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Sporting Hound
A brindle pit bull mid-leap during a FastCAT run, 100-yard sprint, grass field, soft green fencing behind.
The dog sports field guide

51 dog sports.
Find your dog’s fit.

Most people only know a few. Find the one your dog was made for. Then everything you need to actually do it — trainers, clubs, facilities, and events.

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Pick whichever fits where you’re at.

9 categories · 51 sports

Pick your kind of sport.

From scent to speed to strength — every sport across nine ways dogs are built to work.

See all 51 sports →
Field guide · By breed

Every dog was built for something.

An Afghan Hound in a numbered coursing blanket at full gallop down a grass straightaway, long silky coat streaming behind it, in the flat-out chase the breed was bred for.
Hound group

Afghan Hound

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A large Alaskan Malamute in a weight-pull harness digging into the snow to haul a loaded sled at a winter weight-pull competition.
Working group

Alaskan Malamute

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A white American Eskimo Dog cresting a blue agility A-frame against a clear sky, thick spitz coat and plumed tail streaming behind it.
Non-Sporting group

American Eskimo Dog

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A red-and-white American Pit Bull Terrier sprinting flat-out across a grassy field, mouth open, chasing an orange flying disc, with a handler blurred in the background.
Bully breed

American Pit Bull Terrier

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A blue heeler Australian Cattle Dog standing up against a wooden farm fence, watching a flock of sheep in a snowy paddock behind it.
Herding group

Australian Cattle Dog

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Two black-and-tan Australian Kelpies perched on a farm motorbike in front of a full mob of sheep, alert and ready to work.
Herding group

Australian Kelpie

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A blue merle Australian Shepherd working a charging calf in a dusty pen, ducking low as the calf kicks up dust.
Herding group

Australian Shepherd

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Three Basenjis in coursing muzzles charging across a field at full gallop, red-and-white and brindle, ears pinned.
Hound group

Basenji

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A tricolor Beagle nose-deep in a freshly dug patch of earth, truffle hunting, with a handler crouched behind in an autumn orchard.
Hound group

Beagle

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A black-and-tan Beauceron with tan 'red stockings' leg markings in a French Ring protection exercise, barking up at a decoy in a padded bite suit on a training field.
Herding group

Beauceron

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Three young Belgian Malinois puppies running together across grass, all gripping the same padded bite tug in their mouths.
Herding group

Belgian Malinois

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A Belgian Tervuren with a rich fawn-and-mahogany coat and black mask standing between straw bales, ears up and tongue out, alert at a barn-hunt-style course.
Herding group

Belgian Tervuren

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A Bernese Mountain Dog in a draft harness pulling a wooden cart loaded with metal milk churns along a dirt track past a cornfield.
Working group

Bernese Mountain Dog

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A black-and-white Border Collie in a herding crouch, giving eye to a single sheep across a green field, with a line of trees and hills behind.
Herding group

Border Collie

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A cream Borzoi in a red coursing jacket at a full floating gallop across a spring meadow, silky coat and feathered tail streaming behind it.
Hound group

Borzoi

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A rugged dark Bouvier des Flandres with its characteristic beard and shaggy coat harnessed to a two-wheeled draft cart on a farm lot, ready to pull.
Herding group

Bouvier des Flandres

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A fawn Boxer with a dark mask mid-leap on a grass field, all four feet off the ground, ears up and focused.
Working group

Boxer

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An orange-and-white Brittany trotting toward the camera through tall dead cover, carrying a downed bird, an e-collar at its throat.
Sporting group

Brittany

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A black-and-white Bull Terrier with its distinctive egg-shaped head balanced on a skateboard on pavement, muscular and alert, ears pricked.
Terrier group

Bull Terrier

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A fawn Bullmastiff with a dark mask walking toward the camera across a green field, tongue out and tail raised.
Working group

Bullmastiff

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A black Cane Corso running flat-out down a lure-coursing course on grass, heavy-boned and powerful at full stride.
Working group

Cane Corso

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A golden-buff American Cocker Spaniel nose-down and following a scent across a wooden boardwalk, long ears framing its face.
Sporting group

Cocker Spaniel

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A rough-coated sable-and-white Collie leaping through a tire jump on an agility course, full coat and ruff flying.
Herding group

Collie

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A smooth dapple Dachshund scrambling up a straw bale at a barn-hunt trial, front paws up and nose working the hay.
Hound group

Dachshund

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A spotted Dalmatian standing on a rocky outcrop high in the mountains, lean and poised, built for the long miles it once ran beside carriages.
Non-Sporting group

Dalmatian

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A black-and-rust Doberman Pinscher in a focused protection-sport grip on a padded sleeve, driving forward with full commitment.
Working group

Doberman Pinscher

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A working-type English Cocker Spaniel driving through the weave poles on an agility course, ears flying, handler alongside.
Sporting group

English Cocker Spaniel

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A liver-and-white English Springer Spaniel driving through the weave poles on an agility course, ears flying, handler running alongside.
Sporting group

