I was wondering if anyone else has a 'sled dog?'. (Sorry if that's the incorrect term)
I know Rory comes from a line of sled dogs and I wanted to get him into it when he's a bit older.
Does anyone have any experience in it?

I too would be interested in learning about this topic!

Same, I would love to know where to find out how to get started. My kids would LOVE to be pulled to the bus stop this winter instead of trudging through the snow every day.

Ashley: Ghost is so cute! I am so happy for you.
Demon looks like he's teaching him the ways of the doggie world.

Demon could pull a sled this winter, but Ghost will still be too young.
You can get them ready to pull by introducing them to skijoring.
All you need is a harness, lead and cross-country skis.
Again, just Demon this winter.
But next winter, you'd have an experienced puller in tandem with Ghost.

Ya I figured Ghost would be too young this winter, it would also be easier to teach one at a time anyway. That's a good idea to start out with Demon, thanks for the suggestion.

I would love to let Killie pull me on some rollerblades or a bike but I wonder how do I get her to stop I think I might just end up going where ever she feels like going

Check out Sled Dog Central to find a musher near you. The best way to start is to talk to the experts. Many mushers will be happy to teach you basic commands and show you how to properly train them and if you are serious about sledding, many will let you borrow the equipment you need to get started. It's a great network of people.

I actually found my last vet that I was SO sad to move away from, by contacting my local musher

we also have a few threads started about skijorring and some sledding. Len has a kick sled he picked up on CL and started last yr and then we have a new member Hillary and you can see her lead dog as the winner of HOTM she is in CA and sleds.

the best way to start is using the commands while walking and then moving to a bike and then on to what ever you want.

So jealous of you guys that get snow. I'm originally from the mountains of PA where we can have snow until May some years. I'm pretty sure I miss snow for the snow and not because it was 108 here yesterday.

heather, were you in the Pocono's? im from bucks county PA and went to the Pocono's every weekend to ride in the winter, i learned on big boulder

Nope I'm from Cambria County (Blue Knob is our local ski resort). We average I think around 65-70 inches a year on the mountain. Funny, it can be blizzard like at the house and you drive down to Altoona and the roads are bare.

Definitely agree with Koda, check out Sled Dog Central. There are a couple books out their that can help too. If you have a local sled dog club, I would suggest joining it. Sled are pretty expensive, I won't even mention how much I spent on my sprint sled! I don't have time to race or the use of my mentors dogs now that I moved, so I sold my race sled. Still have a basic wooden recreational sled that I plan in using with my two this winter. It will be different only going at 2 dog speed!

Have you considered dryland or skijoring? I really enjoy both. We bought a dog scooter two years ago and we love it. It wasn't too expensive either. There are a couple of sled dog supply sites that have kits that can help you get started with dryland or skijoring. Adanac sled and Alpine Outfitters both have good kits.

I would start now with gee/haw training. Walks are great times to practice. Luka, who ran lead on my 4 dog team learned the first summer we had her by just using the commands daily on our walks. Kitty learned from running next to Luka.

I've done both the sled and scooter and by far the scooter does the awesomeness the best. I'm even hoping now that come winter I'll still be doing the scooter in the snowmobile tracks. Faster and Adobo likes it best when she can run like the wind.

I have a couple You Tube videos just go to www.youtube.com and then type in: maleman14001 in the search feature. Rookie work at the video stuff too.

jbealer wrote:

heather, were you in the Pocono's? im from bucks county PA and went to the Pocono's every weekend to ride in the winter, i learned on big boulder

Hey Jen, where in Bucks are you from? I grew up in Langhorne and went to Neshaminy HS

Good idea about the walk. Killian apparently knows gee and haw so we shall see what else she knows!

Dee&Frankie wrote:

jbealer wrote:

heather, were you in the Pocono's? im from bucks county PA and went to the Pocono's every weekend to ride in the winter, i learned on big boulder

Hey Jen, where in Bucks are you from? I grew up in Langhorne and went to Neshaminy HS

WOW i went to Neshaminy HS!!!! grad in 98 i lived in oakford (near Trevose), my parents are still there.

That's so crazy. I graduated in 93, my brother in 97, and my sister in 98. nick and jeannine panariello are my brother and sister.

crazy small world! i don't know the names but everyone seemed to know me, i hung out in the art area. ask your bro/sis if she remembers a jennifer (jenn) stowman.

watch out Jenn, my sis is gonna whip out her year book, lol. She said sound familiar but can't put the face with the name.

Crazy small world.........go Redskins!

Sorry about the hijack.

I went to IUP.......and actually graduated lol

I had a friend (that went to Pitt then Penn State) tell me that she never met anyone that actually graduated from IUP.



Back to the sled dog thing (just so I don't get accused of hijacking )......if you were to use haw/gee, are they for sharp turns? Was just thinking about maybe teaching Stormy the commands for fun.

Make it easy on yourself just say left or right, that way you don't have to try and remember which one is the left call or the right call.

Yeah but I already know which is which.....I have more of a problem remembering left & right lol

My friends and I learned it for fun with the horses but I just wasn't sure about how hard of a turn you use that with dogs.

When I taught Lu I started out with clear 90 degree turns. Once she was pretty good, I was able to use it for any turns, even slight turns.

Here4thePics wrote:

Make it easy on yourself just say left or right, that way you don't have to try and remember which one is the left call or the right call.

This is what I do! I mix up L&R as it is let alone trying to add 2 more words that mean the same thing!
I used started saying L&R when we were turning on walks then tested it out on the trail and they knew it! I was worried they just knew our walk route and not the command but they were great

jbealer wrote:

Here4thePics wrote:

Make it easy on yourself just say left or right, that way you don't have to try and remember which one is the left call or the right call.

This is what I do! I mix up L&R as it is let alone trying to add 2 more words that mean the same thing!
I used started saying L&R when we were turning on walks then tested it out on the trail and they knew it! I was worried they just knew our walk route and not the command but they were great

I also use 'HAW', 'GEE', 'ON BY' and 'WHOA' on our walks consistently. Storm is just a little over 3 months with us, but when we come to an intersection, she'll look back toward me if I haven't given her a command on where to go.

For starters (if your sibe is old enough), you can add about 10% of body weight to pull behind them to get used to weight. You'll start off with walking next to them, and slowly start letting them walk ahead of you further and further, and add a little more weight as they get used to it. I believe you don't want them pulling more than 25% of their body weight 0 but I could be wrong. Next thing you know, they'll be pulling like a sled dog!

I have also been told that if you teach them to pull, don't expect them not to pull on walks - it would be confusing for them. But if you can teach then to pull only when using a certain harness, all the more power to you!

For G&S, we do plan to explore skijoring with them this season but we don't expect them to 'pull' us, just run out in front. I haven't trained them to pull and I have taught them to walk on a loose lead not too far out in front, and I personally would want to keep it that way, so skijoring will be interesting Storm actually walks next or just behind me, so he'll be especially interesting to skijor with!