Two years ago at the 2004 Athens Summer Olymiad, the first ever womens olymic wrestling competition was held at the newly rebuilt Panathinaiko Stadium. This is yet another addition to a very long list of rediculously supposed "sports" in our so dearly held Olympic games. Along with womens wrestling came ping pong and badminton, two sports having no whole body physical activity as I should think any Olympic sport should amalgamate. Now you may think that I am completely sexist and anti-womens movement, but I am allowed to say these things because, myself, I am a women at heart. This article, however, has nothing to do with poor olympic sporting, rather it has to do with a sport that is highly underappreciated and is a sport worthy of inclusion.

Dog Agility as well as Canine Discing (as I believe it is called, though it is not an official sport) is a sporting event that some of us may have seen on the travel channel or even at the park. I do not think that anybody could watch these dog perform these amazing tricks and feats and not be absolutely awed by it. I was first introduced to the organised canine discing at a park somewhere in Indy (a.k.a. naptown). As I was walking along the sidewalk I saw a large crowd pressed in everyway against a small field usually used for horseshoe pitching. As I neared I began to see many discs being thrown through the air, and then as I drew even nearer I realized that there were about three dog owners throwing frisbees to their best friend...the canines that is. When I saw "throwing" I am severely underdescribing the brilliant catch and throw tricks these owners/dogs were performing. There is really no way to explain it, I would say that the dog was by far more agile, more talented, ever smarter and perceptive than the owners themselves, and I am not saying that the owners were lazy and stupid either, what they did was quite remarkable as well.

I have known all too many people...no no, dog-owners I shall say (they are no longer people) who worship their pet more than God Himself. They dress them, take them everywhere, talk to them as if they had any clue as to what they were saying, and even claiming that they saved their life or some other obsured assertion. These dog-owners are beyond any hope of societal acception and should all be shot with librium or ativan or preferably a bullet. The reason I write the beginning of this paragraph is to assure you, the reader that I am not one of these people nor are the owners of these performance dogs. These are honest dog lovers who push themselves and their pets to extremes beyond my comprehention and should be praised for both of their abilities; once more, they should be given the privelege of an Olympic position, and here is my first call to do so.

Now you may say that this could not work because it gives talent to the dog not the person or the soul who works with it, but it follows the Olympic motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius (faster, higher, stronger)and so too it abides by the Olympic Charter chapter 45, paragraph 3, which states that the NOC should ensure that no one has been
for racial, religious or political reasons or by reason of other forms of discrimination. I believe that holding a dog against this code of the NOC should be recognised and dealt with. Later on in paragraph 4 the charter states that the federation sends only those adequately prepared for the high level international sports and that each competitor is elected by his/her own national federation. According to all that this charter puts forth towards competitors in the olympic games is aligned with anything a well trained canine could do. All that one might need is an approval from their own country's federation. In all reality the list of approvals one must meet in order to be part of the Olympic games is very small and could fit on a single page, and that is the true spirit of the sporting event, that as long as one is fit and has 'high level' abilities s/he can be allowed to compete.

Between canine agility and canine discing the skills of agility, speed, and intelligence are well implemented, though they are both very different sports taking entirely different training and skill. The latter of the two is very much a team of two sport, the trainer or disc thrower has to be very accurate and in good physical condition and the canine must be in very good shape and have superior ablity in endurance and hand paw coordination. Okay, now I'm getting giddy and am realizing how lame it is that I am writing about how much I think dog competition should be in the united olympics, so i shall direct you the reader to a few sites that will show you just how cool it is to watch these dogs jump their stuff.

http://www.usdaa.com/
http://www.houstonfrisbeedogs.com/portal/

enjoy, and next time you see dogs flying after disc...please, stop and watch....or go to your nearest olympic federal representative and tell him to assimilate our best friends into the organization.

Posted in: on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at at 4:27 AM