French Ring Sport

French Ring Sport is the oldest and most popular dog sport in France and one of the most exciting dog sports to reach North America. The sport has been evolving into its present form in France for about 100 years. It was introduced to North America in 1986 and has been increasing in popularity ever since. French Ring is a dog sport which involves Obedience, Agility and Protection exercises. These exercises are developed to test the dog’s working ability. The dog must be very sound, both mentally and physically in order to compete in the advanced levels.

The North American Ring sport Association (N.A.R.A.) is the governing organization with a liaison to the parent French organization which operates under the auspices of the S.C.C. (Societe Centrale Canine). Titles earned through N.A.R.A. are recognized internationally. Recognized trials are offered in several countries, including Canada.

Titles earned are: Brevet, Ring I, Ring II, and Ring III.

The Brevet is a Certification Test which must be passed in order to go on to Ring I.

Ring I, II and III are progressively more difficult and challenging both in the number and complexity of the exercises as well as the intensity of the opposition to the dog presented by the decoy.

For additional information on the sport, see: www.ringsport.org.

Breeds authorized to compete in French Ring Sport by N.A.R.A. consist of any registered dog, registered by a nationally recognized breed registry and the males must be sexually intact. In addition, the “Blue dog” class is for any unregistered dog and/or males sexually not intact.

*The following list consists of the breeds authorized to compete in France:

• Airedale
• American Staffordshire Terrier
• Ardennes Cattle Dog
• Argentine Dogo
• Australian Cattle Dog
• Australian Shepherd
• Barbet (French Water Dog
• Bearded Collie
• Beauceron
• Belgian Shepherd Dog
• Bernese Mountain Dog
• Black Russian Terrier
• Border Collie
• Bouvier des Flandres
• Boxer
• Briard
• Cao de Fila de San Miguel
• Chesapeake Bay Retriever
• Collie
• Curly-Coated Retriever
• Doberman Pinscher
• Dutch Shepherd
• English Bull Terrier
• Fox Terrier
• German Shepherd Dog
• Giant Schnauzer
• Golden Retriever
• Hovawart
• Labrador Retriever
• Picard
• Polish Lowland Sheepdog (Nizziny)
• Puli
• Pyreneen
• Rottweiler
• Shar Pei
• Staffordshire Bull Terrier
• Standard Schnauzer
• Tibetan Mastiff

* Reference: N.A.R.A. website — S.C.C. Authorized Breeds List

Clubs and Additional Information:

• Canadian Ring Sport Association
• North American Ring Sport Association
• Le Ring Français — Bouvier des Flandres français de travail