Discipline and competition
Obedience, rally, BH, IGP and the aptitude tests. What counts here is precision, control and how you present the dog.
Orientation guide
Dog sports: the complete guide
There's a lot more out there than agility. 72 sports and tests, grouped into 11 categories and explained in a sentence each, so you can quickly see what might suit your dog.
72 sports/tests
covered in brief
11 categories
from obedience to herding
4 directions
we can point you towards
Scent
the area we work in
About this guide
A happy dog plays a sport or has an activity
Most behaviour problems turn up in dogs with nothing to do. A dog sport is not an indulgence: it is a way for the dog to put its instincts to work in a safe setting, with the two of you working together.
We have gathered 72 dog sports and tests here, grouped into 11 categories. Each one gets a single-sentence description, enough to tell you straight away what it involves.
Not all of them are practised in Romania, and we do not run all of them ourselves. The guide is here so you can get your bearings: some disciplines call for an athletic dog, others work perfectly well with a senior or with a dog that would rather think than run.
Every discipline has its own page, covering the rules, the kit and what a competition looks like. We keep them updated as rules or common practice change.
Quick orientation
Four directions, so the list does not swallow you
Almost every discipline below falls into one of these four directions. Pick the one that sounds like your dog and start there.
Scent sports
Mantrailing, tracking, nose work and search and rescue. The dog works with its nose, and you learn to read it.
Agility and coordination
Agility, hoopers, parkour, disc dog and flyball. Reaction speed, balance and communication at a distance.
Pulling and endurance
Canicross, bikejoring, mushing, weight pull and carting. Stamina and controlled power, for dogs with an engine.
The full catalogue
72 dog sports and tests, by category
Every discipline below has its own page, covering the rules, the kit you need and what a competition actually looks like. The categories are simply a way to navigate: plenty of these sports border on one another, and a dog that takes to one often does well at its neighbour.
9 sports
Obedience and working disciplines
The disciplines where precision, control and the partnership between dog and handler decide the result.
- Obedience: Precise execution of commands, positions, recall and retrieve.
- Rally Obedience: The team follows a course of signs with obedience exercises.
- BH / Begleithund: Basic obedience and social behaviour in an urban setting.
- IGP: A complex discipline made up of tracking, obedience and protection.
- Mondioring: Obedience, jumps and protection exercises in a themed setting.
- Belgian Ring: A Belgian discipline with obedience, jumps and protection.
- French Ring: A French sport with obedience, jumps and protection.
- KNPV: The Dutch programme for working and selecting utility dogs.
- Working Trials: A British discipline covering obedience, tracking, search and agility.
5 sports
Agility and obstacles
Courses that ask for coordination, fast reactions and clear communication at a distance.
- Agility: A course of jumps, tunnels, weaves and contact obstacles.
- Hoopers: A course of hoops, tunnels and gates, with no high jumps.
- Dog Parkour: Controlled negotiation of obstacles in urban or natural settings.
- Canine Ninja: Varied courses testing balance, strength and coordination.
- Canicross with obstacles: Running with your dog on courses that include obstacles.
9 sports
Scent-based sports
The area we have worked in for years. The dog uses what it does best: its nose.
- Mantrailing: The dog follows the individual scent of one specific person.
- Tracking: Following a track left on the ground, step by step.
- Nose Work / Scent Work: Identifying a target odour in different environments.
- Detection Dog Sport: Searching for and indicating predetermined odours.
- Search and Rescue: Searching for people in terrain, buildings, woodland or rubble.
- Rubble Search: Searching for people in collapsed structures and debris.
- Area Search: Searching for a person across a wide area of open ground.
- Article Search: Finding small articles carrying human scent.
- Barn Hunt: Locating a protected rat in a course built of straw bales.
9 sports
Speed and running
Endurance sports in which the dog pulls a rig or runs alongside you.
- Canicross: Cross-country running with the dog attached to your waist.
- Bikejoring: The dog runs ahead of the bike and helps pull it.
- Scooterjoring: Pulling a specialised off-road scooter.
- Skijoring: Cross-country skiing pulled by one or more dogs.
- Sled Dog Racing: Racing with dog teams on snow.
- Dryland Mushing: Team racing on dry ground.
- Greyhound Racing: Speed racing on a track.
- Lure Coursing: Chasing an artificial lure across a course in open field.
- Straight Racing: A sprint in a straight line after a lure.
7 sports
Discs, balls and retrieving
Play turned into sport: throwing, catching, retrieving and working as a team.
- Disc Dog: Catching the disc, in distance events or freestyle routines.
- Fetch and Retrieve: Retrieving trials for finding and delivering objects.
- Flyball: A team relay with hurdles and retrieving a ball.
- Treibball: The dog drives large balls towards a goal.
- Pushball: Controlled pushing of a large ball towards a target.
- Dock Diving: Jumping from a dock into water after a toy.
- Air Retrieve: The dog leaps to grab an object suspended over water.
