Though the Great Dane originated as a hunting dog, Great Danes have gone on to be successful in a number of other roles, including being skilled therapy dogs and service dogs. This article lists the 7 best dog sports for Great Danes.
Great Danes have been bred to hunt, which means they need exercise otherwise their joints will become stiff and painful. They can also participate in competitive sports or sporting activities for fun and leisure.
With the Great Dane’s fast running speed, they can enjoy the following dog sports.
1. Dog Agility for Great Danes
Dog agility courses are perfect for your active canine pal. This sport features a series of obstacles that the handler guides their dog through while completing a course in a faster time than other participants.
Agility obstacles such as jumps, tunnels, and hurdles will keep your Canine happy and entertained. It is also a great way to exercise your dog’s intelligence and mental stimulation.
2. Obedience Sports
In an obedience trial, dogs are required to demonstrate behaviors including staying calm, walking, fetching, and jumping, while also maintaining a positive attitude throughout the trial.
As Great Danes are often very obedient, they are commonly used in all sorts of obedience competitions. The breed is well-known for their calmness, composure, and equanimity in the ring. As a result, the Great Dane has become one of the most popular breeds to participate in all types of competitive obedience events. Many people choose to train their dogs in obedience sports because obedience trainers know how to get their pets to follow commands with little effort.
3. Scent Work / Nose Work
Great Danes are natural hunters. In fact, they were bred to hunt boar. Although they are not scenthounds, Great Danes knows how to use their nose for tracking and nose work. They will do well in scent work competition.
Scent work competitions are a fun and competitive way for dogs to demonstrate their natural abilities as scenthounds. This competition consists of a variety of trails that the dog must complete with the handler directing them through hand signals. In this event, each team member is responsible for following a specific trail using only their nose.
If your Great Dane enjoy searching for objects, you should sign him up to compete in this challenging yet rewarding sport.
4. Tracking Sports
Just like scent work, tracking events uses dogs’ sense of smell to complete tasks. Tracking events for canine search and rescue are known as AKC tracking events. These events test and enhance the skills of canines and their handlers to find lost humans or other animals, to teach them how to follow and track through scent, and to exhibit the ability of dogs to sniff and find humans.
5. Weight Pull
Weight pull is a sport where a dog pulls a weight sled with a harness, and the dog’s weight becomes his or her weight class. Weight pull began as a way to train pack dogs for work but has now become popular as a family-oriented activity.
In competitions across the United States people can compete against one another, their individual dogs, or against their own personal bests. These athletes are not only competing for bragging rights but also prizes such as medals and trophies.
Weight pull for Great Danes is a sport where teams of dogs are challenged to pull sleds, carts, or other loads. The goal is to have the dog in as fast a time as possible, with the sled’s weight being the only factor that determines how many times they can do this.
6. Flyball
Dog owners looking for a fun competitive sport to play with their Great Danes may want to consider flyball. This fast-paced agility-style game is played by two teams of four dogs, with one person on each team running the relay. The goal of the game is for the dog on the starting line to jump over a hurdle and race down a course before reaching an elevated box that launches another ball up into the air which they must catch before it hits the ground.
7. Canicross
Canicross is a fast and fun way to exercise and bond with your Great Dane. The activity is best done outside on grass or pavement and requires no equipment other than a dog and a harness.
The sport of canicross is a type of dog running race where the runner is pulled by a dog. In this type of competition, the runner carries a 10-15 lb. harness around their waist with a bungee leash attached to it. The jogger wears shoes and clothes for protection from the environment and uses a head lamp. The dog also wears a harness that clips into the leash system but has no restraints on its body or feet.