dog sledding

I have been thinking about this again since I got my german shorthair pointer. I want to try her out with a homemade pulk on flat ground just to see how she does this spring (easter). I think I can get ready by then. If all is go then we are on to the kick sled. What I need is (1) snow, and (2) relatively flat ground with few or no rugged sections. Oh yea, within 10 hours of San Diego. Tahoe is about 12hrs... maybe Tahoe. Closer would be best for testing her out and getting her use to the idea. The problem is I don't want a bunch of snowmobiles around. I am hoping SD will get a big dump so I could do a couple of day trips but if I am counting on that I will never get it.

sk

What exactly are your goals with this trip? Do you want to see if she pulls? You might be able to test her out without snow.

Ever since I found out these dogs are used in Scandinavia as a sled dog for Dogsled racing, we occasionally go for the up the street run with me being pulled while on a skateboard. At 54 I gotta be more careful now. What do U suggest might be the next step?

sk

Roller skis? Do you have the whole harness set-up? Google skijoring and see if they have any dry land suggestions.

MNS

I enjoyed a kick-bike a long time ago - used the same ski-jor harness on the dog.

Heather

MNS and Heather. No, no harness yet...but for $25 and shipping I can get one that will handle a variety of hauling tasks; One with the X strap back. Really, the cost of that is not too bad. Also, I can get snow boots for her at the same time. I didn't remember what a kick bike was until I looked it up. Not a bad idea. I can get one like a tricycle and if I need to slow down I can throw out a spare tire on a rope. Seriously though, breaking could be an issue with her, 50 pounds with no fat and she loves to run. I'm thinking this could be great as long as I don't end up like that "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial. Asphalt can be unforgiving (personal experience skateboarding). Unless I want a hip replacement, I have to be smart about this.

Keep those ideas coming! Thanks sk

I do a lot of dog-sledding or more dog-pulking and have done so since 1974 when I got my first Siberian Huskey. Now I have a Border Collie, big, almost 30kg.

First sk you do not need the dog-socks unless you are to join some dog-pulling competition. I have never used socks om any of my three dogs, and they never have been sore or got bruises. The only thing why they are used in competition is to prevent the dogs from stopping to bite away icelumps that may irritate them. These icelumps forms only in cold weather and when there is powdery snow on the ground. I just trim the hairs between the paws with a haircutter, this lasts about 2 weeks. The hairs are back then, and the dog does not get any harm/discomfort from it according to my vet.

I use a combination harness, both for skijouring and for pulling the pulk (with steering rods). You see the setup in my picture gallery http://picasaweb.google.com/otto.stover/VinterturAbiskoSulitjelma2005# The important measure in the harness is that the opening for the head must not be too big (should just pass over the head), otherwise the movement of the front feet will be hindered.

Have fun, the dog will love it.

Thanks OttoStover. So you do not have to worry about ice cutting the dogs feet? Nice trip by the way! Looks like you averaged over 25km a day.

sk

Almost forgot! I searched some more and I stumbled into tons of stuff on dog scootering. Apparently this is a new craze in the US.

Thank you sk, yes we had a nice trip. Btw we avaraged 34 km/day, the distance is 240km and we used 7 days. But we had nearly perfect conditions, and then you may go fast.

The last weekend we celebrated the new year in a rented hut on a mountain near by. The distance from the car to the hut is about 2km and we used 1,5 hour of hard labour in horrible conditions. I was dripping wet when we arrived. In winter conditions here may vary quite much, in summer it is more predictable how far you go each hour.

Do you have a link to the dog scootering sk?
edit: found a lot also.
Otto.

I was going to mention dog scootering. Looks like you got there already. I have not tried it with a scooter, but I have with a mountain bike. It is harder with a bike because you have to not fall over. But, I haven't had too much trouble. I even put a trailer on my bike and put two kids in the trailer. You can also try rollerblades, but you better be good or you will eat pavement. I have to push a running stroller when I use my blades for better balance, stopping power, and make me heavier so the dog doesn't pull to fast and hard.