4 sports
Dance and presentation
Disciplines built on expressiveness, timing and how well the team moves together.
- Dog Dancing: A choreographed routine set to music, with moves and tricks.
- Heelwork to Music: Heelwork and positions performed to music.
- Trick Dog: Series of tricks organised into difficulty levels.
- Freestyle Obedience: A blend of obedience, movement and creativity.
5 sports
Water sports
From aquatic rescue work to keeping your balance on a board.
- Water Rescue: Aquatic rescue and towing of people or objects.
- Water Work: Retrieving, towing and working exercises in water.
- Dock Diving: Jumping from a dock into water after a toy.
- Surf Dog: The dog keeps its balance on a surfboard.
- Stand-up Paddle with your dog: A recreational or competitive activity on a paddleboard.
- Water Agility: A course of hoops and floating obstacles, swum rather than run.
5 sports
Herding and livestock control
The disciplines that draw on the herding instinct of the shepherd breeds.
- Sheepdog Trials: Driving sheep through a set course.
- Herding Trials: Trials in controlling a flock or herd.
- Treibball: The dog drives large balls towards a goal.
- Cattle Dog Trials: Driving cattle.
- Duck Herding: Steering ducks through obstacles.
5 sports
Strength and pulling
Controlled power events, run under strict safety rules.
- Weight Pull: Pulling a loaded sled over a short distance.
- Carting: Pulling a cart.
- Draft Dog: Controlled transport of a load.
- Wall Climb: Climbing a vertical wall, seen at some competitions.
- Tug of War: Controlled pulling contests at certain sporting events.
7 sports
Gundogs and hunting breeds
Trials that assess the natural aptitudes of the hunting breeds.
- Field Trials: Assessing hunting dogs in the field.
- Retrieving Trials: Recovering game or artificial dummies.
- Pointing Trials: Searching for and pointing game.
- Spaniel Trials: Quartering, flushing and retrieving.
- Earthdog: Trials in artificial tunnels for terriers and dachshunds.
- Working Tests for Retrievers: Retrieving trials without live game.
- Blood Tracking: Following a simulated blood trail.
6 sports
Aptitude and character tests
Sociability and temperament assessments, often the first step towards everything else.
- TSAC: A Romanian sociability and aptitude test for dogs.
- Temperament Test: Assessing a dog's stability and reactions.
- Character Test: Testing character and behaviour.
- Companion Dog Tests: Assessments for family dogs.
- Instinct Tests: Checking natural aptitudes for herding, hunting or water.
- APWA-ICofA: A personality and welfare assessment carried out by an ethologist.
Out of the whole list
What we actually do
The catalogue above is for orientation. These are the disciplines we genuinely teach, with our own training sessions and events, here in Romania.
Scent sports
Mantrailing
The discipline in which the dog follows the individual scent of one specific person. This is our speciality and the area where we have the most experience.
Scent sports
Search and rescue
Area search, rubble search, trailing and the other SAR disciplines, along with the relevant international certifications.
Aptitude tests
TSAC and BH preparation
Our advanced training course prepares teams for both exams, on the technical side and on urban socialisation.
Frequently asked
What owners ask us most often
How many dog sports are there?
Far more than most people imagine at the outset. This page lists 72 sports and tests, grouped into 11 categories: obedience and working disciplines, agility and obstacles, scent sports, speed and running, discs and retrieving, dance and presentation, water sports, herding, strength and pulling, gundogs, plus the aptitude and character tests.
What is the difference between mantrailing, tracking and nose work?
In mantrailing, the dog follows the individual scent of one specific person. In tracking, it follows the physical track left on the ground, step by step. In nose work, or scent work, the dog identifies a target odour in various environments rather than following a person. Three separate disciplines, even though all three are built on scent.
Which dog sports involve no high jumps?
Hoopers is designed specifically without high jumps, using hoops, tunnels and gates instead. The scent sports (mantrailing, tracking, nose work) are just as kind to the joints, and so are the driving disciplines such as treibball. These are good options for young dogs, seniors, or dogs with joint problems.
What are TSAC and BH?
TSAC is a Romanian sociability and aptitude test for dogs. BH, or Begleithund, assesses basic obedience and social behaviour in an urban setting. Both are often the first step towards other disciplines, and we run dedicated preparation for them.
Which disciplines do you actually teach?
Our speciality is mantrailing, together with search and rescue work. We also run preparation for the TSAC and BH exams as part of our advanced training course. For the other sports on this list, this page is an orientation guide rather than a course offer.
What is on each sport's page?
The rules of the discipline, the equipment you need, who it suits and how a competition runs, plus the questions owners most often ask us about it. Of the 72 disciplines in the catalogue, 64 already have their own page; the texts are updated as rules or common practice change.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us what kind of dog you have, how much energy it carries and what the two of you enjoy doing together. We'll tell you honestly which direction would suit it, even if it's not a discipline we teach.