More pictures of lupo... this time doing what he is meant to do!!!

[Samnooshka]

This bank holiday weekend James and I went to the AMWA (Alaskan Malamute Working Association) fun weekend in Salisbury. Lupo had his first time on the scooter and did really well... only 5/6 weeks until the start of season so training has started now!!!

So i thought i would share a few pictures of these dogs in action :)

http://static.flickr.com/1107/1256781663_05e02401d1_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1256781663)
Finn, Inca and Amano (aussie shepherd dog)

http://static.flickr.com/1074/1257633942_a362b4e4fe_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1257633942)
Ranger

http://static.flickr.com/1343/1257627638_5c00b28d98_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1257627638)
Zeus and Saffy

http://static.flickr.com/1372/1251438979_7f304f0e09_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1251438979)
Lupo

http://static.flickr.com/1189/1252299018_360f13ddf6_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1252299018)
Lupo again

http://static.flickr.com/1411/1251034692_cce43871e7_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1251034692)
Lupo in harness waiting for his turn!!

http://static.flickr.com/1367/1249455861_f040c36404_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1249455861)
Finn in harness.

http://static.flickr.com/1116/1249602067_3dc3346b94_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1249602067)
Noobie... in her ASBO shirt (Anti Social Barking Order)... just thought this was a silly picture.

And cute picture of the weekend goes to...
http://static.flickr.com/1052/1249436655_6fb9a38409_d.jpg (http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1249436655)
Saffy

Last one.....

For anybody who has bought t-shirts this is one of the dogs your money is helping... Yoda is a long coat red malamute...
We collected Yoda from his foster mum 4 weeks ago it feels like he has always been a part of our family. Yoda had very little training in his first home. We are going to obedience training every week and he is doing brilliantly he is learning heal work, recalls, sit and present, We are hoping eventually to do full obedience with him and in the summer he will have a go at agility too.
He has so far been great with every dog he has met during his walks on the beach from labs to jack-russells. We had our 10 month old grandson come to stay for a long weekend 2 weeks after Yoda arrived and he was fantastic with the baby. We were originally looking at getting a puppy after about 9 months of research into the breed, but having found the rescue web-site and seeing his picture we decided to see if we would be suitable to adopt him. We cannot believe our luck when we passed the home check we were going to be allowed to have the honor of adopting him. He is the missing link in our family. We are looking forward to many happy years with him

http://static.flickr.com/1022/1249494137_fcc66c0cea_d.jpg ('http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1249494137')

[pencil shavings]

now im not usualy a fan of dogs, but wow, are those cute! :)

and they double up as a handy transport aswell! at first i thought those were some odd looking bicycles, but no! lol

very nice!

[Samnooshka]

http://static.flickr.com/1407/1249595513_c8f89e96db_d.jpg ('http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1249595513')
Side on view of the scooter with Inca and Amano pulling it.

[pencil shavings]

thats quailty! how fast can they pull you along at?

[hovis]

http://static.flickr.com/1407/1249595513_c8f89e96db_d.jpg ('http://flickr.com/photos/52837090@N00/1249595513')
Side on view of the scooter with Inca and Amano pulling it.

if they saw somthing intresting to the right of them, would the go in that direction, thus making you fall off?

[sarah]

if they saw somthing intresting to the right of them, would the go in that direction, thus making you fall off?

I was wondering that too. Also, why are some dogs attached to the scooter and some to the people?

Looks brilliant fun! Lovely pics too.

[Samnooshka]

Depends on the strength of the dog, Lupo on his own averages about 8-10mph, but mostly dogs average about 15 mph... so not fast (huskies being smaller and lighter are much faster but you need more of them to move the same mass that a mal can move), but fast enough when you're travelling by commitee lol. It was Lupo's first time out on the Friday evening, and by Monday morning he was fantastic :D He shot off running uphill and i didn't need to scoot at all, then i needed him to turn left (Haw) and as soon as i said it he moved to the left straight away, no questions asked.

Another time we were running behind Zeus and Ranger, Lupo caught up with Zeus and i shouted to run past, on the way past lupo moved over to Zeus, shoulder barged him then ran faster lol.

If they do see something at the side that they are interested in then they will go after it and most likely i will end up on my ass!! But you have to be so aware of whats going on and i just shout "on by" and he leaves it and keeps running. We have had nearly a year of training with him before putting him on the scooter teaching him his left and rights (Haw and Gee) and leaving things (Leave it / On By).

