^{Wildwood Chesapeake’s in Sprint race Nov. 27 1970.}

Is anyone running their Chessies on a dog sled this winter? Last year I posted a news item called Try Dog Sledding this Winter... to outline some of the benefits, equipment, and techniques involved. Training a Chessie as a lead dog is much easier than field or obedience work. There are only a few commands, and one of the benefits is getting a fast, strong, and more obedient dog come Spring time. Because Pete was obedience trained before we started the lead dog training, it was a little more difficult -- he really didn't want to be out front. :-) It took a few weeks of hard work, but once we got him on the sled / scooter, he quickly forgot about all those corrections and loved every minute of it. The more difficult and twisty the trails, the more he loves it.

One issue that hunting dog owners will have to address, which normally isn't a problem for mushers, is line manners. If you've seen sled dog races, you might have noticed the dogs jumping and howling at the start line. They really are very eager to get going. Of course, this is not something you want to encourage in your Chessie -- especially if you use him for hunting, etc. If you let it go, it'll just get worse until your Chessie is just like those at the races. :-) I've tried using a 'Move Up' command to have the lead dog keep the line taught, but excited as he is, he'll double back, run out again, and repeat. I've given up on that idea for now. You can use a tie-down on the lead dog to keep the line stretched while tying up other dogs -- if you have multiple dogs, or training for it -- but I've found the 'Sit' and 'Quiet' commands most useful. If they can sit and be quiet even as you get prepared, then you'll have trained for some very solid line manners come Spring -- just make sure those male bits don't get too cold. :-) I'm planning on turning that 'Sit / Quiet' command into a 'Stand / Quiet' command later on.

Recently I found an article called How to Train Sleddogs that contained a lot of information. Even with a single dog, as we have, you can still enjoy dog sledding, especially with a kickbike / scooter. We use a kickbike (see Wikipedia or Blue River Bikes for an example) in the Fall to get Pete ready for the sled. And because we have just one dog for now, we opted to buy a very high-tech and lightweight sled for the winter. There are many dog sleds to choose from, but with one or two dogs, you really have to choose the lightest sled available. You don't have to push with the kickbike, but you'll get a little cardio work-out on the dog sled with just one dog. :-)

If you're dog sledding with your Chessie, or even just thinking of it, post a comment bellow and let us know your experience and/or training plans.

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