Competing in events with other danes or dogs is a great way to continue socializing your dane and also a means to 'Show Off' your dane. Conformation showing is the best way to determine how your dane stacks up to others in competition based on the breed standard. Some danes get bored at Conformation shows or they may not meet the criteria for conformation, for those danes, give one of the events below a try.
Agility is the fastest growing dog sport today. Competition agility involves running a designated obstacle course in a specified time. As the dog and handler progress they move up to more difficult levels of competition. This is all done off-lead and it requires the dog to have basic obedience as well as be physically fit. For more information on agility visit the AKC Agility page. Another website of interest is the North American Dog Agility Council. For more information specifically on Danes that do agility, visit MorganDane
Obedience is the formal competition of handler and dog as a team. Exercises begin with simple heeling and stay commands and progress to difficult retrieves over jumps and scent article discriminations. The ability to work as a team is put to the test. Take a look at the AKC obedience information
Tracking utilizes the dog's innate sense of smell. The dog is trained to follow the scent of a designated individual and scored on his ability to do so under increasingly difficult circumstances. For more information on tracking, visit the AKC Tracking page
Fly-Ball is a tag-team sport where dogs hurdle towards a box than launches a tennis ball which they must return to the start line. It's fast, and a lot of fun. For more information on fly-ball visit this page and some danes that enjoy this are listed here
Rally is a sport in which the dog and handler complete a course that has been designed by the rally judge. The judge tells the handler to begin, and the dog and handler proceed at their own pace through a course of designated stations (10 - 20, depending on the level). Each of these stations has a sign providing instructions regarding the next skill that is to be performed. Scoring is not as rigorous as traditional obedience. For more information visit the AKC rally information page
Free Style is currently not a competitive sport in North America but can be seen at dog events even know as exhibition. This is a routine of "dance" moves between handler and dog, set to music, and typically involving costumes. It's becoming more popular every day and is a great way to express your own individuality and the be creative in your training with your dog. For more information visit The World Canine Freestyle Organzation
Weight Pull events test the ability of the dog to move hundreds and even thousands of pounds. There are Great Danes who have participated and even titled in weight pull events. This is not an AKC event.
Assistance Dogs are dogs specifically trained to help out their special needs owner. There are Great Danes that have been trained to work with the wheelchair bound as well as with Parkinsons and other special needs individuals. For more information, check out Assistance Dogs International
Therapy work is something many Great Danes excel at. This can be as simple as supervised visits to a classroom or nursing home once. The dog and handler work with a team of medical specialists to help facilitate various forms of therapy that could be animal-assisted. Therapy dogs must have basic good manners and owners who are willing and able to volunteer. For more on doing therapy with your Dane, see Therapy Dogs International, Delta Society and Therapy Dogs, Inc.
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