I haven't heard of it before, but it looks like fun! It would certainly make a walk more interesting, and memorable. I don't think my two would be temperamentally suited for this, but if a dog enjoys it why not? It would be a good way to get a little extra agility training in.

My only worry is that all the dogs shown are on collar and leash when they are balancing or jumping, so I'd be a little worried they would choke if they slipped or missed a jump. It is the problem of doing it in a public place really, since leash laws and just general risk to the dog, means you need to balance the risk. With agility equipment, dogs are normally free-running in an prepared environment so it doesn't have the same problem.

Yes. I've seen videos of dogs doing Parkour. I am quite the adrenaline junkie so I really enjoy watching dogs doing different kinds of stuff like, surfing, swimming, sailing, and even Parkour. If they like what they're doing, and if it looks like that they're enjoying the activity, then I have nothing against it. It would be a different story of course if the owner is just exploiting his pet just to earn money and popularity.

[USER=63]@Frisbee[/USER] I agree that the collars are a concern. Most of the pictures I see are of dogs wearing non-pinching harnesses and leashes attached to those. There are even a lot of sites that talk about how to properly "spot" at dog by applying light pressure to the leash/harness to help them get their balance. I think a safe harness is a better choice than a collar.

Casper took agility classes a few years ago and enjoys practicing some things when we hike, like "walk it" along a fallen tree. He's 9 years old though so I don't think we'll try any really challenging parkour obstacles. It's something to keep in mind though when we get our next dog.

I've heard of parkour as a human sport but as a sport for dogs, I haven't given it much thought. This could be really good training for owners with sickly dogs as this probably is the type of training used for k9 units. Big dogs, in my opinion, need to do more parkour to increase their lifespan. The less they move, the lower their lifespan.

LOL, I have to say that dog parkour seems something extremely appealing. 🙂 I guess that it's pretty great when we get our dog to do the stuff we love and at the same time have a twist of humor with it and this seems to be the case. All this when the dog is having fun too obviously. 😉

This is the first time I heard such a thing. Parkour for humans is already weird enough if you ask me. Now dogs are doing it too? I guess eventually everything that humans are doing will be imposed onto dogs too. I am sure they look cute doing it but it sounds pretty dangerous to expose dogs to such risks. Although it may be pretty amazing to have a dog who can do all these parkour tricks, I would not allow my dog to take such risks.

I haven't heard of that! You should post your friend's youtube videos -- maybe he could get some exposure on the website here. I'll definitely check out your website, although I don't think I could get my Jake or Abbey to become motivated enough to do that stuff ;).

Well I have to say this is really one of those moments where you say to yourself "I thought I had seen everything". Actually, I guess I am not really too surprised just given the amount of weird stuff that we seem to have more access to these days, but this one does certainly sound interesting. I cannot really tell if I would like it or not though, so I will have to look more into it to find out.

I think it's pretty great that we play with our dog, our companion, our friend. If we are into parkour great, if the dog is having fun, awesome, but if the dog is not comfortable with it we should not go through with it.

Never heard or seen of it before,

but I'm not surprised really, you can train a dog to do a lot of things, hopefully it's nothing too dangerous. I'm gonna search it up now though, sounds pretty cool imo 😛

Yeah, it's not exactly a matter of training, that would be taking it to a whole new level. From the site posted above it's pretty much all about humor and putting the dog to make funny stuff.

I think it might be practical too. For instance, my dog learned the "table" cue (meaning jump up on that object and wait there until released") in agility classes. We use it for grooming at home & at the groomers, on picnic tables at the beach to dry off his paws, and even at the vet's office. The dog walk used in agility is pretty narrow but after learning to walk across it confidently, he was able to translate that into walking across a fallen tree across a creek while hiking.

The parkour tricks do make cool photos but I think the best thing is that it gives very active athletic dogs something to do with their owners that can burn a lot more energy than just a quick walk. Plus, any sort of training can bring people closer to their pet and help them bond.

I do agree that it's important for it to be something the dog enjoys. My friend's dog always has really happy body language in the pictures and videos, like, "this is awesome!" I think dogs that like agility would also like parkour.

I love watching parkour videos online, but have never seen any dog versions! That is so cool! Well, I suppose that's another thing to add to the YouTube watch list. I agree with some other posters that I would worry about a collared dog slipping and choking. Unfortunately, my Petey's agility training is limited to short walks and watching UFC on the couch with Dad.

I love watching parkour videos online, but have never seen any dog versions! That is so cool! Well, I suppose that's another thing to add to the YouTube watch list. I agree with some other posters that I would worry about a collared dog slipping and choking. Unfortunately, my Petey's agility training is limited to short walks and watching UFC on the couch with Dad.

During training, most dogs do parkour in a harness. The harness allows the owner to grab them safely/easily to provide additional support/stabilization as they're learning.

Here's a novice video: [video=youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mlo-3M8Gh4 [/video] - done on harness

This one, Neo the border collie, is fun to watch. Border Collies are very athletic dogs and Neo clearly has had a lot of experience and training. He looks like he's having fun though.
[video=youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7EJRP_5BBM [/video]

Lexi is also using a collar but is clearly experienced in it: [video=youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb9CjRdj76I [/video]