Dog Scootering a journey

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MPbandmom
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Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

The search continues for others to go scootering with. This past weekend, I took my two to a lure coursing event with a bunch of samoyeds. I know that some of these samoyeds scooter. During something of a pause in the lure coursing, I asked if anyone there did scootering. The person who seemed to be in charge mentioned that she does scootering with the Balto group, which is now scootering along a canal towpath in Delaware in preparation for an upcoming race in New Jersey I think. Their runs have gone from 3 hours away to 3+ hours away and they are near the end of their season and preparing for a second race, so even if they were closer, I don't feel like I would fit into their outings well as I am not racing, at least not yet.

She also mentioned and pointed out a couple with a young samoyed not yet old enough to pull who are thinking about trying scootering. I went off with them to show them the scootering equipment that I had in my van. I told them about the scooter, showed them a couple of styles of harnesses, the tug line and how it attaches. I pointed out that there are various home made gizmos and gadgets for keeping the line out of the front tire. The gadget that I have needs a little more modification. It consists of foam pipe insulation wrapped around the upper portion of the tug line. I need to come up with a way to suspend it above the tire. The foam is thick enough to reduce the likelyhood of wrapping around the front wheel, but it still rubs on the tire occasionally when I end up going faster than Sky for some reason.

When the organizer lady mentioned that she scooters with the Balto group, the thought occured to me that I am pretty sure she raced at FairHill. She brought 3 dogs to the lure coursing event. I think she ran 2 dogs at FairHill in the scooter class and someone from the Balto group held the third dog for her while she ran. She has 2 females and 1 male. I didn't see the male run, but her 2 females were 2 of the 3 samoyeds that seemed to "get" the lure coursing. The other samoyed that "got" the lure coursing was the young dog whose owners are thinking about getting into scootering.

I am horrible with names, and as I went off to show the other people the scootering equipment and then got distracted, I never went back to speak with her to confirm whether or not I had indeed previously met her at FairHill. Now I'm not sure if she is the same person that was doing the emailing about the event, because again, I am horrible with names and don't remember what her name was. I am a bit embarrased now to ask.

Not really knowing anything about the Samoyed breed other than they are apparently historically pulling dogs, I watched the lure coursing with interest. Some people were convinced that if they just had another dog show their dog how it's done, they would "get" it. I find myself wondering if there is a correlation between desire to pull and desire to chase. Does the desire to chase, make one more likely to be suitable to pull, or are they separate drives altogether? Is it easier to train a dog to pull, who also has a high drive to chase, or is a high drive to chase a negative for a pulling dog? Were the dogs that weren't into the lure just distracted by the environment as some seemed to think, and would I see a different side of their personalities in a different situation?

The person running the lure indicated that Sky reminded her of a group of huskies that came out to try lure coursing. That like Sky, they were very athletic. What does athletic mean in reference to scootering, or any other dog sport? Does athletic mean high energy level, or high drive. Sky definately had some major adrenelin pumping from the lure coursing as she was much more restless and wanting to do something than she normally is with the boring environment around here. Sky obviously has a very high chase drive. This has been beneficial at times to the scootering, and it has been detrimental at times to the scootering. Does athletic mean I should be thinking about racing instead of just recreational scootering. If she is athletic and well suited to racing and the local scootering groups seem more focused on the racing aspect, then having a goal of training for a race would fit in better with the groups. But at the same time, Sky is 7 years old, how fair is it to expect her to train for a race in the single dog catagory? By next season, she will be 8.

The person who seemed to be in charge of the event, mentioned several times that the location often offers lure coursing if I was interested in bringing Sky more often. Does that mean that people in the know who have observed her in action think she is more suited to lure coursing than scootering? Does it mean that people who have observed us don't think we look like good scootering partners? Have I not yet met the right members of this group who do scooter? All but one or two of the cars parked in the field had VA license plates on them. I feel like I am getting closer to finding people in my state to scooter with, yet at the same time I don't feel like I am any closer at all. I went to the event thinking I was going to meet potential people to scooter with and came away apparently having just been around people that I had been around before that don't scooter in this area.

