Dogs in the Olympics? - Page 1

We all know we have a very sucessfull, National & World Chmpionships (WUSV -FCI) with the Schutzhund sport, and the Belgium / French Ring sport is exciting and just as competitive.
We all know we have World Championships in Agility and Flyball with world wide participants, but would we ever see the day where these competitions will be part of the Olympics?

We have the Equine world competing there, showing their expereince in Eventing, Dressage and Show Jumping, so why not Canines.

Some people feel the games should be "Humans only" to show there abilities in a wide range of sports, but since the Equine world is stamped in the games and rightly so, should the canines have there oppotunity? 
Would advertising the sport in the Olympics with a wider audience, generate a positive interest in the younger generation, and hopefully we would see more people participating and more clubs in your area? 

We can still have our Nationals like always but they can represent our Country at the Olympics (any breed) and then the WUSV / FCI.....

I for one thnk it would be good, but I am sure their might be lots of negatives why this has not happened before......I for one would prefer to watch this on TV rather than the synchronised swimming!

Mark

LOL@synchronized swimming... hey, those girls are built like body builders! My youngest was watching for the first time and all he kept saying, over and over, was, "What the heck is that? Wow. "  

Now, the rider and equine thing, the person is a co-athlete with the horse. So if you want a dog to be in the Olympics, than which sport with a dog shares the athleticsm the most, at least 50/50? That's the one to concentrate on, or else make a new one up!  

At one  time there was a move to make dog sledding an Olympic sport. It never happened, not sure why. Personally I prefer Olympic sports to be those are done without animals. Not that I think the animals aren't treated well, but for some reason watching all the formality and stiffness of dressage just doesn't say Olympic Sport to me.....but I don't get beach volleyball in the Olympics either LOL.

Blitzen........I am a dressage rider.

I have had my day doing jumping, and I can say with all sincerity, dressage is MUCH tougher physically for a rider. You need abs/legs of steel to sit those big moving warmbloods, especially when you get into doing things like passage and extended trots. I heard a guy competing in luge in the winter Olympics defending his sport when someone said it looked easy, you just lay on the sled and go down. He said the more subtle a sport is, the tougher it is and I think he's right.

Dressage (and jumping) is also HUGE in Europe. It's very much a part of the culture over there, especially places like Holland and Germany. It's basically what hockey is to Canadians.

I love love love love love dressage, and it really offends me when people who don't know it make statements like that.

A lot of people would probably find watching tracking really boring, if they didn't know anything about it. I try to be open minded about stuff like that, because I know a lot of people don't understand my beloved dressage and think it's easy and/or stuffy. The dressage crowd are actually a lot of fun and the horses are incredible, super-fit athletes   :)  You have to kind of experience it to appreciate how hard it is. (Maybe you have and just honestly dont like it, but I don't think that means it shouldn't be considered an Olympic sport)

I know not everyone will find it interesting and of course you're entitled to your opinion, but it would be nice to not have my sport run down all the time. If you don't like it, then watch something else.

Having said that - I agree about beach volleyball  :D I also think shotput is incredibly boring, but obviously there are a lot of people who enjoy it, as it's in the Olympics too

Ok, that's my dressage rant over. lol

ETA: Here is Stephen Colbert trying to do dressage after he made fun of it  :D

http://www.thecomedynetwork.ca/Shows/TheColbertReport?videoPackage=120741

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/stephen-colbert-proves-dressage-is-the-sport-of-joe-six-pack-part-deux/

I'm a big fan of equine sports, & the only thing holding back dog sports, which I think would be great in the Olympics, are the people organizing them! Look at the recent & ongoing flaps between GSD clubs, & the disparities between the AKC & the SV...! Not to mention other nations breed & working dog clubs. If there was a unified, centralized organization for dog sports, that superseded breed organizations, it could happen. You don't see the Jockey Club or the Hanoverarian Horse club promoting their breed over another at the Olympics, or their 'take' on the sport over another's. That's what needs to happen before Dog sports go legit in an Olympic venue! I for one would love to see it happen. jackie harris

Theoretically, I'd quite like to see Sledding, Tracking & Obedience on the Olympics list, 'cos they would be
more interesting than some of the events  (don't shoot me, i'm just not that into track & field or Football )
However ... even setting aside the lack of unification in many countries, as mentioned,  would dog people
actually be prepared to put up with all the attendant sh1t around sponsorship, go-slows so your team gets to play the right other teams, etc  ?  Somehow I think more people than not would vote with their feet and not
participate.
 

I would not be surprised if people would go mad if they seen the protection phase....not PC enough! The animal rights would have a field day if the helper got it wrong and injured a dog ! ....
I would like to see Eundurance racing in the games, its the biggest growing sport at present and watching those Arabs doing their thing is amazing.


Mark 

 It would be pretty funny to see some 350 lbs out of shape dog owner accepting his/her gold medal on the podium. LMAO.

lol Felloffher!

Well, look at eventing, something like 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 riders fell off, some with the horses having falls too.

I do think a people might object to the protection phase is they didn't understand it. Bah!

But I think sled racing would be fun! What about skijoring? lol

There were a few 350lb+ people in the weightlifting.....