Rosewood Rottweiler Carting Page 1: Getting started

THE CARDINAL RULE OF STARTING YOUR DOG IN THE CART
If I can stress one important point about teaching your dog to cart it would be: DON'T BE IN A HURRY!
Proceed slowly and either work with a reliable helper or proceed slowly if you do attempt it alone. My best
advice is to not attempt putting your dog in the cart for the first several times alone until you are confident
that your dog can handle it. If your dog starts to show signs of confusion or wanting to fight the cart it is
imperative that you keep the dog moving forward at all times maintaining forward momentum while the helper
in the back controls the position of the shafts (centered to the dog) by picking up the back of the cart if needed so that they can
swing it whichever direction is necessary to keep the dog centered between the shafts! You will see in the photos below that it is an absolutely natural reaction for a dog to be concerned and react to his first realization of confinement. This is not bad, nor does it mean that your dog has a weak mind or is less than perfect. In fact quite the contrary! Your job is to help him to feel safe, recover and accept! It is the job of the two handlers to show the dog that the cart is not out to hurt him by limiting the amount of shaft pressure he feels by first moving only in straignt lines then adding in turns and introducing a little at a time until he fully accepts the sensation of constraint. Do as much as YOU CAN to HELP your dog to succeed. Above all else stay calm and keep a calm voice in the event of an upset.

CARTING IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE - Comon Sense Prevails
When our ancestors required their dogs to do draft work they were not particularly concerned whether they were happy about it or not. In those days a working dog had a job and they were expected to do it. In the early 20th century draft work with dogs was even outlawed as being inhumane. Now that doggy draft is recreational we strive to have our dogs be as happy about it as we are. The ARC carting rules even state: A carting dog should move the cart and its weight with pride and eagerness yet listen to direction from the handler. This is the purpose of this competition, to give handlers and their carting dogs a chance to exhibit these wonderful skills and abilities.
I'm not so sure I would call it a skill (more an acceptance) but in order for our dogs to enjoy carting they first and foremost must not fear the cart. This page has a series of photos showing methods I use to start dogs to enjoy pulling. Rule #1: I take it slow. I progress in a relaxed and methodical approach and work thru each step until I receive complete acceptance from the dog regardless of how long it takes at each step. If the dog becomes confused or less than eager during any phase of the process it's a simple matter of backing up to the point where the dog was accepting, work that phase again and only move forward when the dog is more confident. Yes, dogs can be put directly in a cart in their first lesson, I do this quite often with dogs that are very willing and receptive to a few simple checks I do beforehand. However some do not start so easily. There isn't any right or wrong way to start your dog only what
is best for each dog. Use comon sense in trying
different things along the way and proceed slowly.

In these photos I took a little time to re-equaint baby Tasko with his training travois (he hadn't seen in over a year) I started walking him with it, over, under and thru it several times, giving him alot of encouragement, praise and cookies. Than I tied his harness into place on his harness with the shoestrings that are on each side of the travois and again walked him thru it several more times.

Take the cart in your right hand, your dog's leash in your left and position yourself in between the two. Take your dog and cart for a nice leisurely walk. You are introducing your dog to the sensation that it is behind him. Next, position yourself between the shafts, which places your dog even closer to the correct position and go for another walk. Casually do your turns and stops being careful to not bump your dog with the tire. If you do - no real harm will be done but yo will create apprehension in his mind that really did not need to be there.

Your dog's first time between the shafts it is best to have two people hold the shaft and harness at the D ring and walk him around in position so that he would become accustomed to the feeling of the cart without having the worry of not being able to escape it in the event he were to start to resist. (Some will read this and say this step is completely unnecessary and I say to them - "If you have seen one wreck caused by a dog's scared reaction to the cart you have seen enough to last a lifetime (see below) " In my opinion if you are in a big a hurry when you're training your dog to cart you need to relax, take a breath and start over calmly and enjoy the slow progression to assure your dog is accepting and not avoiding. As in all dog training a calm confidence should be our goal.