I don't think I want Sky to put a lot of time into drumming up her adrenelin and chase drive doing lure coursing. It seems like kind of a mindless off on her own doing her own thing kind of activity. Not to mention the challenge of being practically drug over to the lure by Sky and then struggling to drag her back to the van when her run is over. To me, scootering requires more brain usage and is more doing something together.

I think this outing has raised more questions than it has answered. I will keep an eye on the Samoyed group and see what activities come up that perhaps they would let Sky participate in.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
GidgMom
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Joined: Mon Feb 25, 2013 10:12 pm

Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by GidgMom »

I'm Gidget's mom and was at that lure course event last weekend (I had the green Honda Element and took photographs). I Googled "Samoyed" and "lure coursing" and your post popped up. I think you have my e-mail so you can contact me privately if you wish.

Meanwhile, Potomac Valley Samoyed Club has a group that scooters and bikejors on the C&O Canal -- usually the portion near Potomac, Maryland (just outside the DC Beltway). Balto Group moves around more so they may go some places more convenient to you. I can tell you (in a private e-mail) who is the woman you're thinking of who scooters three Samoyeds with Balto Group. She was not at the lure coursing event.

Regarding getting your tow line off your front wheel: I use an "aerobar" on all my scooters and mountain bikes. The company that makes mine is "Profile Design" and they can be found in many bike shops and REI. They are all similar to this and cost me between $65-$95: http://www.amazon.com/Profile-Design-Ce ... s=aero+bar

They aren't cheap but I haven't found anything better. These are designed for road bikes so are super lightweight while also being strong. I hook the tow line to the neck of the bike or scooter and run it over the aerobar. Gives me a little leverage if Gidget goes to a side. I don't use anything else with the tow line.

If you allow too much slack in the towline it could possible still get caught in the front wheel, but that's only happened to me when I literally run over the line.

Gidget's nearly 11 years old and this winter I've only been bikejoring with her so she doesn't actually have to pull and can just run in front of the bike - which she loves. She began scootering when she was 18 months old. There's more information, videos and photos at this link:

http://www.potomacvalleysams.com/Dogsco ... oring.html

If you're around DC sometime and want to scooter, please let me know.
MPbandmom
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Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Thanks Gidgets mom! I was thinking about posting to the PVSC for someone to scooter with. Although the price of gas to run that big van places is starting to become an issue.

This morning I have been getting frustrated trying to find line, bungees, fids, and clips all in one location so that I can make a two dog single file gangline for my two. I don't really have plans to run them in this configuration due to Sirius' temprement and I don't have her settled enough to run on a trail yet. I have however, gotten the notion that I want a picture of the two of them running together. If I can find a willing photogropher and a wide open, quiet space somewhere. Of course, I can't run them in this configuration without the lines to do so, thus my search. I thought I had bookmarked a site with colorful polyethelene rope and clips and another site with bungee cord and fids. Somewhere along the line I seem to have lost the fid site. This morning, I found a site with rope and fids, but when I went to check out I was quite shocked by the shipping options and charges. I believe the site is in Alaska and shipping is about 3 times the price of the items I want to order. :shock:

There seems to be a lot of polypropelene rope, but the polyethelene is harder to find. I am somewhat wondering if I need the low temperature qualities of polyethelene around here though. I have seen a fid made out of a size 15 knitting needle, which I just happen to have an odd one of, but I don't know what size rope it was being used with and I would have to cut off the back and honestly I would rather just buy a fid as they seem pretty inexpensive. I could get polypropelene rope at the local hardware store and we have a Southern States locally that sells the swivel clips. I haven't seen bulk bungee locally, but then I havent really looked for it either. Maybe they have fid's at the hardware store too with the rope? I just hate the idea of ordering from 3 different places and paying shipping multiple times to get the materials that I need to make the lines.

