The Extreme Sports Dog Hall of Fame has a new member, Chibi a nine year old rescue dog who is showing that senior dogs can be as active as their younger peers.

David Williams is Chibi’s owner and he says the homeless puppy was hard to train at first. Williams began teaching Chibi tricks like spinning around and jumping through hoops to use up the dog’s boundless energy. Today Chibi has an impressive resume with all kinds of mad skills, such as riding on a motorcycle. Chibi’s latest adventure was hitting the waves on a special wakeboard.

Wakeboarding is similar to water skiing in that the wakeboarder is towed behind a boat at a speed of about 20 mph. Instead of skis, a single board is used which is similar to a snowboard. Wakeboarding has partially evolved from surfing. Wakeboarding is considered an extreme sport.

Chibi is obviously a smart dog, eager to learn new tricks. As many trainers and behaviorists are teaching us that it is important to give our dog a job to do, Chibi can show how even older dogs can become athletes.

Extreme sports can be new ways of exercising your pet and although not all extreme sports are suitable for your pet, there are several activities that he or she might enjoy. Skating, for example, is an enhanced experience when your furry friend joins you. Both you and your dog can have an intense workout during an inline skating session. Skijoring can be one other example. And if you are not into extreme sports, you can just enjoy a quick jog with your dog every morning. Hiking is another possibility and even rock climbing is now possible with special harnesses made for dogs.

There is also another thing that we can learn from Chibi’s story. With patience and discipline, even the most misunderstood dog can turn into a star.

Training a dog can mean a lot of things. Behavior training can teach your dog to become a good citizen, including housetraining, good behavior around other people and dogs and everything that makes dogs pleasant companions.

Obedience training refers to teaching your pet to perform certain activities. This is usually done for training’s sake and not to modify the dog’s behavior. There are dogs that can be easily taught specific tasks but still have bad behavior.

Activity training may include hunting, herding, search and rescue or any other task that can showcase the abilities of both the pet and its owner. Sports such as Frisbee, flyball or agility are part of such kind of training.

There is a correlation between obedience training and behavior training though. Behavior oriented training can be the best way to learn how to understand your dog. If you enjoy sports and wish to have a pet companion you can try more complex training on your pet as well.

The personality of your pet, your goals and abilities to train it will influence the results. Good results require consistency and patience. You might need a year or two to teach your dog a certain skill.

Dennis Dornon

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