Since we were hit with an amazing blizzard last night and our field was a nice crisp clean canvas for training I figured today would be a perfect day to keep building the dogs pulling abilities. So I busted out the official 5 gallon training pail and hitched the dogs up one at a time. Since last training adventure was an epic fail trying to get 4 nontraditional sledding dogs to sled at the same time with NONE of us having a real clue what we are doing, this time around I thought to myself, let’s just try them one at a time to work on this being out front business.
First to train was Karma, she got quite excited today about the harness which was so nice to see. She is always so enthusiastic to do something with me. Very much a non Tibetan Mastiff quality but she is my super amazing girl. I have said it a thousand times and I will say it a thousand more but that girl just cannot be topped in my eyes when it comes to Tibetan Mastiffs.
She did great with her 5 gallon pail pull, even got a nice little video of it as seen here
I just adore her little glance back at me with the tail wag at the end as if to say “I’m doing really good aren’t I?”
As you can see it is not a heavy pail for her to pull [anymore] I have a second 5 gallon pail that I may add but am not sure yet. I’m quite pleased with how she is giving pulling her all as it is and since it isn’t strength I need as much as stamina and speed I think just the one for now is enough.
Karma went around the field twice with her pail and was getting a bit tired towards the end so I unhooked her and let her drag her line and walked her out to keep those fresh new pulling muscles from getting stiff. I have noticed that this pulling work lately has seemed to really help build her chest, rear and back muscles which is VERY exciting for this year’s show season, she will be one buff girl in the ring, I will be pleased with my ripped TM’s rocking the ring instead of those borderline ‘fat’ looking dogs I see that have a hell of a time getting down and back without getting winded that the judges seem to like… and I’m not referring to TM’s here, as I do not actually show against anyone other than my guys since these are not the most popular dogs in Canada.
Next out was Marv, he thinks he is some wild beast now that he is allowed to pull. He wastes more energy and time bouncing and lunging against his harness for no apparent reason, he’ll figure it out soon enough that doing so just makes his job harder. For Marv to pull one pail is the equivalent of Karma pulling an icecream container around so he gets hitched up to 2 professional grade 5 gallon Rona pails ( Hey Rona, you can pay for this endorsement if you like… just sayin, cause we all know I could use some extra fundage for my hobby)
So anyway, Marv spent a good few minutes burning his energy bouncing and lunging against his harness sending his pails flying almost up to him which became a game of run away from the flying pails… then discovers that I am wearing some interesting devices on my feet… humans call these snow shoes, and they are quite beneficial to aid in maneuvering through deep new snow, to Marv, they are brakes.
Since he is not comfortable at all working in front of me I am just walking beside him so he can pull and when he gets going to the point he passes me I give him a “hike” command followed by “good hike” HOWEVER! He has discovered if he steps on my snow shoes ( aka brakes) I will fall on my face and he then can pounce on me stealing my toque/mitt or whatever he so chooses. He has also discovered that I am not able to easily pop up and get after him for stealing whatever he has stolen from me as I have to get my foot through the hole and get myself re organized prior to being able to move in any way. After we played this game for a good 20 minutes he finally agreed to get to work. Here is a video of him actually pulling up ahead of me somewhat.
Shortly after this video was shot he decided to start the slam on the brakes game again for a bit. He was causing me to burn more of my energy with me getting up and retrieving whatever he had stolen from me I decided to just lose the “brakes” making my trek through the field a bit more of a head ache since now I was sinking in the drifts and trying to keep my pace so Marv could pass me. Needless to say it was a bit of a hard session with the monster today but some amazing cardio I must say.
Lastly Miss Tibby went out, she of course did spectacular, she pulled her single pail with ease, working up front of me and almost doing her gee and haw correctly. By the time it was time for her turn I was exhausted and my camera batteries had died so there is no video of her. Next session I will be sure to get her out there first.
Everyone is sleeping soundly now, and I am about to. What a work out that was today, I’m quite excited to get some of my gear to start training driving to the horses as well. I’m not a big fan of riding horses, why not get them driving !
Due to my work schedule, the dogs will get a break from training tomorrow. I have to run into pick up my first shipment of Sasha’s blend for Ol Kita girl in the morning and then off to work after morning chores are done. We will have a nice brisk run in the field late at night when I return home but no actual work.
There is the exception of little Rambo, the 9 month old Corgi, with an attitude that just could get him in a lot of trouble around here with the other dogs. He is on a strict NILIF plan for the next while to get some of his attitude under control and put in his place around here. He had a good run with the brindles first trip out in the field today to break the trail, tired dogs are good dogs so he was on leash as he has lost his leash free privileges for a little bit and he worked his little sheep butt off plowing through the snow ;o) His puppy pass extension has been denied, no more falling for that cute face… but can’t you agree it’s going to be a bit hard :o)
No comments:
Post a Comment