I am looking into the aerobar option. I found some inexpensive ones on Amazon, but the comments warn about the limited sizes of handlebars that they will fit. Gigits' mom's scooter has mountain bike style handlebars and mine has bmx style handlebars. I am planning on taking Siruis to the battlefield today which will put me going past the bike shop, so I am thinking about stopping by and asking about aerobars that might fit on my scooter. The shop guy looked rather amused last time I took the scooter in for brake work and I'm pretty sure he is the same guy that assembled it a couple of years ago. I don't get into the bike shop on a regular basis like I used to.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
MPbandmom
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Today I have taken a difinitive step towards making my own ganglines. I realized I had another site saved for the polyethelene line and this was the site with the pretty colors I wanted and the fids and the snap clips. The only thing the site didn't have was bungee cord. I have pretty well determined to source that locally even if it means cutting the metal/plastic hooks off of them to be able to use them. I also goofed in the ordering of the snap clips and so will need to get 2 more locally plus a heavier duty clip to attach the line to the scooter. I knnow where I can get the snap clips and I think the heavier duty clip should be readily available at a hardware store.

I have ordered 7 feet of 1/4" purple line for Sky or lead dog tugline. I have ordered 7 feet of 1/4" orange line for Sirius or wheel? dog tugline and neckline. I have ordered 14 feet of 3/8" black and orange line for the center tug line sections. (We may look like Halloween all year round, but my scooter is orange and the bicolored line would readily distinguish it from the solid black single dog tug that I have.) This may be too much, but I am thinking one section from scooter to Sirius and one section along side of Sirius up to Sky. Some length will be lost due to knotting and splicing and I anticipate each section ending up being about 5 feet. I think my current single dog tug is 7 feet. I plan on putting a bungee section in the main line from scooter to Sirius and then smaller bungee sections in each dog's tug line.

I am also potentially getting closer to getting a picture of the two of them running together once I get the ganglines made. There is a family get together in a couple of weeks that will likely allow me to speak with a cousin who happened to be the photographer at my wedding. There is also the lady from the samoyed group that I may be scootering with who takes a lot of pictures, so she might be another possibility. The challenge will be finding the right location to run the two dogs together that either of these people could also get to readily.

When I do get this picture, it is going on my bulletin board by my desk at work and on my bank card. :D
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
MPbandmom
Posts: 1637
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

The polyethelene rope that I ordered came in yesterday. The fids do look remarkebly like knitting needles that have been cut off at an angle and sanded down. I could put them in my needle gage to see what size they were originally. :lol: Oh well, saved me the cutting and grinding. :lol: Tried to find 1/4 and 3/8 inch bungee at the store last night. The only information the packages provided was maybe the length.

Went to the hardware store today and after getting stumped by the weight ratings on the 1/2 inch swivel clips and the larger clip to hook the gangline to the scooter, I totally forgot to look for bungees. The 1/2 inch swivel clips had a rating of 70 lbs. One of the larger clips had a rating of 80 lbs and another one that looked more substantial didn't have a rating, but said it shouldn't be used for overhead suspending of objects, to support a human, or in athletic applications where loss or injury could occur. I have no idea what the pull weight works out to be. A 50 lb dog plus a 40 lb dog pulling a 105 lb person and a 15 or so pound scooter equals, what pull force? I'm pretty sure once moving the force is well below the ratings. So, I now have all of the components to make the ganglines except the bungee.

I will be taking Sirius out later to the battlefield and may stop by the hardware store over in that area while I am out.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by Swanny1790 »

MPbandmom wrote: I'm pretty sure once moving the force is well below the ratings. So, I now have all of the components to make the ganglines except the bungee.

I will be taking Sirius out later to the battlefield and may stop by the hardware store over in that area while I am out.
You'll probably be O.K. with that gear, but I'd suggest instead of hardware stores do some on-line shopping for a stainless steel, locking carabiner, similar to this one.

