Dog Sports and Service Dogs
Added 2025-07-17 01:00:03 +0000 UTCYou are seeing this video ad-free and a day early. Thanks for being a Patreon member! Should service dogs also compete in dog sports? If so,
You are seeing this video ad-free and a day early. Thanks for being a Patreon member!
Should service dogs also compete in dog sports? If so, in what sport?
It’s a question I get all the time — and the answer isn’t one-size-fits-all.
In this week’s video, I’m digging into what happens when you mix service work with agility, rally, obedience, or even hunt testing. Can it help your partnership? Hurt your training goals? How do you know if it’s the right fit?
We’ll talk about:
✅ The benefits of adding sports
⚠️ The risks and trade-offs
🧠 What sports complement service training — and which ones I’d think twice about
If you’ve ever wondered whether you should get involved in sports with your service dog (or even your SDiT), this is the video for you.
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Comments
It is called "Pocket Rally" and it was a couple bucks I think. I also print out all the signs and have them available to look at.
Laura DeMaio Roy
2025-08-04 16:35:43 +0000 UTCI can't find where you mentioned an app you use for learning Rally. You mentioned that you were able to get a handout before your turn and were able to review the signs using the app. What is the app please? Thank you so much. We will be doing our first ever AKC Rally in August and I'm so worried about remembering what the more complex signs mean.
Wendy
2025-08-04 04:09:26 +0000 UTCI consider dog sports to be activities that are judged by an outside party, but I also love to hike daily, unjudged LOL!
Laura DeMaio Roy
2025-07-21 20:28:31 +0000 UTCWow- what a wonderful overview. Thanks so much
Jan
2025-07-21 18:18:41 +0000 UTCWe hike and walk together most days. Not sure if that’s a “dog sport” but we enjoy it and it keeps us healthy.
Kate Farrell
2025-07-20 15:32:01 +0000 UTCI love hearing about these services being available, PT, chiropractic, massage. I didn't know about any of this until we did Agility. We never competed, but the training was amazing foundation for my dog who later became my service dog. For a lot of us, those things are not available in our area, or we may not know they are available until we meet sports dog owners who are hooked into those services.
Debra Wilbourne
2025-07-17 12:36:59 +0000 UTCLove this! Yes, don’t skip the SD foundations and DON’T GET HURT! Limpy SDs are the saddest 💔
Katelyn Steele
2025-07-17 01:11:17 +0000 UTC
