Is anyone into sled dogs or other trailblazing animals?

moonwolf · #1 10/31/06, 08:41 AM

Do you have property or access to enough trails that you could run sled dogs or other trail animals mostly for recreation?
Anyone use other animals to pull a sleigh or sled. Any Reindeer or Caribou owners out there that do this?....or any other animal we might consider less 'conventional' than a horse to pull along a sled on trails?

kesoaps · #2 10/31/06, 10:40 AM

We've got plenty of access, just no sled or sleigh...nor much snow, for that matter.

When I was a kid, I used to braid up the old baling twine and make a 'harness' for my horse, who would then be forced to pull my little sled along behind him any time there was a dusting of snow. I'd hit every rock, too!

I also used to use the horse halter and put it on the dog like a harness...golly, how I used to torment my animals, lol!

sullen · #3 10/31/06, 01:19 PM

I keep thinking I should hitch up my stubborn big Corgi...but we have a lot of hills around here...

frogmammy · #4 10/31/06, 01:21 PM

Funny you should bring up this subject as just yesterday I found the (almost!) perfect cart for my dogs to pull! Will take a lot of thinking and a little work, but think it will do nicely.

BTW, you shouldn't be stuck in just dog-powered in the snow. Sacco carts are made to run on dry ground as are several other carts, and there's a kick-sled that has an adapter for wheels on it so you can use it year round.

Mon

Kazahleenah · #5 10/31/06, 01:25 PM

I used to run sled dogs, 7 dog team. We had enough property, but I always liked the runs in the UP of Michigan more...

Kaza

moonwolf · #6 10/31/06, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frogmammy

Sacco carts are made to run on dry ground as are several other carts, and there's a kick-sled that has an adapter for wheels on it so you can use it year round.

Mon

That sounds like a cool idea!

tobo6 · #7 10/31/06, 02:38 PM

My parents had sled dogs when we lived in AK.

I just started training two of our dogs for skijoring. They are taking to it naturally, and I can't wait for the snow to arrive. We have lots of trails, and it's perfect for crosscountry skijoring. In the future we will have a big sled dog because we just bought a St. Bernard pup and the kids are already dreaming of the fast rides down the hill on the sled.

freeinalaska · #8 10/31/06, 03:43 PM

I run dogs. We have access to the most amazing trail system from our property. I can pretty much mush anywhere in the state if I knew the trails. We've got a pretty strong, though young, six dog team right now and I am caring for four more older dogs from a kennel nearby for the winter. They have been used for training our young team over the last year. A seasoned lead dog will make the team. We have added four more puppies this fall and should end up with a ten dog team in couple of years. The snow is here....keep it coming.

moonwolf · #9 10/31/06, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeinalaska

I run dogs. We have access to the most amazing trail system from our property. I can pretty much mush anywhere in the state if I knew the trails. We've got a pretty strong, though young, six dog team right now and I am caring for four more older dogs from a kennel nearby for the winter. They have been used for training our young team over the last year. A seasoned lead dog will make the team. We have added four more puppies this fall and should end up with a ten dog team in couple of years. The snow is here....keep it coming.

sounds great!
I was wondering what you feed your dogs up there in winter? and what breeds do you use to mush?

freeinalaska · #10 10/31/06, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonwolf

sounds great!
I was wondering what you feed your dogs up there in winter? and what breeds do you use to mush?

We have Alaskan Huskies and Alaskan Hounds. Both are really mixed breeds with the huskies looking more like a classic husky and the hounds are huskies mixed with greyhound, staghound or foxhound. Wikipedia has a pretty good description on them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaskan_husky

We feed them a working dog kibble 30% protien and 20% fat (30/20) often mixed with freezer burned fish or game when the are really running. We heat a big pot of water, mix in the kibble and fish or whatever and serve it hot. The temperature is really, really cold here so you can't just leave a bowl of water out for them, so if not working for the day they will get both their daily water and food at once. On the trail we will stop and melt snow for water or to mix the food with depending on how long they have been running.

frogmammy · #11 10/31/06, 05:21 PM

When I belonged to the sleddog club there was one member who ran black Labs...don't know if she stuck with them or not, but she did compete.