Image

While recreational climbers rely on lighter weight gear, the stainless carabiners used by high angle rescue specialists are stronger and more durable. I've had teams stretch out and even break all manner of swivel clips, snap hooks and so forth and even good carabiners designed for climbing, but thus far stainless locking biners have held up exceptionally well.

It may require modifying your rig a bit to accommodate the thicker metal, but I think doing so would be worthwhile.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
MPbandmom
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Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Thank you for the tip Swanny. I have actually kind of been wondering if I really need a clip at the scooter end or if I could just loop the line around the frame. The set up that came with the single dog tug line that I bought was a webbing loop with a d-ring. The webbing loop fits around the front frame and the d ring passes through the loop. Then there is a clip that hooks to the d-ring. The packaging talks of how the web loop can be removed and the tug line used as a lead with the web loop for a hand hold.

My current plan is to just hook the new gangline to this web loop and d-ring. When that wears out though, I don't think I would trust my sewing machine to stitch webbing securely enough to replicate it. It seems like the end loop on the first gangline section could be made large enough and just as easily be looped around the scooter frame and do away with a clip at that end. Then it becomes just a matter of how sturdy the clips are that attach the dogs to the gangline. Do you use the carbiners to hook the dogs to the gangline, or to hook the gangline to the sled?
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by Swanny1790 »

MPbandmom wrote: It seems like the end loop on the first gangline section could be made large enough and just as easily be looped around the scooter frame and do away with a clip at that end. Then it becomes just a matter of how sturdy the clips are that attach the dogs to the gangline. Do you use the carbiners to hook the dogs to the gangline, or to hook the gangline to the sled?
Your idea would work, though I'd be concerned about getting the gang line tangled in the front wheel of the rig. I REALLY like some of the designs I've seen are set up so the gangline actually attaches forward of the wheel. One that comes to mind readily is a gadget called the "Stinger". Here is an image of something similar that a musher has rigged to his bicycle.

Image

Our sleds are equipped with a "bridle", which is attached on both sides of the sled. I don't have an image of mine, but I borrowed this from the Web. It shows the general idea. We attach the gangline to the bridle using the carabiner.

Image

Now, one advantage to using nylon webbing you should consider is that nylon is very dynamic - it stretches. In fact, nylon may stretch as much as 40% before breaking. That means that if you use nylon webbing you probably would not need to use a bunjee section as a shock cord. I don't run a shock cord on my sleds, but my lines are made of hollow braided poly with aircraft control cable inside. During construction, the cable is inserted very loosely so the line can stretch up to 10% before the cable takes the load.

The bunjee shock cords were almost never seen until dog mushers began using cable rather than nylon rope for their gang lines, quite a few years ago. The cable-filled poly ganglines are a relatively recent innovation (past decade or so), and a lot of folks still use the shock cord with them as a matter of habit. The down-side to the shock cord, on the trails I run, is that it places the wheel dogs two-feet further in front of the sled, so on tight turns around trees or other obstructions when the wheel dogs run very close to the obstruction they tend to pull the sled into it. I completely trashed what was once a really sweet light-weight racing sled in a situation like that.

LOL - seriously, we were on a downhill stretch of trail, and the sled hit the tree so hard the brush bow collapsed, the front of the sled hit the tree, and I wound up in the basket of the sled, with the drive bow still in my hands (broken off the tops of the rear stanchions). It's a funny story today, but at the time it was a considerable challenge as we were 15 miles from home and I had no choice but figure out a way to drive the wreckage well enough to get the fuzz-butts safely back to the house.
"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
MPbandmom
Posts: 1637
Joined: Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:18 pm

Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Swanny1790 wrote:Your idea would work, though I'd be concerned about getting the gang line tangled in the front wheel of the rig. I REALLY like some of the designs I've seen are set up so the gangline actually attaches forward of the wheel. One that comes to mind readily is a gadget called the "Stinger". Here is an image of something similar that a musher has rigged to his bicycle.