PROGRESSING
For their second session in the cart, you can see that once he was started moving he showed signs that he was accepting the cart very well. I was then able to let go of the back of the cart and just follow behind it. I remained ever watchful in case there might be a sign of trouble. Mack is being encouraged by Jeremy to continue pulling forward. Jeremy was careful to not make his initial turns too tight so that Mack could again become accustomed to the feel of the cart behind him and the shafts at his sides. As the wheels turned, the dog and handler both began to relax and enjoy their new hobby.

DO IT AGAIN
By now much of my information should be sounding redundant. GOOD! It's supposed to! Successful draft training is in the calm repetition of these lessons. Teaching your dog to pull a cart is as much a lesson in confidence as it is in technique. The confidence MUST come first. technique will follow. It is your job to see your dog enjoys his work. How you handle these first lessons will determine how smothly your dog will progress.

The photo to the side shows Mack after he has been stopped and told to sit while he is in the cart. As minor as this exercise may seem. It could very easily turn into a wreck when he stands again and realizes the feel of constraint again. It is up to you to do this many times with your helper present until you are confident that he is familliar with the feel associated with starting and stopping.

There are several excellent sites on the web that were created to help you get started with your dog going in cart, it seems most have NOT been updated in years and although there really isn't much new to write on the subject our pages offer a fresh perspective - showing the good the bad and the ugly with lots of photos using our Rotts.

Special thanks to my friends for allowing me to use photos of their dogs. If you are brand new to carting I suggest you read this page completely before attempting to start working with your dog.

In this series of photos, Jeremy's dog Mack is encouraged to start pulling forward. The person in the back (me) maintained constant contact with the cart seeing to it that the shafts did not cause unnecessary pressure on the dog until the dog began to relax and accept the sensation of constraint. In this photo Mack is showing a very typical reaction to the first time feel of the carting shafts. Just keep your dog calm and encourage him to keep moving forward at all times.. The dog is walked in a very large open area in a straight line until he is accepting the cart calmly. In the third photo Mack has just completed two large circles around the parking lot and is being stopped and prepared to be unhooked from the shafts. This photo shows a very natural and healthy reaction to the new sensation. Personally I would not be standing in front of the dog but to his side. This is NOT bad nor wrong, it is merely a dog trying to understand the situation he has found himself in. It is up to the people to keep him safe and instill confidence in him. Notice that I am preparing to pick up the cart and swing it around to alleviate the shaft pressure off of his back if her were to start to spin. In the last photo of this series Mack has now been taken out of the cart after his first time being exposed and given time to recover and relax. He was given a drink of water and a big hug by his dad. This is by far the most critical step in traing. the person in back MUST be calm and experienced. Not only to keep the dog safe but the owner CALM as they normally react worse than the dog does.

PROGRESSING
With Mack progressing nicely we had one more session of me following behind. He also began to work on his down in cart with the safety person behind just in case of trouble for the first couple of times.

Another dog - Beasil took to carting like a duck to water. Ever calm and confident in the beginning she was one of the easy ones! However many months later I heard from her owner that she had had a fright in her cart. Sadly it was too close to a competition date for her to be fully recovered enough to be able to work safely off lead. She is the perfect example of an owner believing the job was done when in fact we must always be watchful of our dog's safety while in cart as situations happen and it is our primary concern to keep the dog safe and confident.

As your dog begins to grow into their new role you can start to practice your turns, halts, restarts, sits and downs. Progress a little at a time in tightening your turns. Also increase the durations of your sits and downs and overall time in cart.

Now is a great time to begin looking for variable surfaces to cross over and introducing her to the bumps of curbs and such. (Do not attempt to go up a curb straight on, they are best approached at a 45 degree angle with one tire going over first, then the other following afterwards in a rythm of "bump - bump". As your dog relaxes you will start to notice his posture relax accordingly. His ears will come forward and his lip will loosen and his body will free up his movement. Little by little your dog will become less concerned with what is following closely behind him and more interested in his senic surroundings as you take your dog and cart to various parks. This is when you will start to reap your reward from all the effort you put into your dog while helpng him to learn. He will now be able to carry your lunch and various other things. Regardless of what he carries your dog will start to show a sense of pride as he grows comfortable with his new job.