English Springer Spaniel

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A black-and-tan French Bulldog sitting on grass and lifting a paw into a person's outstretched hand for a treat during training.
Non-Sporting group

French Bulldog

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Two German Shepherds herding a large flock of sheep and goats across a dusty mountain valley under storm clouds.
Herding group

German Shepherd

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A liver-and-white German Shorthaired Pointer running at full stretch across a grass field, ears flying, chasing a lure.
Sporting group

German Shorthaired Pointer

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A black Giant Schnauzer in a bite-sleeve grip on a decoy's arm during protection training in a snowy field.
Working group

Giant Schnauzer

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A cream Golden Retriever bounding out of a yellow agility tunnel across grass, tongue out and ears flying.
Sporting group

Golden Retriever

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A pack of Greyhounds in racing jackets bunched together at full stride down a dirt track, chasing the lure.
Hound group

Greyhound

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A slender blue Italian Greyhound at a flat-out gallop across a dry field, whip tail streaming and fine legs fully extended.
Toy group

Italian Greyhound

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A predominantly white Jack Russell Terrier hitting the flyball box, a tennis ball popping loose, mid-turn on a grass course.
Terrier group

Jack Russell Terrier

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A yellow Labrador Retriever leaping full-stretch off a log into a marshy pond, mid-air over the water.
Sporting group

Labrador Retriever

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A brown curly-coated Lagotto Romagnolo sniffing a freshly unearthed truffle held in its handler's hand, a truffle spade planted in the woodland ground beside them.
Sporting group

Lagotto Romagnolo

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A salt-and-pepper Miniature Schnauzer with bushy eyebrows and a full beard heeling at its handler's side on grass, gazing up in focused attention.
Terrier group

Miniature Schnauzer

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A large black Newfoundland swimming through open water in a red water-rescue harness, head up and eyes on the camera.
Working group

Newfoundland

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A fox-red Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever standing balanced on a paddleboard on calm water, mountains behind.
Sporting group

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever

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A tricolor Papillon with its large fringed butterfly ears sitting on a fallen log, one paw lifted in a trick pose, autumn woods behind.
Toy group

Papillon

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A red-and-white Pembroke Welsh Corgi driving a group of sheep across a paddock, low and focused behind the stock.
Herding group

Pembroke Welsh Corgi

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A tousled, rough-coated Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen — low-slung, with long ears, a beard, and a shaggy white, grey, and tan coat — trotting across the grass past an agility jump.
Hound group

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen

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A lean, wire-coated Portuguese Podengo, wet and ears pricked, standing on a blue board floating on calm sea water.
Hound group

Portuguese Podengo

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A black-and-white curly-coated Portuguese Water Dog trotting along the wet sand at the surf line, ocean waves breaking behind it.
Working group

Portuguese Water Dog

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A tricolor Rat Terrier running flat-out across grass after a lure, ears up and mouth open at full stride.
Terrier group

Rat Terrier

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A wheaten Rhodesian Ridgeback resting beside a backpacker on a mountain summit, a wide valley spread out below.
Hound group

Rhodesian Ridgeback

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A Rottweiler in a draft harness hitched to a two-wheeled cart on a grass field — the breed's cart-dog heritage.
Working group

Rottweiler

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Two feathered Salukis coursing across a dandelion-strewn meadow, the lead dog in a red coursing jacket at full stride.
Hound group

Saluki

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A white Samoyed in a sledding harness on snow, mouth upturned in the breed's characteristic 'Sammy smile'.
Working group

Samoyed

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A sable-and-white Shetland Sheepdog leaping over a person kneeling in a wildflower meadow, full mane flying and ears tipped forward.
Herding group

Shetland Sheepdog

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A team of Siberian Huskies in racing harness running through snow, the lead dog with one blue eye and one amber.
Working group

Siberian Husky

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A muscular dark-brindle Staffordshire Bull Terrier charging flat-out across a field after a lure, compact and powerful at full stretch.
Terrier group

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

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A Standard Poodle in a working retrieve, powering through open water toward a floating bumper with its ears back.
Non-Sporting group

Standard Poodle

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A rust-gold Vizsla mid-stride across a grass field, lean and muscular with a long tail and floppy ears in motion.
Sporting group

Vizsla

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A silver-grey Weimaraner at a flat-out gallop across a grass field, ears back and legs extended, chasing a lure.
Sporting group

Weimaraner

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Four whippets in colored racing jackets and muzzles sprinting down a grass track at full extension.
Hound group

Whippet

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Dog looking up at her handler, alerting at the moment she's found the hidden target odor during a Nose Work search.
A white dog pulling a cyclist on a forest trail during a bikejoring race.
Red-coated dog launching mid-air against a blue sky to grab a yellow suspended bumper during a dock diving Air Retrieve.
Terrier alerting on a rat tube buried in straw at a Barn Hunt event.
IGP dog in a controlled bite on the protection sleeve.
Dog threading the weave poles at an agility trial.
Dog mid-air catching a disc in flight.
Dog standing on the bow of a paddleboard on a calm lake.
Dog crossing the finish line at full sprint during a Fast CAT run.