sorry, the direct link to carting and drafting is:

http://workingmastiffs.com/carting.htm

i see there are a lot of good links on that page.

What kind of pulling do you want to do?

I do weight pulling - a little different perspective from carting.

Weight pulling is pulling a heavy weight - up to 50 times the dog's body weight for the best dogs - a required distance - I believe 16 feet - within a set amount of time. Each time the weight is added, the dog(s) that cannot pull it are eliminated. The fastest dog at the highest weight wins.

Anyway, pulling of any weight requires a commitment as the dog meeds to be worked regularly. If you don't have the time to do this, walking with a weighted vest or pack (up to 15% of the dog's body weight) may fit your lifestyle better.

BEFORE any weight is pulled, the dog needs to be at least 1 year old, conditioned to the harness (harness type depends on what type of pulling you are doing), the dog's diet needs to be improved and and physical conditioning begun (sprint or endurance, depending on type of pulling you are doing) and a command to move forward, if you are doing pulling where the handler is behind the dog rather than leading, you need to teach commands for slow, stop, right turn, left turn.

You need to find a place to pull ON GRASS. If you are using drag weights or a drag cart, you are really going to tear up the grass.

When you do get to putting on weight, start with only the drag and add 1 - 5 lb per week, until the dog is working. The weight pulled is not important but the effort that the dog is expending. For weight pull, never allow your dog not to pull (do not overwork your dog), but be extremely careful to not have to drag your dog. If you are conditioning your dog for heavy weight, do not allow your dog to run. Your dog should learn to work one step at a time, nose close to the ground.

When I pull my dog (a 30-lb pitmix), I condition her for a couple weeks and increase her diet. We drag 50 lbs 1 - 2 miles 4 days a week. One day a week we do heavy weight sprints in a cart (300+ lb). The day after the heavy weight, she does not pull. I can't say if this is best, but it works.

http://www.pulldoggies.com has some nice weight pulling training guides.

Information on dog sledding can be found at http://www.sleddogcentral.com.

Becca, you might also be interested before you get into carting and sledding is to try dog scootering. You buy a $200-300 scooter, the tow line, a $50 harness, and maybe some safety gear and you're good to go versus a dog sled that costs $500+ plus costs even more to ship if you don't live near an outfitter (which there might be one nearby if you're in WY). Sulkies and carts are also pretty expensive, if not more so than a basket sled, though there are kits to convert wagons to carts. I have my Malinois run along side my Xootr scooter (www.xootr.com) on paved trails (I'd need a different scooter for rocks or gravel) and I plan to train him to run along front probably this summer if we don't start Schutzhund. If you teach them the basic commands for dog scootering (gee, haw, whoa, hike, on by, etc), you can move pretty easily to sledding or carting. You can also move faster on a scooter than a cart (a team of sight hounds or Alaskan huskies can pull at a good 20-25 mph for quite a while). You can see http://www.dogscooter.com for more.

If you want to see if your dog's enjoys pulling before you dive in, get a harness and condition your dog to wear it. Tie a strap to the ring. Have a person lead your dog and you follow behind, using the strap to give your dog resistance to pull against. It takes some dogs a while to learn that pulling on the harness is OK, so if you try it, make it fun and give it a couple chances.

I've gotten my 45lb hound mix Shuggie to pull me on skateboard, rollerblades and bicycle. Rollerblades were a little scary at times because I'm not too good at blading so I don't have much control yet. Skateboarding is lots of fun but biking is what I do everyday with him. I've never tried a scooter, but I can't imagine it's all that different from a regular bike. I feel like with a bike you'd have a little more control, being able to speed up with the pedals if you need to.

I've found the most effective way to get him to pull is by letting him chase my girlfriend on her rollerblades. Those are always my best rides. I'll be on my bike or skateboard, with Shuggie attached and my girlfriend is on her rollerblades. I let her go ahead of us 30 yards or so and then I yell HIKE!!! and Shuggie is off! He loves to chase my girlfriend but once he catches up, he just passes her by.

When it's just Shuggie and I, he'll usually pull me for a couple blocks in the beginning but then he settles in along side of me . I keep the bike going at a medium fast pace to make sure he gets enough exercise. We usually go about 4 miles or so a night. Sometimes more, but I head home when he starts to lag a bit.

He's got all the commands(hike, gee, haw, on by, easy, whoa)down pretty well on account of me being consistant with them everyday.

I found the dogscooter.com website helpfull too. I bought Shuggie an Urban Trail Harness and a tugline from them. They'll stich your dogs name into the harness for you. The tugline has a short bungee cord in the middle of the line to reduce shock from pulling. I coated the tugline with electric tape to prevent fraying caused by the line dragging on the pavement occasionally. I'm thinking about attaching a Flexi-Lead to my bike to take up the slack of tugline when he comes in alongside me.

Have fun with your dog!

First, kudos for actually exercising your dog. Most pet owners don't bother.

You are lucky your dog does not chase other people and creatures.

If your dog first pulls, then heels, then lags, I wouldn't even call it pulling, but more of a fun run. Nothing wrong with that, unless the person who orginally posted the question takes understands it as a good way to start training her dog for pulling.

Like I said, the only real pulling is when he's chasing my girlfriend and I have read that this is a good way to get your dog started.

You're right, for the most part, it is a fun run. Every once in a while he'll go after birds or the occasional cat, but I use this to my advantage to get a free ride! I'm always in control. He's only 45 lbs, but he can PULL when he wants to and he's very fast. When he's at full speed I can't catch up to him no matter how hard and fast I pedal.

When we pass people walking their dogs, or worse, loose dogs, I pick up the pace and say ON BY! and he doesn't miss a step.

I'm thinking of dangling a hotdog from a stick in front of his nose. Will that help with the pull training? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Sure the hot dog might help <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Separate fun runs and pulling into 2 different tasks. Maybe do the runs on bike (at a heel) and the pulls (later) on roller blades. A different harness and a different command for "go" will also signal to your dog that it's a different task. (A skijoring harness is a good choice for pulling a standing person.)

Once you get a different harness, let your dog wear it, make it fun and short. Take your dog for a short walk and only allow your dog to walk close a leash length in front of you. Tossing hot dogs pieces on the ground in front is not a bad idea if your dog doesn't get the point. Review slow, fast, right, left commands. Just teach it walking, then fast walking with you giving a little resistance, then maybe you will be ready for roller blades.

Only go short distances when your dog is pulling you - stop before your dog starts moving into a heel position.

You really have most the pieces put together - what's left for your dog to learn is comparable to the difference between a dog sitting because it will get a treat, and a dog sitting because you told it to.

A photo of my dog pulling:

The weight pullers make fun of my little "woosy" dog that shows up to snow pulls in a lavender hooded and footed snowsuit, but she equaled 2 (out of 3) novice dogs twice her size at her first pull.

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/3513/bwabbypullingtoright0vg.jpg

Thanks for all the info. I'll put it to good use. Your dog looks close to the same size and build as my dog.