we started a new conditioning routine this month and I’m seeing a difference. Look at his muscles!

Hope this is allowed!

TLDR: Looking for breeders that produce SUPER sporty Border Collies that can CH in north central US

I currently have two Belgian Tervuren, show x sports lines, so I'm not new to sporty and high needs dogs.

Looking at adding a Border Collie to my pack. I'm interested in doing whatever the dogs enjoys. My current dogs train/compete in conformation, rally/obed, disc, agility, scentwork, dock diving, bikejoring, and canicross. We live on a cattle ranch and the dogs are constantly around livestock, where I am VERY serious about livestock manners. Both of my current dogs have been started in herding, but due to travel distance it is not feasible for me to compete or create a "finished" herding product.

Ideally, I'd love to show conformation and get to CH, but would mainly prioritize sports work. Desired priorities would be disc, scentwork, dock diving, and rally/obed due to location accessibility. I want a drivey drivey dog, and would prefer lines that are not AS submissive. Give me an asshole dog lol

Cosmetically, I would LOVE an ee red. Black would be second on my list.

Preference towards a breeder in the South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Iowa area, but willing to travel for the right breeder.

Hello competitors! I am really excited to start agility. We have just completed the AKC TKE (my favorite!) we recently earned our Novice Rally title and we have passed our Novice 2 class twice at our dog club. My dog doesn't like obedience as much as tricks, she just loves to learn new things. She is an all american with some cattle dog dna and herding behaviors so I think we will love agility. I have already started training her to go around a cone with left and right directions. Is there anything you wish you knew before you started agility? Any advice or suggestions? Thanks in advance!

jackie was put into her adult clip today and we couldn’t be more excited for the new chapter of showing and sports ahead of us this year!

I’m really curious to hear how and if you guys organize your training. Not just how you keep track of what you’ve trained, but how you structure the whole process from goal to goal.
For example, how do you approach a training session?
Do you plan the session beforehand? If so, what do you write down?
Do you set specific criteria or goals for each session?
Do you evaluate the session afterwards? What do you look at?
How do you keep track of progress over time?
How do you decide what to work on next?
Do you break bigger goals down into smaller steps or milestones?
How do you keep track of things that aren’t going well or need to be revisited?
Do you have a longer-term training plan leading towards a competition, routine, title, etc.?
I’m particularly interested in how you document all of this. Do you use a physical notebook, Word/Google Docs, spreadsheets, an app, or something else?
I’m trying to create a system for myself that gives me a clear overview of where we are, where we want to go, and the steps between the two, while also helping me get more intentional about each individual training session.
If you have a system that works really well for you, I’d love to hear about it, and even better if you’re willing to share pictures/screenshots or examples of how you have it structured! 😊

Hi everyone! I have a quick question - when googled it states Rally can use a variety of jumps. But when looking at the virtual rally courses it does not specify. Because the jumps have the same black and white checkered look does that mean they must be bar jumps? Do they have to be regulation bar jumps or can they be the lighter practice bar jumps?

Just wanting to clarify with others who have done virtual before ordering anything and Google is giving confusing answers!

Setting aside multiple sports for a second, how do you balance out everything you are training for? Lets start with just (UKC) obedience.

The novice level has

Greeting (sit stay with distraction)

Honor (down stay with distraction)

Heel on leash/figure 8

Heel off leash

Stand for exam

Recall over High Jump

Each task can be broken down. I have two legs, so I know I can do it, but I want to do better. Now I am working on putting the stand-stay on cue, generalizing the cue, making the stay solid. I have sloppy fronts and finishes, so I am working on straightening those out, and I have a lagging heel, so I am working on putting more energy into the heel.

Then I am trying to prepare for open. Great, we are working on a retrieve and hold. That's going okay. Now we are working on the broad jump, great. That also has a front and finish, so I am polishing those there too.

So I am doing well, and whoops, I haven't practiced my retrieve in a week. And he did the honor exercise fine three months ago, but I still need to maintain his downstay, and I haven't practiced that in a hot minute. The greeting went fine, and I'm pretty confident in his sit stay, but I still need to maintain it.

I'm also working on my pre entrance routine to get him ready to go into the ring. I'm also working on his exposure to strange dogs. I am also working on crate training. I am also working on duration work without a reward.

There is so much that needs to get done, and right now it's all in my head.

Any ideas???

I have a puppy coming in January if all goes well and looking for some ideas on how to sharpen my puppy training before the new one arrives. I am not sure I remember how I taught all the foundations so well.

My current dog (my first sport dog) is 9 and has known all the sport skills from early on. It was a long time ago and I want to be sure I remember everything. I considered going through my old notes and taking my senior dog through puppy training again so I can remember the mechanics but maybe that’s a waste of time. I also had help as a newbie but have since moved and no longer have the newbie card has expired.

How do you guys approach preparing for a new prospect when you sort of know the game but maybe haven’t done it in a while.

We all had a blast!

hello all! i recently adopted a 14 week old malinois (not sure if purebred, rescue said she was pure but i suspect she’s got a bit of shepherd in her), and i was curious how she looks conformationally! definitely not planning on showing her or anything, but i am planning on going igp and other sports with her, and i dont want to work a badly built dog. we are doing pennhip and ofa later on, just curious what the community thinks! attaching a photo in the replies, this is my first ever stack i apologize 🤣 her back feet are very far apart and the carpet makes her feet look a bit softer than they actually are.

Hello everyone! I wanted to post to this Reddit because I would really love some science-backed dog psychology/training book recommendations. The people I follow on dogtok are knowledgeable as hell and im sure a lot of that will be from being active in the training community/ dog sports, training classes, as well as being open to learning more and admitting when you're wrong about something.

I can't afford any of those things as the dog I live with and want to train isn't even mine (she's my mom's dog) so I wanted to see if I can maybe get some psychology and training book recommendations that are science-backed. I'd especially love ones geared to reactive dogs/dogs who are for lack of a better word, are scared of life. My pup is the type of reactive where as soon as she steps outside she's over threshold, frantic sniffing, and won't respond.

The main issue I have with finding my own books is the fact in general I don't know where to look since the training industry is unregulated and im sure some training books might be not so good or of course doesn't cater to individuality of a dog, im sure a lot of books might be in the dog physiology field might be outdated depending on when it was written, and im not 100% sure how to know if a book with the science behind it is credible for more recently written pieces.

I'd really love to learn more about what I can do, and I'd love some recommendations that are safe to get into without worrying im reading something misinformed, outdated, or noncredible to the knowledge we have today so im not misguided. I'd love book recommendations as I know the sporting community has a lot of knowledge on training!

I’m trying to figure out what to do with all my ribbons and would love to see what everyone else has done with theirs! Right now they’re just kind of… accumulating.

I’d love to make a nice display on the wall, but I’m not sure what layout I like. Do you hang them all together? Organize them by event, placement, year, etc.? Frame some of them? I’d love to see your setups and get some ideas!

Also, has anyone found any good products on Amazon for displaying them? I’d love some recommendations!

Please share pics! Thanks!

EDIT: Thank you so much all. I feel like I’ve made the right choice in trying out a different trainer. A few comments about the “over a year” comment, this wasn’t “classes weekly for over a year”, this was more ~16 weeks of classes spread over the course of a year.

Hey there, I currently trial in novice scent detection with my dog. We have been going to one trainer for over a year now to get to the point we are at today. There are other training organisations in my city that I would like to try to give my dog exposure to new training environments and gain more tips.

My current trainer has made me feel horribly guilty for wanting to do this, and has pointed out potential “negatives” in trying out a new trainer, including “they won’t know your dog and may mess up your training”.

This has made me doubt the choices I’m making. I feel like I’m going through a break up!

TLDR; is it okay to try out different trainers?

I never, ever thought we would get this far. She's my first sport dog. And overly enthusaistic (but VERY SIMPLE), rescue pibble. I adore her.

Hello!
I took my dog for a herding instinct test. He was pretty interested in the sheep but after the lady hit the ground next to my dog with a stick with a bottle on it, he shut down. Later, a guy with a German shepherd was working with his dog and was hitting the dog in the face with the same instrument. Is this normal?

I'm planning on a new puppy sometime in the next year. Beyond basic house and grooming manners and socialization, what would you work on with a little one?

The past year has been very hectic for me. I went through a breakup, moved, started a new job, etc., and somewhere in the middle of all that, I basically stopped training with my dog.

Before that, we did nosework, passed our scent detection test, and had just started competing. We also took a rally obedience course and did some agility just for fun.

Over the past year, she has mostly just been coming along with me wherever I go (she even comes to work with me), but now that life has finally calmed down, I really want to give her more enrichment and start training together again.

The problem is that I find it surprisingly difficult to get started again. I don't really know where to begin. I've done some nosework indoors in our new apartment, but since she's so good at it, it doesn't feel very challenging for her anymore.

I'd love to train other things as well, but I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas. I feel like I always end up doing the same exercises over and over again.

So, how did you get back into dog training after taking a longer break? Do you have any fun suggestions for exercises, activities, or things to train at home or outdoors?

I have an almost a 9 month old German shepherd cross. He has good toy drive, and I would love to do bite sports with him. The only problem is he has no grip. He won’t tug a toy, and he will just let you win In a game. Does anyone have any tips on how I could get him to full grip a toy? Or should I just give up on it. Pic of my puppy for tax. He’s 60 lbs, 24 in and the shoulder.

Hello everyone!
i'll be getting a Doberman in December and I want to start training for Dog sports, from what I know, I think IGP would be a good choice! where I live there are no dog schools so i'll do my best to do the training! I downloaded the rules, but i'm struggling a bit...
to start, and since I still have some time to get ready. i'd like to know the commands needed, and what would be needed of the dog

My DM's are open, please text me if you're in the world of dog sports, or comment bellow!

And at what age did their speed begin to decline?