You are absoutuely right, Canis. I actually find the dogs that are the happiest I've ever known are the agility dogs owned by highly competitive trainers. These dogs are doing what they LIVE for. My agility sheltie would like nothing better than to run an agiity course in competition. He LOVES it. Playing with other dogs - he can take it or leave it.
People who make statements along the lines that competitive dogs aren't allowed to be dogs just don't understand competition dogs or how to train one. When not working, my dogs are like anyone elses. In fact, my dogs get more privledges than most other dogs. They're indoors, allowed in any room, allowed on any piece of sittable furniture, allowed moments of extremely high energy (play) without disruption even in the house, allowed to bark their heads off at people walking by the house, allowed to bark their heads off if someone comes to the door, etc. When not under a command, my dogs get to live the high life. Under command, they are expected to behave. I just don't give commands that often during daily life. The main time they are under command is on the agility field, and then, they WANT to be there. They would rather be on an agility course with me than anywhere else in the world.
People tend to put too much of their human feelings onto their dogs. Because a person doesn't want to work doesn't mean a dog doesn't, too. Most working dogs not only want to work, the NEED to work, and if you don't give them a job, they become destructive.
I think it's not only unfair - but even mean - to label people who are competitive in any canine sport as being "cruel" to their dogs. Believe me, there are not better treated dogs in the world. Nor are there any happier dogs in the world than ones owned by the truly competitive in the dog world. Why? Because these people know their dogs and how to make them happy in ways others wouldn't understand.
That being said, let's define "truly competitive." I'm not talking about someone who WANTS to be competitive, but someone who is. In other words someone with the titles, knowledge, experience level to truly be competitive in their sport. These are the ones who often win, and win big. There are a lot of other folks who think they're competitive or who wish they were competitive. Some of these lack knowledge to train their dogs properly, and you do see dogs being over handled in the owner's misguided attempt to become one of the competitive trainers. However, the competitive trainers' dogs wouldn't be competitive if trained harshly. That's precisely why they ARE competitive in the first place! The dog loves what it does because the owner has made the sport fun. Thus, then come the ribbons and titles.
The truly competitive have made their sport a game for the dog. The best game in the world. You can't do this by over-handling your dog and not allowing them to be dogs. You can't force train speed. That only comes when the dog loves what it's doing.
