Transportation: Dog Carting

[tortoise]

Instead of hijacking, I'm starting a thread.

I've beeen thinking about dog carting before. I've trained weight pull before and made harnesses for dogs too.

I have an old metal wagon that I tried to use for pulling, but I had no idea what I was doing.

Now I have a plan for turning the wagon into a real cart for my dog to pull.

Starting with a coat of paint! lol

I'll post photos as I can and help me out with lots of ideas!

Most of us HAVE dogs, so why not have them be useful? They WERE bred to work, so it makes for a happy dog too.

 

[k0xxx]

I had never really thought about dog carting before. I think that our Pyr might enjoy the work, and may see if I can locate a suitably cart/wagon to convert.

I did a search for "dog carting" and there is a lot of info out there. Here's one of the more intersting pictures from one site.

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[Shiloh Acres]

There's a great thought. I have to work to keep my dog busy enough. He'd LOVE to "herd" the various animals all day but I rarely need his help. So now he is self-appointed "policeman" -- watching everyone to make sure no one breaks any rules. Which is kinda funny seeing as how he is just a huge puppy and has not QUITE learned all his own rules perfectly.

His frame is not as heavy as a Pyr or Saint, and I need to nor stress his hips, but a light job like that might be good for him. And here I was all busy thinking of turning my wether into a draft animal. Which I may still do.

 

[Sunny]

I trained two dogs to pull a cart.. Not at the same time, cause they were way different sized dogs.

My first dog, Blaze an Australian cattle dog mix. She learned it in just over a week.. She loved to pull.. If you just touched the wagon she went nuts.. LOL.. I started out having her pull around a shoe box in the house on a long lead. I made the lead shorter and shorter so she would get used to something being behind her.. Then I increased the size of the box.. When I got the box big enough I added weight to it.. Each of these things being taught usually the next day to day and a half apart.. On level ground she could pull slightly over twice her body weight.. Of course she was to small to pull me. But I did take her to the store and she brought the stuff home..

The second dog was a Great Dane/Bull Mastiff Mix. I never even trained her. One day I decided to put a harness on her and hitch her up to our christmas tree after we were done with it. To see if she would pull it. The place to recycle our christmas tree was about 4 blocks away. So I decided to have Mocha pull it there. My grandma went and waited there to see if we made it there or not. LOL..

I did all that dog training when I was in high school..

Now all I have are what I call Micro Mutts.. I have 3 chihuahuas.. One wont even take a walk.. I doubt they could pull any thing.. LOL

I have been thinking about getting a larger dog or dogs and train them to pull a cart big enough for me to sit in.. Along with my kids. I was thinking more on the lines of about 4 dogs being trained. That would be a challenge. Ive never had dogs pull at the same time.. Cant wait till I can get my own property so I can have big dogs. Renting really bites. You can only have dogs 35 pounds and smaller. In almost all rentals where I live.. Grrr....

 

[hwillm1977]

I had a dog sled rigged together from skiis for our two pit bulls, which fell apart last winter... they LOVED it... we'd run for miles on the trails behind our house (or rather, I'd sit on the sled, they would run).

I'd love to get into dog carting... somewhere there is a website about turning two old bicycles into a light weight dog cart for people to sit in...

Ours love to pull, but have trouble if my hubby (240 pounds) sits on the sled instead of me... they can't go nearly as far or as fast.

 

[tortoise]

Don't worry about a dog being big enough! I've seen a 30 pound dog pull 1,600 pounds!!

I converted an old wagon into a dog cart. I had already used the wagon for pulling, so modifications (pulling off the handle) had already been made. The wagon had a different build than the Radio Flyer, and it was MUCH easier to convert than a Radio Flyer would be.

I built it, made the harness, tried it out. Dog freaked out, lol. She has a strong opposition reflex so she was twisting he body to resist turning. I broke it. I fixed it, removing a little wobble. Then we tried it out again and she LOVES it.

We walked about a mile. I'm teaching her to lead out in front of me because I want her to drive also. After I get rested, I'm going to make reins and attach them to a Gentle Leader dog halter. (If you want to use a dog halter, this is the only brand that will work for this. The Halti brand won't work.)

It all took 3hrs, 45 min. Pretty slick!

Photos:

DSCN2572 by tortoise11, on Flickr
DSCN2573 by tortoise11, on Flickr
DSCN2574 by tortoise11, on Flickr
DSCN2575 by tortoise11, on Flickr
DSCN2577 by tortoise11, on Flickr
DSCN2579 by tortoise11, on Flickr

(Please forgive the cluttered garage.)

I made it all out of scraps laying around here. It's NOT pretty, but it works.

 

[patandchickens]

I'd really like to train Russell (yellow lab) to drag things for me although I dunno whether I'll ever own a proper cart. But not til he is older and fully skeletally mature. Although I might do some of the initial de-spooking sooner, e.g. getting him used to bumpy rattle things flopping along behind him when he moves.

