What Sports Can Pets Play?

One of the most enjoyable things you can do with your pet is to play games with it. Not only is it fun for you, but it is important for the development of the animal, allowing them to put into practice skills and attributes that are innate to them. We’ve all thrown balls for dogs, watched fish swim through bridges and waggled a piece of string in front of a cat. However, many animals are capable of much more than just these basic tricks. If trained properly some pets can even develop the ability to enjoy the same sports that humans play.

Many sporting animals have gone on to achieve cult status for their achievements, and YouTube is a haven for clips of pets demonstrating their athletic feats. Some argue that these sports bring immense enjoyment to the animal and help them to stay fit and stimulate. However, there are those who consider many of these pursuits to be cruel to the pet, arguing that they are forced into doing these things against their will. Have a look at the videos and make your mind up for yourself.

Parrot cycling

Equipment needed: Parrot bicycle

Despite having the ability to fly, many parrots prefer to remain grounded and travel on two wheels. Parrots can be trained to ride customized bikes using their claws to grip the pedals. It’s not just circus or zoo parrots that can do it either, and if you own one of these birds you can train it to become the next Lance Armstrong yourself. You can pick up a specialized parrot bicycle from around $500. The pedals and crank are designed to turn with very little resistance, making it easier for your feathered friend to get about. You can even purchase miniature wagons for them to tow!

Fish football

Equipment needed: R2 Fish School set

Fish have a reputation for being one of the most boring types of pet. However, give your goldfish a football and you’ll see him turn into an aquatic Ronaldinho, dazzling all and sundry with his soccer skills. Many aquarium companies are starting to release sporting products for fish tanks, such as the kit provided by the R2 Fish School. The kit comes with soccer ball, pitch and goals, and the beauty is you won’t have to wash any football socks after the game! The Fish School kit also includes other equipment so that your fish can play basketball, fetch or even do the Limbo.

Dog skateboarding

Equipment needed: Skateboard, mini helmet

While some are content with playing fetch or sniffing trees, other dogs prefer more extreme pursuits. Skateboarding has become a popular pastime among the canine community, and already the doggy version of the sport has some superstars. Perhaps the most famous is Tillman the English bulldog, who can be seen ripping it up in the skateboard parks of Venice Beach, California. Tillman has earned celebrity status for his skateboarding feats. He makes a living from public appearances and exhibitions, and even has his own line of t-shirts.
If you have the patience, it’s possible to teach your own dog how to skate. Here you’ll find some useful instructions on how to get your pooch pulling gnarly skills on a board. Make sure you buy a customized doggy helmet first though.

Rat basketball

Equipment needed: Ping pong ball, mini basket goals (a plastic tub will do)

If you were under the impression that rats aren’t cute, then wait until you see them shooting some hoops on the basketball court. Rats are very intelligent creatures and can be trained to perform many tricks, including basketball. The game is played with a ping pong ball and two small goals. The rat picks the ball up in his mouth, runs to the goal, then jumps through the hoop. For every goal it scores, the rat is rewarded with a small treat, though on a much smaller scale than the kind of ‘treats’ the likes of Coby Bryant and LeBron James collect. See here for a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to train your rat to play basketball.

Squirrel water-skiing

Equipment needed: Remote control boat, miniature water-skis, plastic line, life jacket

One of the most famous sporting animals of all-time, Twiggy the squirrel has been water-skiing around the World for almost 30 years. It all started in 1978 when Twiggy was rescued from a hurricane by Chuck and Lou Ann Best and adopted as a pet. After buying his daughter a remote controlled boat for her birthday, Chuck decided to teach Twiggy to water-ski, and she took to it like a squirrel to water. Chuck and Lou Ann have trained many of their other pets to water-ski too, including two miniature horses, two French poodles, a black cat, an armadillo, and a frog. If you’re planning to teach your pet to water-ski then remember to fasten its life jacket!

Dog pool

Equipment needed: Pool table, box to stand on if your dog’s too small

Remember those famous Coolidge posters of dogs playing pool? Well, these hilarious drawings aren’t as far-fetched as they may seem. Mutts are fascinated by snooker and pool, as you’ll probably notice if you sit them in front of the TV while a match is on. If your dog is large enough to stand on his hind legs and rest his front paws on the top of the table, then you could be able to train him to play pool as well as the potting pooch in this clip. You don’t even need to buy your dog a cue, as he can use his leg to strike the ball. Make sure that his nails are properly clipped though otherwise you’ll quickly be saying goodbye to your baize.

Chimp ice-skating

Equipment needed: Customized ice skates

It’s funny how sometimes an animal will have to travel completely out of its habitat before it truly discovers itself. Chimpanzees will never experience frosty conditions in the jungle. Yet, get them on an ice rink and you see how elegant and graceful these beasts can be. At least, that’s what happened with Jonny the chimpanzee. Born in the 1950s, Jonny was taught to roller-skate by a Swiss German family. After witnessing his incredible balance and the grace with which he moved, the family quickly moved him onto ice-skating, and Jonny went on to become a member of the Holiday on Ice crew, along with his colleagues Congo and Judy.

Cat surfing

Equipment needed: Surf board

It’s commonly understood that all cats are afraid of water. Try telling that to Nicolasa, a fearless feline with a taste for adventure. Peruvian surfer Domingo Pianezzi decided to take his moggy out with him one day and since then she’s never looked back. Niolasa sits on the front of the board while Domingo paddles through the water looking for the waves. Once he starts riding the wave, the cat stands up to enjoy the ride. Or at least, Domingo says she enjoys the ride. Many people aren’t convinced though, and have condemned Nicolasa’s owner for abusing her to get attention. I’ll leave you to make your own mind up after watching this clip.

Kangaroo boxing

Equipment needed: Pair of boxing gloves (small)

It’s highly unlikely that you have a pet kangaroo, but if you do there’s only one sport for them – boxing. Just like the trainers in this video, many people have harnessed the natural fighting instincts of the animal to make them box for show. In the wild, male kangaroos box each other to establish dominance and determine who will father most of the next babies. Kangaroo boxing as a sport has been condemned by many for being cruel, most notably The Daily Mail, which ran a story attacking the ‘sickening’ sport of kangaroo boxing when it appeared at as an event at the 2006 Animal Olympics in China.

Pug bowling

Equipment needed: Plastic bowling pins, floor polish, laser pointer

Perhaps the line between fun and cruelty can be drawn when a pet becomes a piece of sporting equipment rather than an active player of a sport. This is the case in the sport of ‘pug bowling’. The discipline was devised by a man who decided it would be fun to use his girlfriend’s bet pug as a makeshift bowling ball. He took some plastic pins, polished his parquet floors then got the dog to chase the light from a laser pointer down the floor towards the pins. He insists the dog doesn’t get hurt, but it’s unlikely that anyone would ever agree to pug bowling being allowed into the Olympics.

They can play Frisbee, catch, tag and keep away.  I have even seen dogs skateboard on TV.  You can teach them a lot of thinks as long as you modify the equipment for the animal.