Re: Sled dog training...

I wonder if different breeds respond differently as well.

I don't hardly use my dog for pulling, sadly. She's not fast enough, but
we had a great time learning how.

The commands still are VERY useful. She comes with me when I ski train
every day in the boonies and she'll take the correct fork in the trail
based on my command when she's trotting ahead of me. She'll also pause,
ease up, etc. I like the "straight on" command to not stop and sniff.
That "Skijor with your dog" book by Hoe-Raitto and Kaynor was great. I
find that my dog anyway just loves any occasion to learn new commands and
such. Basically our ski outings are our only regular outdoor outings
offleash. She's gunshy, so we don't go hunting. And she gets too hot to
run when it's over 70F. Sadly, she's getting squabbly with other dogs as
she gets older (her eyes are getting a touch cloudy it seems--9 yrs) so
we'll see how she does this winter. I might have to stop taking her
skiing. Rats.

Our most favorite outing was the second month after we got her. She was a
rescue dog, abused, 1.5 yrs. We took her winter camping and I had a
2-mile haul into the bush with a 200-pound 8-foot-long wood tobaggan. I
didn't know if she'd run off or get lost so I tied her to my long hauling
line to keep her with me. We didn't have a harness then, but I wasn't
even thinking of her pulling, and I was somewhat concerned about my own
work ahead. As soon as I started to pull she sprang into action and
started pulling, too. I was dumbfounded. The sled started moving out of
my hands. So I ran ahead of it in my Sorels. She kept digging in and soon
she was just cantering along with that huge sled rumbling behind her. So
I just kept running on ahead, joyously cheering her on. It was a big
thrill. I shouted bye to everyone else in the group: when the going is
good, get going! It was one of my farther runs in Sorels. When we got to
some hills, she helped pull up them eagerly. I had to help a lot then,
too. We got to the cabin ahead of everyone else. It was quite
heartwarming and elating. She never ran off the whole trip. We had a
little terrier then, too, and he rode in sitting on the pile of gear on
the tobaggan.

Erik Brooks wrote:

> Jeff - it's cool that your dog likes it - my Golden Retriever tried
> it, and it just was not her style. She just likes to be near her
> people, and check out whatever else is nearby.  I also quickly
> realized that I don't really care to be pulled - I'm out for the
> exercise, and I'm happy to just have my dog run free and stay nearby.
> Works for us.

--

Jeff Potter
  ****
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