I've been doing some reading on it, and it sounds like it works best if the dog (LOL, I just typed "horse" there and had to go back and correct it <g>) is well-versed in stopping/going/steering by voice commands before you start. So that works well with what I'm doing with him anyhow. Honestly, from what (not extensive) experience I have with starting actual horses in harness, IMO if you have done a good and COMPREHENSIVE job with basic training and spookproofing, the actual process of learning to pull a vehicle is pretty boringly simple. The key is to introduce all relevant bits slowly, peacefully, with rewards for calmness, and progress gradually, not "oh I bet it'll be okay if we go ahead to the next step since nothing bad happened in the last five minutes". It seems to me from what I've read that the situation is much the same with dogs.


Pat

 

[tortoise]

I'd really like to train Russell (yellow lab) to drag things for me although I dunno whether I'll ever own a proper cart. But not til he is older and fully skeletally mature. Although I might do some of the initial de-spooking sooner, e.g. getting him used to bumpy rattle things flopping along behind him when he moves.

I've been doing some reading on it, and it sounds like it works best if the dog (LOL, I just typed "horse" there and had to go back and correct it <g>) is well-versed in stopping/going/steering by voice commands before you start. So that works well with what I'm doing with him anyhow. Honestly, from what (not extensive) experience I have with starting actual horses in harness, IMO if you have done a good and COMPREHENSIVE job with basic training and spookproofing, the actual process of learning to pull a vehicle is pretty boringly simple. The key is to introduce all relevant bits slowly, peacefully, with rewards for calmness, and progress gradually, not "oh I bet it'll be okay if we go ahead to the next step since nothing bad happened in the last five minutes". It seems to me from what I've read that the situation is much the same with dogs.


Pat

You're right Pat. You guys know about my obsession with a certain temperament of dog, I can generally harness the dog and go. I had to modify my shafts and harness a bit and then she was totally comfortable.

I think you need to get something with wheels. Dragging on the ground is MUCH harder work. This resistance, not weight. Carts don't have to be elaborate or expensive. People come up with creative solutions making carts out of bicycles and with wheelchair wheels.

A young dog can certainly pull a light weight, like an unloaded cart. If the dog does not have to *try* or *work* to pull the load, it is generally safe.

You can train pretty much everything before and begin light loads about 6 months. Nothing the dog has to *work* at until 18 mo, IMO. Better safe than sorry!

I think the hardest part is teaching the dog to go out in front of you. I'm going to practice reining with my dog soon rather than verbal commands which can be hard to hear with wind, cart noise, traffic noise, etc. Plus it looks cooler.

 

[patandchickens]

I think you need to get something with wheels. Dragging on the ground is MUCH harder work. This resistance, not weight.

Yeah I know but my main thing would be to have the dog pull a big bundled-up tarpfull of raked mown hay or leaves or etc, which is lightweight and has fairly little resistance.

Drags are excellent for initial training, too, as the friction with the ground (and poor maneuverability) prevent them from reacting much when the horse, um, dog I guess does something erratic.

While it would be *nice* to be able to shift heavier weights with a dog, e.g. the equivalent of a very large wheelbarrow of manure, I don't know as I currently care enough to go out of my way to buy/make a wagon for the purpose. Plus which frankly *I* need the exercise, even when I don't enjoy it LOL

You can train pretty much everything before and begin light loads about 6 months. Nothing the dog has to *work* at until 18 mo, IMO.

Maybe I'm just overparanoid about lab hips and elbows.

I think the hardest part is teaching the dog to go out in front of you. I'm going to practice reining with my dog soon rather than verbal commands which can be hard to hear with wind, cart noise, traffic noise, etc. Plus it looks cooler.

Get you one of those herding-dog whistles, and train whistled commands. That would be VERY cool

Russ is pretty good about remote-controlled go/slow/stop; but I have not begun left-right gee-haw type work because I have been mulling over the best approach. Although at this point I think I've decided there is no one best approach and I should just fool around with it anyhow <g> My husband approves of that type thing (as opposed to tricks or agility-related skills, which he thinks are immoral) because he was raised around field-trial retrievers. So I can pretend that's actually waht I'm training Russ in LOL

Pat

 

[tortoise]

lol @ Pat.

I've noticed from doing this before that my dogs just learn where we normally go. Today, the dog that has been in harness exactly once was walking in front of me off-lead and made every turn on her own. Because we went the same route as her walks.

I imprint left and right from day 1, so I just chat with my dogs while I'm walking. They learn pretty durn fast.

I think I chucked my super-screechy-high recall whistle. That would be neat. But I still like the idea of reining better.

If you train on wheels and switch to a drag, you're gonna have issues. If that's what you imagine using the dog for in the future, start with the drag. You can have him pull an empty tarp - that might take some getting used to the tarp noise.

ETA - I trained a dog to pull a yard sled. A wheelbarrow was too expensive for us at the time, the plastic yard sled was cheap and it has held up excellent. 5+ years of outdoor storage and you'd never know the difference.