups I promise.

The Border Collie was primarily bred as a sheep dog. It was bred to work sheep with or without the handler in wide open rugged land with no fences. A dog would need to be able to think and work independently for days at a time and yet instantly be able to work on commands from the handler.

The Border Collie is super intelligent, super willing and super energetic. All of which can make it the perfect dog for someone or an absolute disaster.

Border Collies need to work and need to have a job to do. A Border Collie’s drive to work is so high that the handler has to be careful that the dog does not work it’s self to the point of exhaustion. Heat stroke is a very real problem with the Border Collie that just won’t quit. Though Border Collie’s are smart enough to use a convenient water trough or wading pool to cool off, I have seen handlers that will have to command an intense dog to go cool off in the water. A friend’s...

Contrary to the name Australian Shepherd, the Aussie was bred in the American West, combining breeds from other countries. The ranchers needed a hardy dog that could work various species of livestock. One of the highest herding titles an Aussie can earn is WTCH(Working Trial Champion). To earn this title a dog must earn an ATD(Advanced Trial Dog) on each of three species of livestock, ducks, sheep and cattle. Being that ducks, sheep and cattle all vary in how they need to be handled by the dog, this title continues to prove the versatility of the breed.

Aussies are extremely smart. They thrive on challenges and puzzles. They have been known to outsmart their owners.

Aussies make great agility, flyball, obedience dogs. They are also good therapy, and service dogs. Many Search and Rescue groups have an Aussie or two on their team.

Aussies do not make good apartment dogs, and rarely make good city dogs. This is a breed that is bred to work, high endurance, high energy and constantly thinking. Their instinct to herd is very strong, from the time their eyes open they will be trying to herd pants legs. They will herd kids, cats and even...

The German Shepherd is a prime example why it is so important to research a breed before buying. In most breeds of dogs there are usually two lines, a show line bred primarily for their conformation( how the body is put together) and a working line that is still bred for those traits desired for that breed’s type of work. German Shepherds have multiple lines, with each one having different traits that a potential buyer may find more...