So, even though I'm working on re-homing my boy at the moment, I'd like to put in the time to train him and such. If I still have him come spring time, he's going through obedience classes(mostly for socialization as I already know how to train the basics), and hopefully, some lure coursing.

The problem is, I really want to get into sledding as well, or at least get him started in it. I have no idea how to train a dog for that, nor do I think I'd have the patience to teach it all by myself. I'm also not sure what the rules and such are about how much and how soon. I think I remember hearing that you need to wait until about 2 years old before doing any kind of weight pulling, but can one dog even pull a person by themselves?

I guess what I'm trying to ask is, how did you start way back before you knew anything about it? How often do you do it now and how reliable are your dogs? Do you know of anyone in NY that trains them?

I'm looking to at least start him in weight pulling to get him conditioned for it. I'd love to know how to get into that on a smaller scale. Would it be absolutely ridiculous to make him pull a weighted wagon or sled on walks?

I just feel a bit lost about it and all I can find online is a page on the cues they give the dogs, which doesn't help much with teaching it to them.   

Layla is too young to pull yet but we have gotten her a little plastic sled that we hook up to her and have her pull around behind her just to get used to it. Of course, she'd much rather try eating it, but at least she gets the feeling of having something behind her that has a little bit of weight to it.

It's amazing how naturally Sibes take to pulling, but to get him used to the commands you could first start by having him go alongside you on a bike with something like a Walky Dog or a Springer attachment. It's a great way to exercise him and also gives you more control so you can teach the commands, such as "line out," "hike" (go), "gee" (right), "haw" (left), "on by" or "trail" (stay on the trail and ignore other dogs/people/things) and "whoa" (stop). After he learns these commands and you feel comfortable with him running beside you on the bike, you can transition him to pulling in the front of your bike (bikejoring) or in front of the sled. But if you have too much snow right now you could simply train the commands on leash and then transition to the sled.

Layla picked up "hike" right away, since she loves to run! What I did was have her on a leash and start running so she would run with me. As you take off, say "hike" and once she starts going, praise like crazy. He'll get the hang of it after a few times and will start running on command. With "gee" and "haw" I did a similar thing: On leash, walk with the dog and turn in whatever direction you are training. Say the command as you do it and praise. Layla got the hang of this, too. Whenever we go for hikes and come to a fork, I say the command for which direction to go and she goes in that direction.

I use "trail" instead of "on by" just because that's what I started saying. When you're on a walk and the dog stops to sniff something or stops walking, correct with a gentle leash tug and say "trail" or "on by." Praise when the dog goes back to walking/gets back on the trail.

For pulling, I'd invest in an X-back harness. You'll need one of these for any kind of pulling. Alpine Outfitters has a good selection, and I'm sure other folks on the forum can recommend their favorite brands too.

Good luck!

It's weird, when people always talked about teaching it to them on the walk, it didn't make any sense to me. But the way you just explained it helped me to visualize it a bit more. Now I'm kind of excited to start working with him when we go out.