[nagdu] dog carting was Good idea!

[Sherri]

That is fascinating! Well, we do what we have to do! Thank you for the 
explanation.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Katrin Andberg" <katrin at maplewooddog.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 4:41 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] dog carting was Good idea!


>I have a special dog cart and harness for him.  The cart with shafts (it's 
>a
> 2 wheel cart that can carry a 100# load) and the tree cost me about $170.
> And the harness cost me about $120 made out of biothane material and 
> fitted
> to my dog's size.  It was all totally worth it for me because I use it 
> quite
> often.  The harness is also adjustable so could really fit another dog 
> that
> is around the same size as Niche, like James could probably fit into it, 
> but
> my corgi could not LOL.
>
>
>
> This is the cart I have:  http://www.allthingsbiothane.com/CCC.htm  (I 
> have
> the medium size basket cart)  The whole thing comes apart into easily
> assemble pieces so I could put it in a car or something for transport to a
> different location if I wanted to.  But mostly mine stays put together in 
> my
> basement except when I need it.
>
>
> And this is the harness:  http://www.allthingsbiothane.com/b-a-t-c-h.htm
>
>
>
> There are other types of carts and harnesses, if you are handy you could
> even make your own or if you know someone who is handy they could make one
> for you.  There are various plans on the internet for such.  One of the
> reasons I got the equipment I did was because the cart can hold a lot but 
> is
> very light weight itself so it is easy for me to lift if I need to like 
> when
> bringing it up from the basement to the yard.  And I got that harness
> because it needs very little care and it is adjustable for other dogs.  So
> hopefully I can use it for many, many years to come with various dogs.
>
>
>
> I had to train Niche to do the turns and stuff same as I did when teaching
> James guide work.  Lefts, rights, halts, forwards, etc.  I also had to 
> teach
> him to back up in a straight line so that we can more easily maneuver the
> cart in and out of places.  I also taught him to stand in one place and 
> move
> into the shafts so I can easily hitch him to the cart.  So when we go for
> dog food, the store the aisles are too narrow and filled with stuff for
> Niche to go in with the cart, so I tie him outside to the railing right
> outside the door and he waits hitched to his cart for James and I to come
> out and load up his cart with the food.
>
>
>
> When we got to the point where we were starting to train with the cart 1st 
> I
> did it with no load, then worked up to the 60# load.  If he were to do a
> competition (they have carting competitions of various levels) he would at
> the more advanced level have to haul twice his body weight which is about
> 155#s.  We also worked up to the longer distance with weight.  Hauling 
> heavy
> loads is physically taxing on a dog so you need to make sure you don't put
> too much stress on their bodies too quickly.  You should never do heavy
> loads with dogs under the age of 2.  And it is highly recommended that you
> have hip and elbow x-rays done before you start training so that you are
> sure you dog has no joint problems that could be impacted by the weight
> hauling.
>
>
>
> There is a good yahoo group called carting-L that has lots of information
> and knowledgeable people on it.
>
>
>
> Katrin
>
>
>
> Katrin Andberg
>
> <mailto:katrin at maplewooddog.com> katrin at maplewooddog.com
>
>
>
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