I understand a sled dog is trained to pull when he feels the harness, and a pet dog should be trained to not pull when in harness. Its like hunting dogs and lap dogs - which did you want cause you don't get both in one dog. It might not be worth a life time of taking you for a drag whenever you take him out on the leash.
Jim

She...well she is only good at healing under duress. She is better off leash to be honest. She heals the same off leash as on leash. Going up hill its better to have her on leash to drag me up. That's one of the reasons I am on this...could make me and her happy at the same time. I put the hunting collar on and she KNOWS she needs to heal. But that is a serious business with her. Running is more for fun.

sk

To be honest, that is the one thing she seems to, not fight me on, but just seem to have a short attention span with. I have never had a dog be such a pain in the ass on this before. She wants to pick up the pace and slowly does. I clear my throat and she immediately looks back at me and slows down. 30 seconds later, I am repeating the process. She acts like she forgets. I figure she wants to run, I want to camp in the snow. Maybe we can meet in the middle. Right now, she IS my backcountry partner and she has shown her worth as such on a number of occasions. Those class 3 (and up) sections are a pain with her though.

I've never seen one in person, but I've seen videos of dog teams pulling an ATV or a four wheel buggy, kind of like a dune buggy with no engine. Not sure I'd want a dog pulling me on skates, I'm bad enough on my own power.

What a lot of folks do is have the dog recognize that he's supposed to pull in the harness but not pull in a collar. I knew some people that would use a roading harness to build muscle on their bird dogs. The dog would pull when he was in the harness but when wearing a collar and leash they did not pull.

as a skinny 13 year old kid I used to have my black lab pull me around on a skateboard all the time.. did it enough to even go out barefoot a few times (duh).. until a snowshoe hare came out in front of the dog.. while I was on the skateboard.. It didn't end well, other than I learned something..

Jim, did you take my dog on a walk before? Let's just say I didn't have to teach her to pull. Anyways, I knew what I was getting when I got her. I got her to pull, so I am happy.

That's right. Life can be a drag, unless you move fast enough to avoid it. Or use it to your advantage. Over the next week I may just buy a harness and go from there.

Back in the 70's, everybody I knew skateboarded barefoot in general. In fact, Skitch Hitchcock was known for grabbing the ends of the board with his toes and jumping over four people lying on the ground side by side. You only wore shoes if you were planning on going over 25mph.

Jim, a lot of pet dogs are trained to drag sleds with weights--there are competitions at some local dog shows for this. My favorite was a little terrier (of course the weight of the sled is in proportion to the dog's size and weight) who came through obedience classes with my Hysson. She was a really enthusiastic puller! I know a lot of pet dogs who pull carts or sleds, too.

There's a big difference between pulling on a weight-pulling harness and pulling on the leash fastened to the collar, and any dog can be trained to tell the difference!

Well, just an update on the progress of dog sledding in San Diego. We got our Black Ice X-back harness and it didn't fit so we sent it back. All the measurements were right but her chest is too deep so we are going for the next size up. It is a great harness and almost fit! In about a week or so we should get another one and can try night skating at the park (its relatively level and has grass to bail out on).

sk

I ran into a guy dog scootering with 4 huskeys. He had a black ice harness set up for all four just like a dog sled. It was impressive. He said it takes him about 10 min to set up. We have a place in San Diego called Fiesta Island. Lots of bicyclists do their road work on this large loop. He was doing the same with his dogs.

sk

He must have been flying with 4 huskies. A scooter is really light for them to pull.

He was...the speed limit is 25mph there and he wasn't far off when I went my way. I wonder how he gets them to stop? I need to ask next time.

I have used larger herding dogs to pull a gear sled while on x-c skis or snowshoes. Grocery stores sometimes carry narrow plastic sleds designed for kids. Attaching crossed ropes thru pvc pipe and tying to a regular sled dog harness works great as long a you don't overpack the sled ie. 25 -30 lbs or so.

My friends bluetick was that way. That was used to our advantage some times on the way back to the truck after a long night of coon hunting. I also have a nice set of scars on my upper arm from being pulled through a briar bush while he was wearing a prong collar (nothing would slow that dog down when it wanted to run).

Has anyone tried skijoring with dogs? One large dog works well on the flats. For uphills you need 2 or more.

I have thought about it. My last trip had me running to keep up with my dog and the sled. A set of skiis would help, and she would pull me a little and help balance out our effort levels.