SprintDog NSW

05/07/2026

Safety First for Every Dog!

The DOGS NSW SprintDog Working Party wish to remind exhibitors and clubs about what to look for in ground conditions and safety requirements.

SprintDog is all about fun, but it’s also about inclusiveness. We want every dog—from our long-legged sprinters to our tiniest, short-legged competitors—to have a safe, blast of a time. Rough, rutted, or uneven ground can be a massive challenge (and hazard) for the little ones, so choosing an appropriate ground to run a trial is essential!

We don’t want to see any dogs compromised or injured doing SprintDog, so it is important that as owners, we advocate for our dog’s safety and say something or don’t compete if the conditions aren’t right for your dog. As handlers, we are often managing very excited dogs going to and from the Sprint Zone and it is important that individuals be aware of the risk of injury in rough or uneven ground.

Per the official rules (Sections 8.9 & 8.10), here is what a safe Sprint Zone looks like:

The Layout: A minimum of 134 meters of a straight, flat terrain. The Sprint Zone must be at least 3 meters wide, essentially flat from start to finish, and entirely free of hazards.

The Surface: Must be grass, sand, or dirt only, not a mix of different surfaces. Low Impact Only: To prevent injuries to paws and joints, the area must not be mechanically compacted.

Strictly Prohibited: Under no circumstances can a track be laid over gravel, asphalt, concrete, or any other hard surface.

TALLY HO!

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08/05/2026

*Important Reminder: SprintDog™ is a Registered Trademark of Dogs Australia (ANKC).*

SprintDog™ should be written as SprintDog™. At the very least, it should be written as a compound word, so SprintDog is ok, but Sprint Dog is not. In addition to this, there are rules about how it can and cannot be used. The intent of the trademark is not to stop people from using the term SprintDogTM for the right reasons, just to stop it being used incorrectly or in a way that contradicts the spirit of the sport.

*Fun days*

Clubs or non-affiliated organisations hosting unofficial events such as fun days or try outs can not use "SprintDog™" or "Sprint Dog" anywhere on their advertising or promotional material. Some alternatives you can use are “Sprint Fun Day”, “100m Fun Run”, or something similar.

*Club Names*

As per the Dogs Australia SprintDog™ Committee ONLY member body committees are permitted to use SprintDog™ as a part of their name, in NSW that is the Dogs NSW SprintDog™ Working Party.

*Event Sponsors*

Event sponsors, e.g., for raffles, are permitted to advertise themselves as sponsors of your event, however, they are not permitted to advertise themselves as sponsors of SprintDog™. For example, “Company X is a proud sponsor of Club X’s upcoming SprintDog™ trial” is permitted, however, “Company X is the official sponsor of SprintDog™” is not permitted.

*Merchandise*

If you would like to sell merchandise with the trademark "SprintDog", the design must first be submitted to your state representative who will pass it on to the National SprintDog™ Committee for approval. This is to ensure that your design upholds the spirit of the sport.

If you have any questions or in any doubt about what is the correct usage – please get in contact with the Working Party at [email protected] for clarification

Repeated contraventions of the accepted use of the trademark term may result in escalation through to DOGS NSW and then to Dogs Australia.

13/12/2025

Hi everyone,

We would like to address a post from earlier today discussing the Fast Paws Newbie trial held on Friday 12th December.

Firstly, we would like to thank all the clubs and trial secretaries that have been working tirelessly to get trials going in NSW. Holding a SprintDogTM trial takes a tremendous amount of work and organisation, and your efforts do not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Secondly, yes, running a SprintDogTM trial does require a lot of volunteers, and many of these volunteers do need training so that trials run smoothly, and so that our dogs are safe. Most clubs, at this early stage, are incentivising volunteers with an entry. If you think you can run a trial better, please reach out to us and we can get you started in the process.

We would like to remind everyone that SprintDogTM is a brand new sport, and there are a lot of moving parts behind the scenes as we try to work out the best and fairest way to manage demand while also bringing you well run, safe trials. Please be patient with us as we move through this process.

Finally, please, please, be kind to our clubs and trial secretaries that are working their butts off to bring us this sport. None of us are perfect, nor do we have the perfect formula for how to run and staff a trial, but we are working on it, and we'll get there.

Let us be very clear, any bullying, or harassment directed at clubs or individuals organising trials will not be tolerated and action will be taken agsinst the offender. We stand with our clubs and our trial secretaries, and they need our support to keep bringing us trials. Enough is enough.