Kazahleenah, I have some (distant) relatives who run in the UP...last name is Loebrich. The wife died but I think the husband is still racing.

Mon

wyld thang · #12 10/31/06, 05:41 PM

I always liked that scene in first TombRaider when Angelina Jolie gets pulled out of a cave on her feet by sled dogs (kinda like waterskiing on your feet). SHe looked like she was having a lot of fun, and not just acting!!!

Deron · #13 11/13/06, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frogmammy

When I belonged to the sleddog club there was one member who ran black Labs...don't know if she stuck with them or not, but she did compete.

Kazahleenah, I have some (distant) relatives who run in the UP...last name is Loebrich. The wife died but I think the husband is still racing.

Mon

Hi!
Just found and joined this list, but I'm wondering if the sled dog club you mention was the Gateway Sled Dog Club? Marna ran black labs when she lived in St. Louis and was a member of that club, and she still runs with labs (and other breeds now) but here in WI. Marna also still sews and sells sled dog/working animal equipment. We lived off-grid for a while up here, but we are soon moving to SD (off-grid again) and we stumbled across here.

Back on topic, we have used St Bernards, Labs, and mixed breeds to bring in wood pulling a tub on snow. Dogs, llamas and goats for packing. No matter what you do, use the proper equipment! A dog can collapse its trachea pulling a load from a collar.

Deron
http://www.dogstarkennel.com
http://www.marnasmenagerie.com

frogmammy · #14 11/14/06, 10:15 AM

Hey Deron! Yep, that was the club! We ended up quitting shortly after y'all moved...husband developed heart failure and not able to do much of anything. We were the ones with the Belgian Sheepdog (Ed) and Chow-x...DH was the big, hairy guy. (just jogging your memory there!) Remember that Halloween party with the dogs bobbing for hot dogs? Who woulda thought that hot dogs sink?

Every time I went through WI I was thinking of y'all, wondering where you were, what y'all were doing. Please, you and Marna keep in touch...I'm showing my dogs now and no telling when I (or we) might be up your way! And yes, I do mean SD way.

So, back to the topic at hand..things to do with dogs & transportation:

dog scooter http://www.dogpoweredscooter.com/
kicksleds http://www.sawtoothsleds.com/catalog.cfm?CatID=kick
skijoring http://www.skijor.org/home.htm
the classic http://www.blackicedogsledding.com/

and that's the SHORT list!

Mon

Deron · #15 11/14/06, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frogmammy

Hey Deron! Yep, that was the club! We ended up quitting shortly after y'all moved...husband developed heart failure and not able to do much of anything. We were the ones with the Belgian Sheepdog (Ed) and Chow-x...DH was the big, hairy guy. (just jogging your memory there!) Remember that Halloween party with the dogs bobbing for hot dogs? Who woulda thought that hot dogs sink?

Every time I went through WI I was thinking of y'all, wondering where you were, what y'all were doing. Please, you and Marna keep in touch...I'm showing my dogs now and no telling when I (or we) might be up your way! And yes, I do mean SD way.

Mon

Well hello, what a blast from the past! We certainly remember you! Sorry to hear about your DH's health problems. Getting old is no fun. If you can email us a note at either deron@ or marna@ any of our web sites (workingllamas.com, workinggoats.com, rabbitagility.com, theagilerat.com, pagestream.org, grasshopperllc.com, dogstarkennel.com, marnasmenagerie.com etc yes, we are crazy about our animals) we will put your email address in our address book! I haven't figured out how to contact you directly from this site...

Deron

frogmammy · #16 11/14/06, 10:32 PM

Darn! That WAS a while ago, wasn't it?

Ok, to send a private message you leftclick on the person's highlighted name and you get a drop-down menu. Click on send a personal message and another page pops up so you can write your message...it seems to be picky about wanting a title.

To see if you have a message look up in the right corner of the screen...under the part that says "Welcome, Deron" and you'll see "Private Messages" and how many unread, then just click!

Would you believe Dave still has his Amiga 500, the 500A and a 1,000? (think I got the #'s right). He has a Mac Mini for everyday but doesn't use it much.

Mon