What on earth(dog) is bikejoring?

Obviously, I am a fan of dog sports, but I had no idea what bikejoring was. Bikejoring, in a simplistic explanation, seems to be the off season sport for sled dogs. Using specialized harnesses, dogs pull a rider on a bicycle. (In my defense, Florida has a rather limited dog sledding season). Earthdog, a sport I have only seen on TV, is for the small terriers. Natural “ratters”, terriers navigate through tunnels trying to locate vermin (who have been safely placed in the tunnel) and perform a series of instinctual behaviors to find and indicate the presence of the vermin. The bird dog version of this is a hunt test and a new favorite activity of Bailey. Quail is planted in large open fields, two dogs run together, tracking the birds by scent. When they find the bird, they offer the classic “point” position for the handler to find and flush the bird. The bird is shot by a designated shooter and retrieved by the dog back to the handler. While I am not happy about the fact that live birds are used, this is exactly what these dogs were bred to do and it is pretty special when you see a dog allowed to behave so naturally. I have also never seen dogs so happy and excited and I have seen some pretty excited dogs at agility trials.

There are many, many dog sports, some more familiar such as agility, obedience, flyball, dock diving etc… I personally love it when you can find a sport that compliments your dogs natural instincts as well as its abilities. For example, dock diving and Labs, a pretty perfect match. Unfortunately, a variety of dog sports are not easy to find in a lot of areas. People are getting creative though. At one recent event, an organization was set up featuring border collies who played soccer. The idea is for people and dogs to play soccer together, check out soccercollies.com. I was also able to attempt lure coursing with Luey at another event. A fuzzy something was tied to a pulley system and was pulled in a large circle around a makeshift track. Dogs were having a blast. My velcro dog however, would not chase past the first turn as he would lose sight of me. Luey has his own unique instincts.

Type “list of dog sports” into Wikipedia for a lengthy list of sports with links that explain each to find your next dog sport.