-Admin

13/09/2025

Thank you to all the people that helped set up yesterday, supplied equipment, fence posts and their time today. I’m pretty sure we have some very keen dogs (and people) that believe that SprintDog is the bees knees and are more than willing to come back and give it another go. As Bree said there were some awesome runs second time around as both dogs and handlers became comfortable with the process. I am sure we can continue with the fun of SprintDog as more people get involved and give it a go. I would like to particularly thank Bec Smalley for her hard work behind the scenes wrangling running orders and dog swaps, Mary Webster for pulling out the stops and bringing trial stuff (in a box) from Newcastle, Alyssa Loveday and the crew from FastPaws Inc for supplying some mesh and the pigtails and the people from club happy to put up their hand and steward, Priscilla Hickey for Sprint Marshalling all day and keeping everyone on their game providing sage advice and moving the fun day along, the drivers Tony Maxwell and Daniel Blackwell for persevering in some weird power conditions and Daniel for hareing out to Kennards to get a generator to ensure power supply. And especially thanks to Nic Mather and Leah Perry for coming down from Qld a fortnight after their trip here for Spring Fair. If I have missed anyone my apologies, but heartfelt gratitude for making the day a huge success.

18/07/2025

We are excited to announce that SprintDog™ has gained 10 new judges in NSW this week!

A huge congratulations to:
Daniel Blackwell, Angela Clark, Tracie Donnelly, Tracy Geary, Michelle Gurney, Vickie Harris, Sally Hopkins, Denni Maxwell, Kathleen Purkis, and Ally Turnbull on your appointments. Your commitment and enthusiasm are a fantastic step forward for the sport!

With this momentum, we're now moving toward the next phase — getting drivers trained and launching Sprint Marshal training. These are essential steps in setting SprintDog™ up for success, with a strong focus on safety, integrity, and growth.

We look forward to seeing SprintDog™ thrive as we continue to build a considered, well-supported, and inclusive sport together.

Send a message to learn more

12/12/2024

DETAILS FOR PARTICIPANTS – 14 DECEMBER EVENT

For everyone participating in our try out day – we have some basic info for everyone to help us make the morning a success.

To get familiarised with the rules we will be training, please visit the SprintDog rules here:

https://dogsaustralia.org.au/media/10157/23-da-sprintdog-rules_01-07-24.pdf

This event will be run from the main rings 7 and 8 at DOGS NSW. Please see the map for the exact location. There are lots of shady spots well away from the rings and there is parking right near the rings as well. Please drive slowly and safely!

We will be running a shorter track because of our last minute move but we will be using a lure machine (like what you will see in official events).

Check in is from 8 – 8:45am. Ideally, keep your dog safely contained while checking in!

RUN ORDER
This is a training event, but because of the nature of SprintDog, it will be only one dog working at a time. We are running the event to train some essential skills for SprintDog trials, the areas where we will be training will be extremely exciting. Unless your dog is working, all dogs must be on a lead and under effective control by their handler/s at all times.
You will find out your run order at check in – please be ready to run and follow the instructions of the field team.

DOG CONTAINMENT
Proper containment for dogs waiting to run includes car crating, or crating near your vehicle. There is also shade nearby but be mindful of FOMO and frustration for your dog watching other dogs chasing the lure.
Unless running, all dogs must be on lead and no dogs are to interact with other dogs.

HANDLING
For inexperienced dogs, we will be helping you through the fundamental skills of releasing and catching for SprintDog. Please let a member of the field team know if your dog is reactive or if you know/suspect they have any issues with being handled, restrained, or interacted with by a stranger and we can work with you. We want to ensure all dogs and people on the day are safe and confident.

WHAT TO BRING
Yourself and your dog!
A positive attitude and patience. Please remember this sport is powered by volunteers!
A Flat collar and leash and/or slip leash – please bring two leads with you so we can release and catch
Enclosed footwear
Your dogs favourite treats or toys (hint: prime100, cheese, hot dogs are good options!)
Chair
Your dogs favourite tug toy/s
Water bowl/bucket
Containment options - crate
Portable fan
Shade

Any questions? Please post below 🙂

04/12/2024

Have you spotted SprintDog™ on the DOGS NSW website yet? Click the link below!

SprintDogTM is a new Dogs Australia sport that provides all dogs of all breeds and sizes an enjoyable, healthy and fun activity. SprintDogTM is a timed 100 metre sprint where dogs of all sizes complete a 100 metre run, either by chasing a lure or recalling to the finish line. Times are averaged over...

05/11/2024

Have you joined the NSW Working Party's group yet?

If you haven't yet, join the group now as we will be sharing some information about the sport in NSW and some exciting upcoming events!

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/12AX4aHSfDg/

Send a message to learn more

22/09/2024

Affiliated NSW clubs who wish to run SprintDog™ Events are encouraged to contact the SprintDog™ Working Party directly at [email protected]. We will work with you on what you will need to do to gain approval for either an Unofficial or Official Trial, including helping you to select the appropriate grounds, equipment and judges / lure operators for this fun new sport!

02/09/2024

Very pleased to announce that the DogsNSW Working Party will be holding a training day at the Jack Russell Terrier Area within DogsNSW at Orchard Hills. This training is aimed at people whose dogs may be reluctant to run or chase the lure or those who need a bit more help and experience in catching and releasing.

NOTE: this is a training day and we won't be doing the full 100 metres - so if you have a dog that isn't quite old enough, if it is six months or older we will have some fun!

Please register via ShowManager: https://showmanager.com.au/activity/2788