How to teach your dog to pull

www.ehow.com ^ | Juliet Myfanwy Johnson

[LongElegantLegs]

Fit your dog with a cart-pulling harness. This special harness has extra padding and comes low across the dog's back legs to distribute the weight for pulling. If it's a weight-pulling harness, there may be a special bar in the back to keep straps from squeezing the dog's legs as he pulls.

Once he is pulling at your cue, start adding bits of weight to the cart. Toys or rocks work well.

Eventually the cart should be pulling weight as heavy as the kids or stuff you want him to pull around. He should follow your commands respectfully, especially "Stay," "Sit," and "Come."

Put him in the "stay" command, and load up the kids. Keep him on a leash, and when you say "come!" he should trot forward, giving the kids a ride. If the kids are big enough, you can attach ropes to the side of the harness and have the kid guide the dog around from the back of the cart. Make sure your dog is calm and easygoing enough to trust with the children's safety!

[LongElegantLegs]

I’ve seen a husky pull in the middle the south Texas summer...It’s not a pretty sight.

[Tijeras_Slim]

This cannot end well.

[Joe 6-pack]

When I had two shepherds, I tried the same thing on roller blades once.

Once.

[LongElegantLegs]

I think Skijoring be fun fun, if you knew your dogs wouldn’t run you into a tree...

[LongElegantLegs]

Er, would be fun.

[LongElegantLegs]

Oh, that...Yeah, he might not be able to pull.

[Howie]

"The real question is, "how do you teach your dog to stop pulling?" "

That is what I was thinking, I have a 2 1/2 year old Dobie that has pulled me on my face several times , even with a barbed training collar!

She is my fifth Dobie and I don't remember any of the others being so crazy and hard to train to the leash! It always happens when she jumps a rabbit in the hedges or a cat crosses our path. If she was hooked to a wagon load of little kids it would be bad news!

[savedbygrace]

Yes, it looks like the dogs have a plan, but they cannot contain their laughter from thinking about it.

OTOH, the man appears to be completely oblivious. At least he seems to be well padded.

[Eaker]

I’ll take a look at it, thanks!

[Howie]

One of the neighbor kids, about fifteen, saw on TV the parachute thing the Mexicans do behind a speed boat. He asked me if I knew how to make one of the chutes. I had an old military chute in the attic that I gave to him and his siblings.

A day or so later the wind was howling down our street. I was sitting by the window and saw him literally FLY by the window heading towards the cul desac. I ran out just as he let go of the harness and watched him slide into the cul desac like a rag doll. He only suffered abrasions, nothing broken, thankfully.

[Straight Vermonter]

My black lab used to pull the kids on their sleds when they were little. Funny to watch since the dog was deciding where to go and how fast to get there.

[mickey finn]

When I was a young boy growing up in New Hampshire our family had a huge St. Bernard (Otto) that we fitted with a harness to pull us on sleds in the winter snow. It was in his blood. He also loved children growing up with three young boys. Otto would sometimes visit the local sledding hill and grab sleds with kids on them from unsuspecting mothers. He also loved to ride in cop cars.

[Travis T. OJustice]

He also loved to ride in cop cars.

ROFL!

[WOBBLY BOB]

planning for the post-EPA transportation options:

[LongElegantLegs]

THAT is awesome.

[LongElegantLegs]

I don’t know if Swiper could pass any kind of emissions test, now that I think of it...

[LongElegantLegs]

Otto would sometimes visit the local sledding hill and grab sleds with kids on them from unsuspecting mothers. He also loved to ride in cop cars.

That's hilarious. I hope he carried a cask of brandy to calm Mom down after he made off with her kid... :-)

[goat granny]

LOL When I had a husky I was living in a sub. Decided to get on one of my kids bike and take ChiChow for a run...It worked fine for a few minutes...then he got in front of the bike and I took my feet off the pedal, urging him on and he loved to pull. He then decided to come to a quick stop to smell a car tire. I keep going and couldn't get my feet on the brake peddles in time...I left the bike while the bike keep going and the dog was still smelling the car tire. Did that once and only once also.

[mickey finn]

Otto had a brandy flask but he refused to wear it. It drove him nuts. The mothers needed a good snort, I’m sure.

[TexasRepublic]

I had considered a tandem rig for my Aussies until I realized that I would probably wind up dead the first time they saw a cat.