# Pulling a cart?



## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Has anyone ever taught their GSD to pull a small cart to help haul things around like maybe small kids or yard trimmings or supplies on a long walk or hike? Any ideas about how to train for that?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Tiffeagles does weight pulling and Rott-n-GSDs does skijoring.

They'd probably be excellent resources to reach out to.


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

Thanks!


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

A carting woman comes to the Perry, GA UKC shows all the time... it looks pretty cool! The equipment is expensive, though. At least the carts you can ride on are. My mentor got a set for her GSDs, a few of her girls will pull but they're not to keen on hem and haw (I think those are the terms?) just quite yet. They still prefer to go where they please.

If you have a dog with a lot of angles in the hindquarters I'd stick to a four-wheeled cart so there's no downward pressure on the spine and hips. I've only seen larger dogs take on the two-wheeled carts the vendor brings, which look to me to put a fair amount of downward weight on the dog.

A woman with white shepherds uses her dogs under a cart to go grocery shopping and for pulling wheelchairs. Its pretty cool lookin', thats for sure!


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## huntergreen (Jun 28, 2012)

i might be showing some ignorance hear, but i think you may be setting your dog up for some injury hear. there are some breads that are very suited to this activity, think larger breeds, gsd , not so much.


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

huntergreen said:


> i might be showing some ignorance hear, but i think you may be setting your dog up for some injury hear. there are some breads that are very suited to this activity, think larger breeds, gsd , not so much.


Well right now I'm sort of learning about this myself, I've really only ever seen it done before, but I have seen a lot of GSD's doing what I would call "recreational pulling" where its more about giving them a fun job to do rather than actually using them as a draft animal. When I train carriage horses, the average commercial carriage can weigh anywhere from 400 to 700 pounds and the average person can pull it (with effort) because its on wheels. So 100 pounds isnt that much weight to pull for a 60 plus pound GSD.


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

marbury said:


> A carting woman comes to the Perry, GA UKC shows all the time... it looks pretty cool! The equipment is expensive, though. At least the carts you can ride on are. My mentor got a set for her GSDs, a few of her girls will pull but they're not to keen on hem and haw (I think those are the terms?) just quite yet. They still prefer to go where they please.
> 
> If you have a dog with a lot of angles in the hindquarters I'd stick to a four-wheeled cart so there's no downward pressure on the spine and hips. I've only seen larger dogs take on the two-wheeled carts the vendor brings, which look to me to put a fair amount of downward weight on the dog.
> 
> A woman with white shepherds uses her dogs under a cart to go grocery shopping and for pulling wheelchairs. Its pretty cool lookin', thats for sure!



Ya I'm not crazy about those two wheeled carts at all, really. I dont think putting a lot of weight on a dogs back is good for any breed of dog.

I'm thinking more a long the lines of having a small cart for the dog to pull with maybe couple drinks in it or supplies when we go on our long walks or to the park. Maybe stick my two year old (30 lbs) in the cart and have the dog pull him around outside the house for exercise on the days when we really didn't get out to the park or what have you for exercise......


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## marbury (Apr 3, 2012)

Let me ferret around the internet for a minute and see if I can find the vendor's website if she has one. Found it!!

http://www.chalosulky.com/

This is the woman that comes to our shows, she has a LOT of information to share. I have only picked her brain about it for a few minutes since it's too expensive and too much equipment for me to get into personally. I bet she could give you every bit of advice you'd ever need.


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## PatchonGSD (Jun 27, 2012)

marbury said:


> Let me ferret around the internet for a minute and see if I can find the vendor's website if she has one. Found it!!
> 
> http://www.chalosulky.com/
> 
> This is the woman that comes to our shows, she has a LOT of information to share. I have only picked her brain about it for a few minutes since it's too expensive and too much equipment for me to get into personally. I bet she could give you every bit of advice you'd ever need.


That site has exactly the sort of info I was looking for, Thanks!!


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

PatchonGSD, I'm also interested in this subject, and was wondering if you've started yet?


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## ozzymama (Jan 17, 2005)

I actually cart with my Saint. We have a harness, a wagon/sled (just change to runners in the winter) and we removed the factory tongue (just a Radio Flyer run of the mill wagon) and put in a tongue with shafts (think sulky) made from PVC. We don't do weight pulling, she's a rescue dog, no way to know if she could do it and a lack of good breeding papers to say - let's give it a try.
Drafting / Carting - Canada's Guide to Dogs - Clubs, Sports and Activities That was the website I started gathering info from and went from there. She's not at the point where I can have her off-lead while pulling, we're working to it. There is a lot of conditioning and training before you can put any weight at all in the wagon/cart.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

I had a sulky type cart , two wheels with shaft. The cart had a floor and a bench . I used it to take my young daughter for rides, to go to the shops and bring back groceries, to participate in local community parades.

It does not matter whether it is a two wheel or a four wheel. What matters is the HARNESS and braces that you use.

I still have my cart , dusty, rusty and siezed up sitting in the barn. Maybe I'll have it restored , get these energetic dogs to haul haybales to the paddocks.


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## harmony (May 30, 2002)

mine pulled a wagon with kids in it . My grandma when I was a kid I do remember in the snow had an alaskin mal that pulled us in a sliegh .


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## harmony (May 30, 2002)

but to pull u know u have to have a harness >


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