Dogs participate in a wide range of competitive activities from agility to protection sports. Evidence-based welfare assessment of different sports considers injury risk, psychological welfare and training methods used.
Competitive canine sports span a wide welfare spectrum. Sports that use positive reinforcement, involve natural canine behaviours (running, retrieving, scenting), are matched to breed capacity and avoid over-exercise can provide excellent enrichment and positive welfare. Sports that use coercive training methods, involve exercise that exceeds the dog's physical tolerance, or create arousal states that the dog cannot regulate negatively affect welfare. The distinction is not which sport, but how it is practised: an agility dog trained with positive reinforcement and appropriate physical conditioning thrives; the same dog overtrained and over-competed deteriorates. Owner awareness of training method welfare and physical welfare monitoring is the critical variable.