Talk:List of dog sports

Dog Fighting

Loathsome as it is, I wonder if dog fighting shouldn't appear in the list.

Huh, makes my hair stand on end. I'm not sure whether i'm neutral enough to decide that. I'd be inclined to put it under something like list of crimes or animal cruelty. At the same time, I know that's a very western, historically recent point of view. Elf | Talk 17:03, 21 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I would argue that a "sport" does not generally end in the death of one or more of the participants. Drive by shooting is not a sport. Neither is dog fighting. DSurber 23:48, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)

OK, playing both sides of the fence--waterfowl hunting and fox hunting are generally considered to be "sports". Elf | Talk 23:44, 25 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Not be me, actually. ;) But then I'm not personally big on the idea of dog racing either.

Perhaps fighting ought to go in the definition discussion at the top, which is where hunting is currently being dealt with. Did dog fighting ever serve any sort of purpose other than gambling and the observation of suffering; that is, was it ever similar to a protection sport? For that matter, is the thrust of the article on currently practiced sports or does it also include historical ones? Not that dog fighting has died out just yet, alas. toh 08:59, 2004 Oct 29 (UTC)

Dog fighting has reared its ugly head again. I assert that dog fighting is not a sport. To call it such is to give it a legitimacy that it does not deserve. Yes dog fighting has rules but that does not make it a sport. War has rules, is competitive and requires physical ability and skill, but that doesn't make war a sport. Sport is engaged in for pleasure. I'm sure there are fighting dogs that derive pleasure from fighting, just as there are warriors who love war, but I still don't think that makes dog fighting a sport.

In common usage "dog sport" does not refer to hunting or dog racing, but rather to agility, obedience, tracking, skijoring, etc. Activities that human and dog undertake in partnership. Dog fighting certainly doesn't fit that definition.

As a compromise, how about including a link to Blood sports in the See Also section. Dog fighting is properly referenced there. Dsurber 14:04, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Personaly, im strongly against dog fighting, but try to see things like this from both sides of the fence. i would not class it as a sport, rather a bloodsport.

although, to see something for dog fighting being on the list, a quote from the article "This list is intended only to represent anything that anyone is likely to refer to as a dog sport, not to argue its validity as sport."

Possibly there should be a seperate secion on the page for bloodsports, where things like dog fighting and hunting can be added freely without question of its relevence there. Tekana 14:53, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

I know, I know, I wrote that description at the top of the article. :-/ But dog fighting is a crime. Hunting is not. Dog fighting deliberately tortures dogs. Hunting does not deliberately torture animals (although i'm sure that there are plenty of bad shots that injure--therefore torture--wild animals). I didn't have crimes in mind when I wrote that description. I must point out that now fox hunting is illegal even in england, so does that transform it overnight from being a dog sport to being a crime? Still, I just can't see dog fighting as a sport. Elf | Talk 16:56, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

Being bold, I attempted a compromise. It retains links to non-sports without giving them the veneer of being sports. Includes both positive (Working dog), negative (Dog fighting), and other (Hunting). Dsurber 17:24, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

I can live with this. Although I removed "working dog" because isn't working the opposite of sporting? Elf | Talk 18:45, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

According to the definition of sport (see note) Dog fighting is a dog sport. Kslotte (talk) 05:09, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm not in favor of sport in anyway. But I see Wikipedia is about facts (not opinions). You can also think about it the other way that people get information that this "cruel" sport exist. --Kslotte (talk) 09:24, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia might want to be more careful about it's appearance of promoting illegal activity by listing dog fighting on the sporting page and not making a visible note about it's violent, illegal nature or any controversy over labeling it a sport. "Blood Sport" does not equal "Sport".

What is a dog sport?

Hi, I finally got "Dock Jumping" in.... How do I link your page to Dock Jumping ?gd8man 00:01, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Dock jumping is in the list. --Kslotte (talk) 05:12, 6 June 2009 (UTC)