Last updated on October 25th, 2020 at 04:49 pm
Your Standard Poodle is more than just a pretty face! It’s not meant just to be in the show ring! Your Poodle’s versatility and intelligence allow it to participate in many activities, probably more than you realize!
Besides activities like hiking and camping with your poodle, participating in events or sports with your Poodle is beneficial to you and your poodle in many ways. Besides providing exercise in varying degrees, it helps prevent boredom and strengthens the bond between you and your Poodle.
Whether you’re looking for something to do with your Poodle that is just plain fun or serious competition, I’m sure you’ll find some Poodle activities you and your Poodle can participate in the list below.
Obedience
Obedience is a Poodle activity you can do that is not too strenuous. You can just go to Basic Obedience class or compete all the way up to Obedience Trial Championships. Obedience not only shows how well the dog performs, but how well the owner or handler performs as well. They should perform well as a team.
To progress in obedience competition, the team has to perform increasingly difficult exercises that are determined by the governing panel. Your Poodle should have a good command of the basic obedience commands such as heel, stay and come, in order to progress to the higher levels.
There are many excellent books available on obedience training and competitions. You may also want to consider the help of a professional instructor to help you with your training. You can check the American Kennel Club website for more information about Obedience Trials.
Obedience trials in the United States are only open to purebred dogs. In the United Kingdom, they are open to purebreds as well as mixed breeds.
Freestyle Obedience
If you love to dance, then Freestyle Obedience may be more to your liking! Freestyle Obedience is a fairly new activity. It involves performing a choreographed routine set to music. The handler designs the routine, which involves various turns, jumps, twists, and just about anything else you can think of to throw in there! It is performed to just about any music, from classical to rock. It also gives you and your dog the opportunity to dress up in fancy costumes!
You can find out more about Freestyle Obedience at the Canine Freestyle Federation website.
Agility
If you’re into more athletic Poodle activities, then you may want to consider Agility. It is the fastest growing dog sport! Agility is open to any dog, purebred or mixed. Agility requires the dog to maneuver through an obstacle course with speed and accuracy, under the control of its handler. The course consists of jumps, seesaws; weave poles, tunnels, A-frames and other obstacles. You can make some of the agility equipment yourself.
Agility is a physically demanding activity, so you should take your Poodle to the vet to make sure it is in top shape to compete. You may want to get yourself checked out with your own doctor as well!
Here`s an excellent video of a Standard Poodle practicing its agility at the Crufts agility show!
Tracking
Similar to what a Bloodhound does when searching for a criminal or lost person, tracking involves having your Poodle follow and complete a human scent trail. This is performed on a long lead without any direction or signals from the handler.
Most tracking occurs on courses laid out in large fields. The most difficult and advanced tracking competition occurs in a city like setting, over roads concrete, gravel, and asphalt. This sport requires a lot of concentration and can be stressful to some dogs and humans as well!
Flyball
If you like fast-paced team sports and your Poodle likes chasing tennis balls, then Flyball might be a great Poodle activity for you! It’s kind of like a relay race, where your Poodle has to jump across 4 hurdles set in a straight line. At the end, the dog has to jump on a release on a box that releases a tennis ball. The dog then has to turn around and run back over the hurdles with the ball back to the start, where the next dog is released.
Any size dog can play flyball. They adjust the size of the hurdles to the size of the smallest dog on the team. Even the tennis balls are sized based on the team members.
There are four dogs per team. The relay continues until all four dogs have completed the course. The team with the fastest time wins.
You can learn more about Flyball at the North American Flyball Association’s website.
Flying Disc or Frisbee
You’ve probably seen all sizes and types of dogs catching flying discs or (Frisbees) in the park, or maybe you and your Poodle enjoy this activity. You can get involved in this sport at a competitive level as well.
If you’ve got a puppy that you’d like to start training in catching flying discs, be sure to have it checked out by a vet first. It is also a good idea not to have the puppy even start training until it is over six months old and then not to allow it to jump more than elbow height. You don’t want to cause any damage to your Poodles growing, developing bones.
Start training gradually, by just having your Poodle chase the disc. Eventually, it will get the idea that it is actually supposed to catch it!
If you’re interested in getting involved in this Poodle activity, you can find out more about it at the International Disc Dog Handler’s Association website.
Big Air Competition
If your Poodle loves the water and also enjoys retrieving objects then you may be interested in Big Air competition.
The idea of this Poodle activity is for the handler to throw an object from the dock. The dog then jumps off the dock as far as it can before hitting the water. The jump is measured digitally at the point where the dog’s rump hits the water. There is also a “launch” category, where the dog has to jump up and snatch an object that is six feet above the water.
The only drawback to practicing this sport is you need to be somewhere where there is water, such as a pool, pond, or lake.You can find out more information about the new activity at DockDogs.com. Be sure to follow all the water safety rules when involving your Poodle in any activities involving swimming.
Be very careful of letting your dog swim in any water that has algae growing in it, it could be a very toxic form of blue-green algae that can kill a dog in a few hours!
Conclusion
There are other Poodle activities that I haven`t even covered here. These are just some of the most popular ones. If you have any recommendations, leave a comment below in the comment section. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and have some fun and exercise with your Poodle!