Lesson Learned:
If something you are doing isn’t working, try something different. Today, we learned this lesson when trying to teach a puppy to line out while we were kick sledding.
When training dogs, sometimes you need to be more firm. Kristin says, “use your ‘I mean it’ voice”.
When training dogs, sometimes you need to be more animated and fun, especially with puppies
Remember to praise the dogs when they are doing what you want them to do.
It’s important to have a tie down system / quick release/ brake to safely secure your sled/kicksled/cart
Planning your day is helpful
When you need to keep a dog from licking/scratching a wound or surgical site, there are options. Today we discussed cones vs donuts
It’s important to check conditions to determine if you need booties: snow texture, temperature, distance you plan to run, what dog(s) are running
Check paws after running
When you remove the tug lines when you finish your run, it tells the dogs they are “all done” / “off duty”. It also reduces their pulling power.
It is good to continually look at the dogs’ environment and ask, “how can i make this safer?”
It is good to have extra dog houses, posts and swivels available in the yard
We learned about repurposing / recycling available objects
We reviewed about dressing appropriately for the weather and the difference between wool and cotton.
We discussed how Harlyn’s junior mushing experience could provide him with various job opportunities with dogs in the future: working in the summer on a glacier or ground tour, doing dog sled tours in the winter, being a handler for a musher, racing the B team for a musher, etc
