Performance Sports

When you and your dog participate in a performance sport, you show off your dog’s superior skills for performing practical functions that come naturally to him. Some have innate skills as hunting companions; others assist in the herding of livestock; and others serve as guardians of people and property.

Basset Hound Field Trials

In a Basset Hound Field Trial, dogs run in packs of two or more after a rabbit or hare. Don’t worry: The rabbits and hares are never touched. The whole purpose of the event is to exhibit your dog’s scenting skills, not his actual hunting skills.

Beagle Field Trials

In a Beagle Hound Field Trial, dogs run in packs of two or more to follow a rabbit or hare. Depending on which event you participate in, your dog will be judged on his ability to search and explore; to pursue and keep control of a trail; his accuracy in trailing; endurance; adaptability to changes in scenting conditions; patience; determination; and more.

Coonhounds

Events for Coonhounds are designed to celebrate their beauty and natural abilities to hunt-by-scent in bench shows, field trials, nite hunts and water races.

Coursing and CAT/FAST CAT

If you’ve ever wondered how fast your dog is, these tests are for you. They’re timed runs where your dog chases a mechanized lure around a course that simulates the unpredictability of chasing live prey. Training for these tests helps improve your dog’s focus, agility and sportsmanship.

Dachshund Field Trials

Dachshund Field Trials are held in fenced-in areas, and the objective is to “track the game,” meaning to follow a scent trail that a rabbit or hare has left behind. Dogs run in packs of two (called a “brace”) and are judged on their ability to search and explore; to pursue and keep control of a trail; the accuracy in trailing; obedience to commands; their “willingness to go to earth” (into a tunnel or underground); courage; and more.

Herding & Farm Dog

In this sport, your dog uses his innate herding abilities to move sheep (or other animals) around a field, fences, gates, or enclosures, while taking direction from you.

Earth Dog

Open only to small terriers and Dachshunds, these tests assess your dog’s hunting skills for seeking and locating prey underground.

Pointing breeds

In a Pointing Field Trial, your dog displays his keen desire to hunt for and find game, and how fast he can run. While there are various types of events, in all of them your dog must locate game, point staunchly, and be steady to a gunshot fired at a flying bird or target (“wing and shot”).

Retrievers

In a Retriever Field trial, marks are shot through the air and land randomly in a large open area. Your dog runs, finds them, and retrieves them as quickly as he can while responding to hand signals or whistles from you or your handler. Contestants are judged on various traits they are born with including a strong memory for marks, intelligence, perseverance, and more.

Scent Work

This sport mimics the task of working detection dogs to locate a scent and communicate that the scent has been found. It’s a positive, challenging activity that gives your dog the opportunity to use his strongest natural sense.

Spaniels

Spaniels were originally bred to hunt birds, and that’s exactly the goal of a Spaniel Field trial: To seek and find game in an eager, brisk, quiet manner and retrieve it right to your hand. After a gunshot rings through the air, a bird falls to the ground and, on cue, your dog will run to find it and brings it back.

Posted from the American Kennel Club. See the AKC’s Beginner Guide to Performance Sports.