Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone...
I'm new on here, andI just thought I'd take a minute to introduce myself.
I'm addicted to huskies....I have three now (I've attached pics). I love the breed's energy level and free spirit. I enjoy outdoor activities with my guys, hiking, backpacking, bikeriding, et cetera. I'm interested in learning more about workind dog titles, weight pulling, skijoring, and also about raw feeding.
I look forward to participating in discussionson here!

-bcm

Welcome to the board! I think you'll enjoy the discussion and we are lucky as a number of posters have years and years of experience and are willing to share their thoughts/advice, etc. with everyone.

Your Sibes are beautiful!! It looks like "little red" has two great role models to look up to. Your red looks like our Bella did about a year ago.

Thanks for posting the pics.

Thanks!

Little red's name is Kena!
Do you have and pictures of Bella? I'd like to see them!

-bcm

Very nice looking dogs you've got there.
So you want to know about skijoring and weight pulling etc.

Well Sibes are not the best breed for WP... typically people use the larger Malamutes for that as they are a fair bit larger and can pull more weight then a sibe.
I chat with people now and again who have Mal's who pull in the area of 300LBS...
Sibes are strong dogs... but I would bet against one being able to best a Mal in a WP. If you're just doing it for fun though... then full steam ahead.

For skijoring... your first trick will be teaching them to pull and getting them used to having something behind them.
You need to get properly sized harness for your dogs and then start attaching things to them to get them into the pulling state of mind. Alot of people used things like old tires. I'd has alot of drag and bounces around a bit and makes noise.
Hook your leash to the dogs collar and go for a walk with the dog dragging a tire.
What I found works well is after they are used to pulling, is hook your leash to the harness so they get used to being out front without you.
This is also a good time to work on various verbal commands. Even when your biking and have breaks stopping is a challenge and if the dogs don't know the turn commands then you will have a very hard time going where you want to go.
And while you have your feet planted on the ground it's alot easier to control the dogs to teach them.
The dogs know that a decision has to be made about which way to take, you can actually see them perk up a bit and become a bit more alert than when just running... so it's a matter of just telling them which way you want to go.
Although first you have to teach yourself Gee and Haw (right and left). otherwhise if you get confused and yell Haw, when you really want to turn right... the dogs will also get confused.

Anyways I believe I have babbled enough for the moment.

Tim

Hi again, and thanks for replying.

As for weight pulling, I'm pretty much just interested in it as something fun for our male, Mochi to do. He's a big thick guy (about 70lbs) with tons of fur, and he's not as active as our female. He's not suited so much for the higher endurance stuff, it seems. I think that he would enjoy it. He's the bigger, slower, gentler, more dim-witted of the two adults (He's also my special guy, and I'm pretty sure he's my soulmate!). I'd just like to find something special for him and I to do, apart from the pack. I though perhaps therapy work, because he's so sweet and gentle. But I don't know if he could pass the Canine Good Neighbour test... He's very well behaved, but he's VERY friendly towards other dogs, and would probably lick and rub all over the other dog during the test. Also, he tends to be shy around strange men.

Our female, Tiku, is the top dog. She's the one who loves the bikeriding. She's leaner, faster, and much smarter than Mochi. She's very intense and loves to work. She knows 'left' and 'right' (We never taught her gee and haw because we didn't forsee us getting more dogs) and they both know 'stop'. So, when we have them pull us on bikes, one person can take Tiku alone, or Tiku and Mochi, but not Mochi alone. He follows her lead very well.
We have racing harnesses for them, but we attach them togther with a coupler and then a lead to the bike.
I think I'm just wondering where I should go from here... We are only interested in these activities for fun, so I'm finding all these clubs and web sites pretty intimidating. I look at all the equipment online and I'm lost.
We have a cottage up north that we go to almost once a month, it's the perfect place to bike/skijor/sled with the dogs.
I think I'd like to get a cheap sled or cart for them to pull, but I'm just not sure about what I need.

Thank-you for your advice. We are going to work on switching to 'gee'and 'haw', and I'm gonna try the tire pulling as well.

-bcm

here's another pic of Mochi and Tiku... I hope you can see his hugeness as compared to Tiku. She weighs 52lbs, he about 68-70.

Yeah some of the club sites can be a bit more intimidating as they advertise whatever race they are putting on and talk about events etc.
But what you'll find, in almost every club, is that there are people who are there on the recreational level and wouldn't have it any other way.
Being a pro racer takes ALOT of work and many mushers, although like to race aren't interested in being pro's so while they enter races, they do it for the sheer joy of racing... because trust me, racing is alot of fun.
My first race I loved it and thought it was fantastic... but I came dead last(I had sprained my wrist so wasn't able to train for a week nor really work that hard even during the race to double pole... and 70% of your power comes out of your arms when skate skiing) but I was just happy to finish and it was a really fun day.
You'll find that alot of the races also have a sportsman(just for fun) class.
As far as equipment goes... well if you're looking to do things like Skijor or Cannicross the equipment is fairly similar.
You need your dogs harness, gangline and a belt... that's the same for both those sports.
For skijoring, you may want to get your dog some booties depending on how tough the pads are on there feet.
Then it's just getting some skis for yourself and away you go... also don't get discouraged if you fall alot... even if your an accomplished x-country skier, skiing behind a dog is a very different thing.

For canicross, same harness line and belt you just need whatever clothes you might normally go jogging in and away you go.

If you want to get into sleds, the equipment for that is a bit more numerous and looks more complex... but if you contact a local sled manufacturer they are normally more then happy to help you put together a package that would include everything you need for whatever type of sledding you want to do.

Tim

That's a beautiful pack of Huskies! Kena is absoltely gorgeous, I'm jealous. She looks like a little hellion, too, I'll bet she's full of mischief. You can see it in her eyes

Thank-you!

Kena's a boy though!
He's certainly has his hellion moments, but he's mostly a snugglebug. He's very affectionate and he listens well. He's 13 weeks, and he already knows 'sit', 'down', and 'off'. He sleeps through most nights also! He's such a good boy! He starts Puppy Kindergarten next week too.
He is a screamer though! He throws these tantrums when he's tired. He screams SO loud,our neighbours must think we beat him!

-bcm

Here's a cute video too! I think you have to click on it to make it work.

-bcm