Sporty Dogs GRC Club
Edinburgh, Scotland
We are a small friendly dog sports club based in Edinburgh and the Lothians who focus on helping dogs feel satisfied, happy and emotionally balanced by providing suitable outlets for their genetic predispositions.
You don’t need any sport experience to join - just bring your dog, some treats and their favourite toy! We also welcome people from other sports to join practices or club meetings. Regardless of whether you are aiming for titles or just want to have some fun with your dog - we are here for you.
About the sport.
GRC Dogsports was founded in the US and stands for:
Gameness - How motivated and committed the dog is.
Relationship - Promoting positive bonding between the handler and the dog.
Control - Referring to the dog’s self control, both through obedience commands around drive objects and when at liberty.
As stated on the official homepage, “The mission of GRC Dogsports is to provide PEOPLE with the motivation to give their dogs the training they need to thrive in this world, and a healthy place to put all of their natural drives.”
GRC is composed of five events. One Social Responsibility test (equivalent to the BH test used in IGP) and four drive sports (weight pull, slat mill, spring pole and wall climb).
Want to join us?
Find out more.
The events.
Social Responsibility
GRC Dogsports obedience test, the Social Responsibility (SR) test is composed of three parts: Leash Section, Verbal Obedience and Liberty. The dog’s get points for how happy and responsive they are, how precise their obedience is, and their ability to stay calm around other people and dogs. As the dog progresses through the levels, the test can contain distractions like ball games, people having picnics or even leaf blowers (for my experienced dog sport people: think Mondio Ring!).
What is unique about the SR test (and the reason we find GRC so attractive), is that, unlike other dog sports it requires you to use behaviour modification to teach your dog to be well behaved at liberty. That is, teaching the dog to make good decisions at freedom - that is, when they are not under instruction and when they have not been given any alternative behaviour. It aims to give people the skills to live happily, safely and responsibly with their dogs in the real world. In order to compete in the drive sports, all dogs must first pass the Level 1 SR test.
Linnea is a judge for GRC’s Social Responsibility Test and was the first to title a dog in Europe in GRC when Fausto got his SR1. We currently run SR classes weekly, and drive sports days monthly which are open exclusively to dog owners who have completed our training program. If you are not a client, you are still welcome to join our intro days and club practices to work on your dog’s skills.
Spring Pole
Identifying what motivates your dog, and teaching them that listening to you gives access to those things, is crucial for reliable off leash control. Working on this in a controlled setting is a great way to give your recall a boost. For example, practice calling your dog away from or heeling around some kibble in a bowl, a toy on the ground or a person who wants to say hello. As a reward, your dog gets to run and get the thing they want (fancy name: indirect reward!). In GRC’s version of Spring Pole your dog’s toy is attached at a distance from you, and during a 5 minute round you get points for:
Intensity - How enthusiastic the dog is about playing with the toy.
Obedience - How quickly and precisely your dog responds when you ask them to leave and practice obedience commands around the toy.
Fluency - How smoothly your dog is able to switch between the two.
Regardless of whether you would like to compete or not, we can help you work on the foundations for Spring Pole, so that the your dog can be more responsive to you around distractions. If your dog does not like to play, we can help you start building it up, regardless of whether you would like to use food or toys.
GRC’s drive sport Spring Pole is also a great alternative for those who have been interested in competing in protection sports (IGP, ring sports), but who do not have a dog that is suitable to work on a human decoy. Using a suspended tug at a distance, and working the dog through increasingly difficult levels of obedience, can carry over similar benefits in terms of control in high arousal.
Canine Resistance Training (CRT) & Weight Pull
We became interested in CRT in 2017 when we discovered its unique way to provide an intense outlet for the dog without adding unnecessarily high arousal. Today, we frequently recommend resistance training as part of behaviour modification, in particular when working through frustration related issues.
Drag weight, or resistance training, can be a great compliment to a versatile exercise routine for your dog. Research on humans shows that resistance training can help strengthen ligaments and soft tissue, increases bone density, build muscle and improve mental health. CRT is a customised strength and conditioning program - a must for any sport dog or canine athlete, but is also a fantastic way to help your pet dog feel happy and fulfilled.
Linnea is a certified instructor for the foundation level of CRT (Building Blocks) as well as a prospective judge for GRC’s Weight Pull. As part of your resistance training session, you will receive feedback on your dog’s training videos for up to a year. All dogs require clearance by a veterinarian and a canine physiotherapist before starting. We recommend that you continue to work with these practitioners throughout your program.
Slat Mill
A slat mill is a non-motorised treadmill for dogs which can be used for anaerobic exercise as part of physical conditioning and to provide safe outlets, in particular for dogs who are reactive or who cannot yet safely be off leash.
Other than simply being used to measure speed, we have found it to be a nice tool to use alongside behaviour modification.
In GRC, the dog is required to stop and start running on verbal cue from the owner, adding another layer of impulse control.
As for all the drive sports for GRC, the amount of control and obedience you are required to demonstrate around the mill increases with the levels. Including loose leash walking/heeling, middle, and down stays.
Private Coaching Session | 1h | £95 (includes VAT)
GRC Dogsports Classes | 5 x 1h | £110 (includes VAT)
Our sporty group classes are primarily open to our behaviour consultation clients.
Contact us to book.
Lets get training!
