Enrichment & Fitness

With a name like Pawformance, it's no secret that dog sports are our passion! We train and compete across a wide range of performance sports and encourage our dogs to show us which sports they excel at and enjoy so we can tailor their foundation training to those sports. 
There is nothing like the feeling of achieving something together and for us, that is what sports are all about. While we enjoy qualifying and winning (obviously!), some of our best runs have been non-qualifying and any day we can spend training or competing with our dogs is a great day. 
We have competed across Australia, making regular appearances at National Championships and we even make the odd appearance in the show ring, though this isn't a major pursuit for us.
We believe in giving our dogs a job and this training gives us the chance to exercise both their mind and body daily. We use positive reinforcement in all of our training and conditioning sessions and always make sure that our dogs have appropriate levels of fitness and conditioning to help them to perform at their best!
Dog sports have allowed us to build a great relationship with each of our dogs. They have taught us so much about themselves that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to see otherwise. No one knows our dogs better than we do and for this reason, we train and handle them ourselves. 

Sports we train and compete in

Our training

We train at several local dog clubs, dedicated to the different sports we compete in and then supplement that training at home. We have been active in performance sports for more than a decade now and in this time we have been lucky enough to have attended workshops and seminars presented by some of the biggest names in training and behaviour in the world. We utilise modern training techniques and use positive reinforcement in all of our sport training. We are always happy to talk through training issues pet parents are having with their dogs, or to recommend a trainer or behaviourist if it is an issue that requires professional intervention.

Conditioning and fitness

The fitness and body condition of our dogs is important to us, not only because it helps them perform at their best, but because it also helps prevent injury. Dogs aren't always the best judges of what their bodies can handle, and our dogs, at times, are no different, throwing themselves into things with a lot of joy but not always a lot of concern for their own safety. 
We continue to consult with the best vets and therapists available to develop custom exercise and conditioning programs to make sure that our dogs are healthy and fit for purpose, no matter what we throw at them!

Volunteering and giving back

We believe in giving back to the sports we compete in, whether that's by volunteering our time at comps or trials to steward, time-keep or judge, or by sitting on the committees of the many dog sport clubs we're involved with. Volunteering is a great way to learn more about the sport, how its organisation and rules work in practice and allows us get to know more about the people (and dogs) involved. We believe that dog sports should be for all dogs - some sports may not be suitable for all breeds BUT all dogs should be able to find a suitable sport for them. As we run a rare breed, it is not uncommon to find people in the sport who may not have seen a Finnish Lapphund or Siberian Husky compete before and who may have only ever run a traditional sports breed like a Border Collie or a Kelpie themselves. Having people on committees who do run different breeds helps clubs be more inclusive of the many different ANKC recognised breeds out there, as well as non-ANKC registered dogs including cross breeds. Accessibility and inclusivity is very important to us.