training to harness, northern inuit

well i have my harnesses, and today i ordered my gangline (2 dog), bungee and other stuff from culpeppers. a very nice man called me from cullpeppers and we were nattering away and he was very helpful. he has advised me not to walk the dogs with the harnesses as they will associate this with going for a walk and not with pulling. does anyone else have any suggestions as how to get my dogs used to the harnesses without actually hitching them to a rig, or shold i start off with a bike or scooter?.

Good luck Sue, might see you in Kielder at the dog sledging competitions soon!

Yes sled dogs are conditioned to learn to walk with collars and run with harnesses.. you could put the harness on them but still walk them with the collar and lead.. The other option is to attach them to the gangline on rig/bike and get someone to be on the rig and walk them still with lead and collar with rig behind them..puppies are taught to get used to harness and pulling with twig/branches/car tyres as they get bigger.. you could try that..

Edited to add: nice man at Culpeppers is Phil

lol luz, i think thats a bit ambitious for me, thanx louise i'll try your way and see how it goes. yes phil is his name, and very nice he is too, very helpful.

I trained mine to pull by harnessing up a car tyre to them and leading them with a lead, you do feel foolish doing this, but the end result is worth it, be prepared to get funny looks from passerby though. I had to do this in the evenings to prevent people stopping me to ask what I was doing lol

Mo

cheers mo,im off to nick one of the oldmans £155 bmw tyres he's been trying to flog on ebay(he wont notice, he's got 5 lol)

you have to post pictures sue...lol

hope it goes well!

Start of with something small.. like a BMX tyre (without wheel) and then gradually increase size/weight over a few weeks.. initially to get them used to pulling from their rear end..

I would love to watch, I think you could sell tickets.

Hi sutty,the suggestion of your dogs wearing the harnesses whilst being walked in them is a good idea, just attach a lead to their collars & not the harnesses. Start to use ie a tyre like someone suggested so they get used to pulling in the harness & having something behind them.You have had some good answers above my post .Did u manage to get a neckline?
rose & the gang