Image
Interesting, I haven't seen a gizmo like this one before. Most of the gizmos I have seen attach the line to the frame and then run it through a pvc tube that is in some way suspended from the front of the of the frame/handlebars. Maybe I'm just a wimp, but something about having a piece of PVC pipe sticking out in the front like that just looks dangerous to me. I have recently seen a bicycle u'shape aerobar mounted upside down on the handlebar of a scooter and the line run through that. I'm liking the looks of that better, but I'm not liking the price of the aerobars. I currently have foam pipe insulation wrapped around the upper part of the line below the clip that hooks to the d ring on the nylon web and that seems to help prevent the line from tangling in the wheel. It is kind of too stiff to catch on the tread and wrap around. I don't have the line suspended though and the foam will hit the tire if the line becomes too slack.

I went to the bike shop this past weekend checking on the aerobars and the mechanic suggested a different attachment location for the line that may help until I can find a bargin aerobar. He was also quite intrigued with the concept as he happens to own a shepherd lab mix. :lol:

That is interesting on the stretch of the nylon. Things I have read say the bungee reduces the jolt to the dog and rider at start up. Then afterwards the dog runs with the bungee fully stretched out. I think it is kind of like how you described the cable being run through the line. The bungee is run through the line with the line bunched up over the bungee and knots tied in each end of the bungee that stick out of the side of the line. This is to prevent the line from un-bunching over the bungee section. (is un-bunching a word? :lol: )

http://digglerstore.com/collections/par ... g-tug-line Here is the single dog tug line that I bought.
http://digglerstore.com/products/dirt-dawg-hb Here is the scooter. I did have the line attached in the center of the two frame members. The bike shop guy moved it to the handlebar stem. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.

Pictures because I'm not sure how accurate my descriptions might come across.

http://uberpest.com/2006/10/make-your-own-gangline/ These are the directions I am using to make the two dog single file gangline.
http://skijor.hypermart.net/line_article.html These are the directions I am using to insert the bungee sections. These were the directions I was originally referred to for making one's own lines, but the illustrations on the other link with the different colors on the lines made more sense to me.

I will try to post a picture of my finished product if I can get a clear one. Although so far I still don't have the bungee cords.
Swanny1790 wrote:Our sleds are equipped with a "bridle", which is attached on both sides of the sled. I don't have an image of mine, but I borrowed this from the Web. It shows the general idea. We attach the gangline to the bridle using the carabiner.

Image

LOL - seriously, we were on a downhill stretch of trail, and the sled hit the tree so hard the brush bow collapsed, the front of the sled hit the tree, and I wound up in the basket of the sled, with the drive bow still in my hands (broken off the tops of the rear stanchions). It's a funny story today, but at the time it was a considerable challenge as we were 15 miles from home and I had no choice but figure out a way to drive the wreckage well enough to get the fuzz-butts safely back to the house.
I always wondered how the lines were attached to sleds, but never bothered to research it even though they had sleds for sale at the dryland mushing race I attended this past fall.

That does not sound like a very pleasant end to a wonderful sled at all. :(
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
MPbandmom
Posts: 1637
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Today I went to a birthday party for my aunt. You may wonder how this has anything to do with dog scootering. Well, my cousins, her 3 children, were there. They are all several years older than I am with the youngest being 3 to 4 years older. The youngest being closest in age to my brother and myself was always my favorite. The others just seemed way older and off busy doing other things. The youngest and his wife have gotten into jogging. They will be doing a 10 K next weekend. He still does some bike riding but not as much as in the past. He is the one who first introduced me to 10 speed derailler style bicycles. I went to ride with him and decided my 3 speed internal hub bicycle wouldn't be a match for his 10 speed. So I bought a 10 speed to go riding with him, only to find out he now had a 15 speed. :shock: Not seeing each other very often these days, we each asked what the other one was up to. I showed him a picture of Sky in harness with the scooter. He asked if I was getting lazy in my old age. I pointed out that one dog and a scooter was still quite a work out because one has to help the dog along.