Some dogs are attached to the scooter because there are 2 or more of them and its quite uncomfortable on the waist with 2 dog s pulling, i had Lupo attached to me and even he was pulling me forward on the scooter so i was leaning on the handle bars. Also with his first few times out it is easier to attach him to me so if i was to come off i could just step off the scooter and he wouldn't run off. What i'll do as he gets the hang of the scooter is attach him to the scooter and attach a line to me off the scooter so if i do come off the scooter will just fall and catch on my line and he wont be able to run off.

[K]

It's soo cool to see them worked like this - it's what they need to do to be happy. It's in the blood.

Quite the contrast to the husky that lives next door to me - even with four other dogs in that household he's obviously bored crapless, hence breaking out of their garden and mooching round the local area.
Usually with their Flat Coated Retriever in tow as he's so dumb (and younger) he'll just follow the Husky everywhere. ;)

They get walked regularly in the fields/park near us, but it's just obviously not enough to keep him happy - no 'structured' work environment.
He's also broken through our fence in two places and made occasional forays into our garden - luckily when my dog has been in the house...

... not so lucky was one of my rabbits. Broke through the run and made off with her, leaving the other one a shivvering ball of fuzz. I dread to think what would have happened if my tortoise had been out there too. :(

He's also now bitten one of the kids that lives over the road. They have a couple of boxers and all three of their kids know how to approach and react around dogs - so I think it unlikely that the child wound the Husky up. He was probably put on edge by the sound of the Boxers barking in the house.

It's sad, but they just don't make your average household pet - they are working dogs.

[trickywoos]

Hey Sammy, where do u get the scooter and harness from? Would love to try with Buster. So far they've had him pulling a bicycle along whilst on the lead but that's not ideal!

Love the pics- the one of Lupo harnessed up is adorable hun!!

[markmoto]

thats awesome sam looks like great fun ;-) i often think it would be a good idea to tie my two dogs to a scooter but it would probably be a bad idea! lol

[Samnooshka]

I got my scooter from a company in Canada, Belize (http://www.belizebike.com/english/scooter.html%5D%5BURL=%22http://www.belizebike.com/english/scooter.html) Mine is the black Toucan. But you could try here too... snowpaw store (http://www.snowpawstore.co.uk/store/comersus_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory= 61)

I really like the look of the pawtrekker, the brush bow makes it easier to pull, I had already ordered the toucan when i saw this one though.

The harnesses i got from someone on the Icebay Malamute forum (http://www.icebaymals.co.uk/forums/index.php) We measures Lupo up and got him a skijouring/jogging harness (sits just below the shoulders on the back) for the scooter and the x-back (pulls from the base of back near the tail) one for the rig. We also got the gangline and a walking belt. These guys are pretty good too... Culpeppers (http://www.culpeppers.co.uk) Yet to try any of their stuff though.

Lupo will now be trained 1-2 times a week and on walks we re-enforce our cammand words, Haw, Gee, Steady, Woah, On By etc, just to get it into him what he is meant to do. General exercise we walk about 2 to 4 miles, and even after that when we get back to the car he is wanting to go again.

If anyone is interested in coming to watch the rallies to see what these dogs can do then give me a shout as i'd love to show these dogs off :)

Sammy

ps, sorry seem to have gone off a bit there lol, hope its useful to some of you though :)

[trickywoos]

Def let me know when you're training etc around here hun, would love to come along and watch!

[markmoto]

Just been looking on that snowpaw site and as i suspected they say alot of dogs are capable of pulling a scooter, ive had my collie pulling me on a bike and our new pup well over one now is a lab, staff cross we thing is a strong thing, sturdy built and luvs to pull so i think they would both do this well, may give this a go sometime ;-)

[Samnooshka]

Yes any dog can do it :) Its great fun :) Kirsty runs Inca her Malamute and Amano her Aussie Shepherd together and they do really well :)

Lupo can't compete in Rallies until he is a year which he will be on 14th September, but he has been in training on the mountain bike (not pulling) since he was about 7 months old and we have been teaching him his lefts and rights since he was about 2 or 3 months old :). Bigger dogs shouldn't pull on a scooter until they are about 10 months old and it shouldn't be for long periods of time, even this weekend we just did a mile or so just to build him up :).

[Bluewolf]

Such a beautiful dog mate, he's absolutely stunning.

[Samnooshka]

Short video of todays training session!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFYvRutjjz0