I'm fascinated by dryland mushing (we don't get that much snow in VA) and just had a few questions for you folks who are more educated on this.

1. First, i'm wondering how hard it is to teach your dog the basic commands (Gee, haw, ect). I know its recommended they learn from an experienced dog but the closest team that i know if is the breeder we got our pup from and that's not very close. So it would be me and hubby teaching her. Is that even possible?

2. Our dog is still a puppy and for obvious reasons, she's cannot pull or race until she's older and developed. However, when do you start teaching them the basic commands for pulling? Are you supposed to teach them young? or wait until they are actually of age/development to begin training?

3. Do the dogs have to be registered to participate in races. We bought our girl as a companion and plan to spay her therefore aren't going to have her akc registered.

I realize that my lil girl wouldn't be able to pull on her own and so i ask these questions with the thought that i *may* adopt another husky in the future : ) And im also asking out of pure curiosity. I think its just plain amazing what these pups can do when they are trained properly!! Thanks

You can start training on lead at any time, even just in collar, just use the commands as you go on your daily walks. You'll want to instill these commands early if you cannot obtain a trained leader to assist your future team. It's about consistency with the commands much like any other aspect of training. It is possible, but not every dog has the mentality for lead. It's a high stress 'job' on the team. Don't get discouraged they each have their place to shine.

If you want to get into dryland mushing you'll want to research local clubs and start making connections now, you'll need at least 3 dogs to run a cart. I'd suggest trying to find 'ready to run' dogs when you are ready (at least yearlings) so you can hit the ground running so to speak. They do not have to be registered to race (hence the Alaskan and Eurohound racers) but if they are you can participate in special classes and races of just purebred teams which brings the level of competition closer to where your team can be competitive and actually have a chance of placing.

Thanks for the info! I was especially curious about teaching the commands and at what age that was appropriate so knowing that its okay to start teaching it now during walks and such is very helpful. i know theres a dryland club in my region although their website doesnt seem to have been updated so its not all together helpful. Maybe ill just try to email someone directly though if feel we want to move in that direction. Right now its all just curiosity and admiration for the sport

Not sure if I asked before, but what part of VA are you from Kiba?

I got a dumb question... Can you teach a dog the words right or left instead of gee and haw

Maya knows right and left, i taught her them because i didn't know which word was which action.

Ericobeasto wrote:

I got a dumb question... Can you teach a dog the words right or left instead of gee and haw

I stuck with left and right instead of gee and haw, just because I didn't want to confuse them any more then myself. To keep them focused on straight I use "on by." When ever your walking the dog(s) say left or right when ever you turn a corner they pick it up pretty quick. In my case Biko knows left better then his right but Adobo is just the opposite. Coming up on an intersection and they start to turn the corner but you want to go straight, just a slight tug and say "on by" they'll learn.

sorry im so slow to respond! We are in Central VA.

I started giving commands as we walk after my initial post. I figure even if all we end up doing is Bikejoring or canicross, it will come in handy for her to learn some of the basics. I cant tell if she knows anything other than "Hike" yet though-haha. She hears that word and takes off! She also sort of seems to get the idea of "on by". Maybe by the time shes old enough to run with me and bike we will have gee and haw down too!

Great thread. I've always wanted a small sled team since I has 8. I even tried to tie my German Shepherd to my red sled as a kid and yelled 'Mush' ... didn't end well! She jumped forward and then backwards knocking my off the sled and pinning me in the snow. I will never forget that!

We live in Northern VA and until I started searching the forums I didn't know you could do a dry mushing. MayaandSophie & Here4thePics when did you start training left and right? We use a harness now - do you recommend a short leash when we do the command?

Super Nova wrote:

Great thread. I've always wanted a small sled team since I has 8. I even tried to tie my German Shepherd to my red sled as a kid and yelled 'Mush' ... didn't end well! She jumped forward and then backwards knocking my off the sled and pinning me in the snow. I will never forget that!

We live in Northern VA and until I started searching the forums I didn't know you could do a dry mushing. MayaandSophie & Here4thePics when did you start training left and right? We use a harness now - do you recommend a short leash when we do the command?

I started it when i took Maya out on my scooter when she was about 1 1/2. You can train left and right at any age, i don't believe the leash length matters much. They usually pick up on when your turning pretty quickly and It doesn't take long for them to learn.

Great thread. I have been very interested in training by dogs since i first got them, first because it's what they are bred for and second it seems like a good activity we can do together. I was wondering if anyone had found a really good book or site that just really explains the basics. I know practically nothing, i havn't really researched if there area any groups in my area yet either. We don't get alot of snow so it would be mostly dryland mushing. I would just really like to read up on the subject and there area sooo many books and sites i was just wondering if anyone has found one that they would highly suggest?

Start with the book MUSH! A Beginner's Manual of Sled Dog Training (available in Kindle format!)- from there if you can find a local sled dog association or even someone in the area that also carts/sleds to help you with the hands on.