A while later, I was speaking with the oldest. She was quite surprised to hear I had dogs. I showed her the same picture I had shown her brother. She practically jumped out of her seat in excitement. It seems she has a siberian husky that she runs some on a springer attachment to her bicycle. She is starting to look into scootering with her. Here I have been searching all over the place for people to scooter with and apparently I have a cousin who is a fairly good candidate. She lives about a 2 hour drive southwest of me though. She seems willing to travel up my way as there apparently isn't much place around where she is that she would feel comfortable running the dog in typical mushing fashion.

The middle cousin has always been into horses. As a child, she had a box with a slot in the top, labeled horse money. She worked and saved and bought a horse for herself. She now has several horses and many awards and ribbons for barrel racing and it turns out she will be coming up to our area next weekend with her horses. I might try and go see her there. I was always a little jealous of her living her dream, but she really worked hard to be able to do that. I have also since decided that I don't think I am necessairly suited for the horse lifestyle.

So today was a nice day of catching up with cousins and sharing things I have learned about scootering with a pretty well researched and interested cousin. She definately has been doing a lot of reading up and has been looking at scooters already. Even without the scooters, she has gotten a tug line and harness for her dog so she is close to being set to go.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
MPbandmom
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

After checking my numbers with the dogs love to run yahoo group and determining what size loops I need to make where and where to insert the fid in the line to achieve those loops, I have begun the process of making my own tug, gang, and necklines. I have begun the process because it turns out my careful caluclations didn't take into account working with a fid. :lol: As a result, I have managed to waste a fair portion of what was supposed to be Sirius' neck and tug lines and ended up with just a neckline. Sky's tugline went a little better, but ended up shorter than I had calculated. I think it will still be okay. What was supposed to be 2 sections of gangline, turned out to be one section of gangline and essentially another neck line length thing.

I have ordered more line to complete the tug line section for Sirius and make the second gangline. The next challenging part of the project is cutting, gluing, and then inserting the bungee sections. Well, bungee section as I have really only ended up with one tugline. I may wait on that part until I have received the remaining rope and have the other sections finished.

What I learned: One needs to insert the fid about 18 inches from the end to make the 3" loops for tuglines and necklines. It takes about 3' of line to make an 18" neckline. It takes about 7' of line to make a 4' tugline. One needs to insert the fid about 2 feet from the end to make a 6" loop for the ganglines, so it takes about 10' of line to make a 6' gangline. For an x back harness 2' is allowed for the dog, so a 4' tugline goes with a 6' gangline section. My wheel dog doesn't wear an x back she has the urban trails. I ended up using the tug line attached to the harness and neckline placed at an angle that I thought looked good to avoid her doing any pulling with the neckline. Lined up the line I had to make the gangline out of beside this and then inserted the fid at what looked like the appropriate place. I guess we will find out how accurate that was after I have gotten the additional line and made the needed additional sections.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
MPbandmom
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Today, I tested out my 2 dog inline gangline. It was not a total failure. :lol: :lol: It is possible that the gangline section beside Sirius is too long. Sky essentially drug her along by her collar while her tugline was totally slack. Neither Sirius nor I were pleased by this state of affairs, so I unclipped the neckline. Things went somewhat better after that, but Sirius kept getting kind of tangled with the gangline and I don't think her tugline was ever taught, except for when Sky was then dragging Sirius by her harness.

My options would seem to be to shorten the gangline section, or simply do away with it. Keep in mind, my goal is to get a picture/short video of the two dogs running together. It is not to actually run them together for any kind of distance. That would not be fair to either one of them. Sirius did run part of the time today, but I don't think she ever really pulled, or even tugged. Doing away with the gangline would put the dogs closer to the scooter and Sky would still likely run in a lead position pulling, and Sirius would still likely run or be drug along in a wheel position. A picture could still probably be taken with Sky in lead and Sirius behind and not the seemingly huge amount of space between scooter and lead dog that I had today.

Since I still don"t have anyone to take action pictures for me. I will post the few still shots that I took. This was at the end of our about 1/2 mile run after the neckline had been unhooked.

Image
Here they are actually standing nicely in a "line out." This is not a command I have formally taught.

