# Are GSDs good for use in the "carting" sport?



## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

I posted this under the misc dog sports section and barely anyone has read it, and no one has replied. I also noticed that, when I first posted it, it did not appear on the right portion of this site under the "recent topics" like all of my other new threads. Must be a glitch. Anyways, I know that every time I post anything on this site, it gets plenty of views and replies by people going out of their way to help me out. It was so odd that no one was reading or replying, that I wanted to repost this under the most highly visited section so I can get a good variety of answers/advice/opinions from all of you who are more experienced than I when it comes to carting! Please don't mind that I posted this in 2 different sections. Here's that original post from the misc dog sport section:



> Quote:We have a husky, and decided to hook him up to our daughters' Radio Flyer all-terrain (bigger tires) red wagon to pull around the neighborhood on the sidewalks and streets. We want to tap in to his sled dog purpose, and thought this would be fun for him and our 2 girls (3-year old and a 1-year old). It's also fun for us to do/see! Last night, I decided to form my first "sled team" with Nara (GSD) and Paw Paw both pulling the wagon side by side with me in the middle of them to guide and control them. I posted on a husky forum about this, and was told this "sport" is called carting. I was given the site http://www.romanreign.com/ to use as a good starting point for info and references on carting.
> 
> Last night, the two of them were able to pull, with ease, my wife and both girls sitting in the wagon. We eventually want to get another wagon or similar child's vehicle and hook each dog up individually. We plan on have more kids, so we could put two each per wagon/cart, with one dog per cart.
> 
> ...


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

And just to show that ANY dog can learn to do it:


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## Crabtree (Jan 6, 2006)

This is an interesting topic, I was thinking of asking the same thing.
Lauri, where did you get the 'Dog' surrey? I love it! Was is made for you?


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

I don't see why a GSD would not be suitable for carting. Dogs have been used to pull carts and other contraptions for years. I think I have some nice WWI and WWII photos of German Shepherds and other dogs pulling everything from sleds to machine guns on carts.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: crabbyThis is an interesting topic, I was thinking of asking the same thing.
> Lauri, where did you get the 'Dog' surrey? I love it! Was is made for you?


I WISH it were mine!! I simply Googled for pictures of GSDs pulling a cart. I found that one here:

http://www.tracelyn.co.uk/tracelyn_females.htm


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

Just remembered - someone has a cart listed in the Trading Post forum:

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=970054&page=1#Post970054


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

They can definitely be good for carting. I would recommend buying a good dog cart if you plan to do it more than just a little, as a child's wagon does not have the proper attachments for hooking a dog up-- unless you make the attachments yourself and convert the wagon! You can find plans online for how to do this.

I think any breed can be good for carting, I've seen all kinds of dogs do it and I taught my last dog, a Golden, carting as well...

I would recommend this website to teach your dogs how to properly pull a cart:
http://www.erols.com/gr8rswis/IntroCarting.htm 


Here is my Golden:


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

I built a cart for my Gsd mix, Doerak. I also went to a Swiss Mountain dog carting trial to learn what draft carting was all about. 

The intention with Doerak was to give him a low stress exercise that would strenthen his muscles and help with his HD. He was doing well, but got cancer and crossed the bridge. I plan on getting Balto into carting when he's a little older and a little less distracted. (LOL, if that ever happens) I'm also thinking of entering him in a draft test. The different breed clubs have different tests, but the Swiss Mountain dog test specifies a weight (Load) that is based on the dog's weight. 

Any dog can pull. You should see all the different breeds at a weight pull contest.


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## pjindy00 (Feb 19, 2007)

Pulling a cart with your kids should be just fine for your GSD. I'd probably stay away from anything too serious (such as weight pull competitions) since they aren't bred specifically for pulling, but nothing wrong with most any breed doing a little if it with a proper harness. A cart with proper attachments will make it easier on everyone with less chance of an "accident."

As a kid I had a small sled dog team, but before that I taught my retriever/lab to pull my paper route wagon around town. It became a pretty popular thing for people on my route!







And it was more fun for me than doing it by myself


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: BlackPuppy
> Any dog can pull. You should see all the different breeds at a weight pull contest.












We used to compete in weight pulling. My moms little 30lb Sheltie mix even did it and LOVED it. The great thing about weight pulling is you can NOT MAKE the dog do it if they don't want to.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

German Shepherds are so versatile, they are good at almost anything. For exercise my dog pulls a small jon boat while swimming. Could he pull a cart, easy.


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