Dogs Across America!
 A doggy event is being organised across the country called Dogs Across America. While it leans towards dog-powered events, they want everyone to participate, so all dogs are welcome to come! Driving dogs, dog scooters, dogs with carts, dogs walking their people - everyone! The website with information is: http://www.dogsacrossamerica.org/about.php It would be great to see lots of sheepies participate because as we all know, Sheepies Rule!  The event date is the first weekend in December, and there are different dates for it in different states. There is a USA map with all the places and coordinators listed in case you'd like to get involed. As far as I can tell, it's also a FREE event, which is good for us, because I'm living on frozen burritos at present. (lotta big bills hitting all at once, plus a root canal  )In states where there are no people signed up yet, sign up and volunteer coordinate for your state. That way you can set a date and location that's easiest for you, or in a central location where it's easy for other dog folks to come participate as well. ~Katie and the Duds. |
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| Thanks for letting everyone here know about Dogs Across America! Yes, it is a free event - we are just doing it to raise awareness of Dog Powered Sports.
I am the webmaster for www.dogsacrossamerica.org and am helping coordinate it, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I may not see them here, but feel free to email me from the website. Mike |
| Katie,
Sorry if I missed this in another post, but how did you and Dudley get involved in carting? Its really great, and he looks so happy giving rides! You both are a cool team!  |
| Well, I never posted about that, did I? The abridged, pictorial story can be seen at: http://www.neddc.org/katie.html When I adopted the Duds, I was told by the Rescue that he was a young, energetic dog that would need some training. "Not a problem", I thought. I also train horses, too, so How much harder is a dog? Well, as I found out - dogs aren't harder, just different in many ways. Two years after adopting him, we've got it together, I understand how he learns, and we practise a LOT. Duds has a LOT of energy. He loves to run, and he looks really cool running as fast as he can. He also pulls REAL hard on the leash. We were in a city walking one time, and he saw a CAT on the other side of the road that I didn't see, and we were walking in the other direction. Duds nearly dislocated my shoulder to go after the thing. I realised that I needed to find him a job that harnessed his energy and put his pulling talent to good use. Enter dog driving. I did some searching on the internet for information on dogs pulling carts, and I discovered that there was a local-ish club that was newly created that welcomed all breeds of dogs to come and pull. So I signed him up for a workshop. This was particularly pleasing, since he's a mixed breed dog, and some dog events are "breed-only". Since then we've also learned that "all breed" dog events don't always include "mixed breed". So we were signed up for two carting workshops, and at the first one, he was a mess, but he wasn't scared of the logs and milk jugs dragging behind him, so I put some thought into buying him a cart. There are a couple of different options in dog carts, so I looked at all the kinds, and had an opportunity to try him out on a few of them before making a choice. When we got home from the second of the two workshops, I put my order in with Jim Walsh in Australia.(Website is: http://www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini) He's the man that makes the good dorsal hitch carts and sulkies. Duds likes this one a lot better than the traditional side-shafted carts. I ordered just the cart at first to really make sure he was into it. The cart came in August of last year, and we trained with the cart and pulling stuff in it for many months. We'd walk around the block with it, sometimes give rides in it. One time, we carted to the liquor store, and I put a 6-pack in it - you know, useful kinds of things.  At the begining of this year, I started to sit in the cart and drive him a little bit, since we were going further and further. I also wanted him to get used to pulling more weight in the cart, so I figured my big bum would do the trick. Riding in the cart eventually led us to buying the second cart, which is a dorsal hitch sulky designed to carry one passenger. So now we have two carts. This year in the carting club, I signed him up for the draft test, only because it's something to do, and I thought it might be fun. This was a disaster, and if you PM me, I'll be happy to tell you about it in more detail. The long and the short of it is that the draft tests are basically obedience trials with a cart attached. It was more about obedience and less about the pulling of the cart. Duds does real well pulling, and less well with obedience. We got excused with a real nasty comment from one of the judges after Duds ran around the ring instead of the off-leash recall he was supposed to have done. That experience left a real sour taste in my mouth for draft work, but driving is a different ballgame entirely. So where's the training in all this? Well, there's about 18 months of training in this story somehow. Lots of ground work, turning, voice commands, etc. It's not something that you can achieve in a day or a week, or even a month. It's a slow and steady kind of training that results in a real well-muscled dog with a meaningful and useful job.  I will have the cart with me again this summer at both OES picnics in PA and CT. The carting workshops are held in central CT, and I'd be tickled to see other sheepies there. Dog carting is one of those things that isn't growing fast because the events are usually held at breed specialties, etc. The "Breed people" include Berners, Swissies, Newfies, pyrs, collies, rotties, and leonbergers. Most of these breed clubs hold their own carting events, but aren't usually open to others. Or, if they are - it's open to their breed first, followed by whatever secondary breed, and then others "if there's space". That rubs me the wrong way, but whatever - it's their club so they can do it. There are lots of benefits to dogs from carting, and I don't understand why more people aren't interested. When we are out driving, people are generally amazed with the thing, and thing it's a great idea. They can do it too, but it just takes some training time. It's not for everyone, but it's a lot of fun! So we'll keep carting and having a good time with it. Last week, I hit 100 miles on my sulky. It's a bit of a milestone, and I hope to keep putting more miles on it.The best part about this carting thing is that it makes him TIRED! As we all know, a tired dog is a good dog. Please ask if you have questions. I am happy to help however I am able to. If you live near me, I'm also happy to meet you somewhere and you can give a go at driving the Duds. (driver weight limit is 225 at the moment) ~Katie. |
| Hi Katie!
Thanks for the reply! Its really great that you and the Dudley are pursuing these interesting carting adventures together. We lived in Rhode Island and on our street a lady had 2 Bernies and would walk faithfully every day with them Many days she had a cart attached and they would walk downtown to pick up the mail. I had never seen a sheepie involved in this, its really cool. So sorry we missed you at the OES picnic in Conn. this year. (We were detained by a major home repair situation  )
Hope to meet you and Dudley someday! |
| We should be there with the cart again this year. Both Phlly and CT. Maybe we'll see you there. ~Katie. |
kweenkmatt wrote: We should be there with the cart again this year. Both Phlly and CT. Maybe we'll see you there.
~Katie. That will be fun. You'll know Bogart immediately, he'll be the sheepie staring at his water dish saying, "I take mine shaken, not stirred" |
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