Image

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This is an example of what can happen if dogs aren't taught a line out command.

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This is an example of why a line out command is much more important when one has more than one dog in harness.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
OnceInAWeil
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by OnceInAWeil »

:lol: Oops!

Thanks for sharing the pics. :D
MPbandmom
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by MPbandmom »

Yesterday I took the dogs out with a more traditional two dog scooter line set up. I have also adjusted the length of the first section of gangline after some additional tips I received from the mushing group. I now have the intital gangline at about 3 feet with bungee section and then each dog has her own tugline of about 4-5 feet with bungee section. I did not use a neckline on them as that would likely have resulted in Sirius being drug around by her neck again. I did have to straighten out a few tangles that resulted from one or the other of them going off to sniff something and getting the line wrapped around some part of their body in the process. For the most part this set up seemed to work pretty well. The only time Sirius really ran with her tugline tight was when there was a dog walker in front of us. I notice neither one of them really seems to pull enough in general to stretch out the bungee cords. From what I had read, the bungee's would be fully extended while running. I'm not sure if that is a function of the size bungee I put into the line, or the weight of the load. I suppose it doesn't really matter as long as the result is that the scooter is pulled along behind the dogs. The other possibility might be that I bunched up too much line over the bungee sections, but I can pull it out by hand and it looks differently to what it looked while running.

My gadget to keep the line out of the wheel is working very well. It did slip off at one point, but was easy to put back together and seemed to hold after that. I think I probably need the suspension line to be a little longer, but dont' feel that need urgently enough to buy more line at this time.

I could have had company, but the sammies are into the show scene now as this was an unusual weather pattern and the sammies don't normally have temps cool enough to scooter in this time of year.

It seems that my dog scootering journey is leading me to a possible journey into dog shows. Dog scootering is pretty much free after one purchases the equipment. One just needs to keep up with some basic maintenance on the scooter, lines, vehicle and gas to transport everything, and the dogs. Although the vehicle aspect can get a bit pricey. The Malamute group is running this morning in upper Maryland which is 100+ miles and a 2 hour drive from here. Plus they are starting at 8 am which means I would have to leave home before I usually get up in the morning. :shock: I would also need a full tank of gas and the ability to refill upon return. This at a time when I am trying to decide if I can top off the tank before it gets too low and it is only down to 3/4 of a tank.

Then I look at the various dog activities like barn hunt and rally. There is the registration fee to get a registration number for the dog. Both dogs have their AKC numbers, but there seems to be more UKC rally in this area so I would need to get a UKC number at least for Sirius. I don't particularly see Sky doing rally although I think they also have lure coursing under UKC. The last experience with Sky and lure coursing has made me rather wary of taking her back again unless I can keep her in her crate in the van until it is her actual turn to run and I don't think these things usually work in a manner compatable with that. Barn Hunt has their own separate numbers. The dogs also have Dog Scout competition numbers which I must say were much less expensive than the other organization's registration fees. Dogs don't need the reg numbers to work on badges, but a titling aspect has been added for things like backpacking and IMPROV and those requre the registration number. Then each time one wants to participate in a trial, one has to pay an additional registration fee. This all makes badge work from Dog Scouts look like a much better option. I am running into some difficulty with that by not having a local troop as things have to be videotapes for submission and some things still require another person as witness. I am about halfway to having the checkoffs for Sky for the lure coursing badge, but haven't yet figured out how to come up with the rest and submit.

All of which pretty well puts me back at square one and looking for free places close to home to take the dogs to. I do hope this is a temporary situation and that things will be better next year.
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Swanny1790
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Re: Dog Scootering a journey

Post by Swanny1790 »

One just needs to keep up with some basic maintenance on the scooter, lines, vehicle and gas to transport everything, and the dogs. Although the vehicle aspect can get a bit pricey.
The vehicle aspect can indeed get a bit pricey.

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"Once infected with the mushing virus, there is no cure. There is only trail." - Sven Engholm
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