Dog Games for Large Breed Dogs

We all love our big dogs, but keeping them entertained without throwing out our shoulders can be a real night mare, those tennis ball golf clubs are cute and all, but the reality is most large dogs will chase that all day long so finding something that will keep them from destroying your house can be a little bit of a trick.  But there are tons of folks out there who are like minded, and are looking for dog games of their own to entertain their pooches with, and might just love a little company in the meantime. 

Agility has long been a sport for active big dogs, and you don’t have to be competitive for it to be fun.  Many dogs just enjoy having a course in their back yard; in fact, I know a few large dogs who share an agility course with the family’s kids as well!  Everyone seems to get a kick out of the sport, and it is a great way for large dogs to stay active and avoid becoming huge couch potatoes.

Dock diving is also a great sport for an active water dog, and the water is somewhat less concussive for aging joints.  The object is to see how far you can get your dog to jump, as he chases a tossed object from a long dock or pier, and then hits the air and flies after the bumper, safely landing in the water.  Not as many clubs exist for this sport as there are for say, agility, but it is still one of the more fun games for dogs that there is to play out there.  You have to either own property of your own or know of a good dog friendly park to do this though. 

Whatever you choose to do with your big dogs remember a few key tips to courtesy and success, number one, not everyone appreciates you large dog in public and in fact many people are afraid of large dogs, so keep that in mind. Number two, make sure that you are always in control of your large dog at all times, anything else is unsafe for both the public and most especially your dog. Lastly, try to remember that large dogs are fighting gravity in ways that little dogs don’t have to, and the dog games we ask them to do may someday haunt their joints later in life.