It would not be fair for someone to write another carting started article that mislead people into thinking it will always go smoothly. The truth of the matter is that many dogs do get scared when they feel the shafts and the confignment for the first time. More so then those that do not. Yes, some dogs will go in great the first time and the owners love to brag about that but more often than not and at the most unexpected time - possibly even several sessions later, a dog will react as if they have just felt the cart behind them for the first time and give a pitch of resistance.
Success is determined by the way you handle this situation simply put: You determine the difference of success or wreck. The dog in this photo did a typical buck and tried a few more before calming down and moving flat consistantly. The pup to the right already had several successful sessions in cart when he decided the turn was too sharp, didn't like the say the shafts confined him and revolted. In both cases the dogs were moved forward by the handlerwhile the helper picked up the cart and kept it centered behind the dog, pivoting as needed to keep the pressure off the dog until they were calmed down and moving forward again. Wreck overted!

STARTING WITH THE USE OF A TRAVOIS
If your starting a mature dog with a calm mind you will most likely skip this section and go directly into a cart but with young pups that are too small to go directly in I prefer to do alot of foundation and confidence building work over a lengthy period of time. Some people use broomsticks, pool floaty noodles and even milk jugs pulled behind their dogs to accomplish the initial desensitizing for pulling things. I have tried some of these things but have really come to love my little homemade travois the best. I must admit dragging milk jugs doesn't make alot of sense to me.

On this page and the others to follow I have posted a series of photos that are easy to follow. My intention here is to prepare others for what to expect thru out the process and to help you realize that you do not need to pay for books, videos or expensive lessons (I know of people that charge as much as $60 a lesson) in order to start your dog
doing his draft work or to prepare you to enter an
ARC carting test. That is unacceptable and insane.

Once he was completely accepting of this I dropped the harness and weight of the travois onto his back and asked him to pull it. Next, after I knew he was accepting of the sounds and sensation behind him that were associated with pulling the travois on different surfaces I put him into his harness (photo 1) but did not fasten it under his belly. This way it was only a matter of a quick lift up and off of his back in the event of trouble. In photo 2 you can see by his expression that this is a very accepting eager puppy! In photo 3 we are taking time to stop and sit so that he can learn how it feels while he does various movements. We also do turns and practice laying down in the travois before progressing to the cart itself.
I recommend you use a harness that has a quick release snap under the belly and not a buckle fastener.

These photos are just hiccups in time and were easily fixed.They could have been really nasty! I have seen dogs twist completely around and face backwards in their shafts, metal shafts bent and a dog lose it and flip a cart in competition at a National eventsimply because the wind was blowing and startled the dog which set him into panic mode. Fortunately I have never seen a dog actually hurt, just traumatized.

With two people (one on either side) you can bump your dog's side with the shaft to let him know it is there and to see how he responds. If he wants to bolt out and away from it I strongly reccomend you let him do so. He will quickly realize he is in no danger and after a few of these escapes he will calm down and see no need to do so. Give him a cookie and tell him he is a good boy while he is standing and allowing the shafts to bump his sides.

ATTENTION:
YES accidents do happen and not when you are expecting them (that's why they are called accidents) and NO not all dogs accept the cart their first time. I've heard it said by experienced trainers that "You put them in the cart and if they don't like it too bad.You either force them to accept it or you just give up because some dogs just can't do it".This was actually said by a person who has a doggy radio talk show? I DO NOT BELIEVE this to be true at all. For starters I've never seen anybody be successful at forcing a dog to cart. Dogs are hard wired to protect themselves and it is the most natural reaction for them to try and get away from a sensation that makes them feel confined or trapped.Your dog is not weak if he doesn't accept the cart imeediately! I happen to believe the contrary. It is your job to help him to understand this new sensation and to accept it. Once your dog accepts his place in the cart with confidence (whether it be the first time or a month later - no matter) you and your dog can progress quickly after he is comfortable and even be ready to enter your first carting test if this is what you want. Obviously the better obedience trained your dog is directly applies to their ability to negotiate a test course with it's many obstacles.

I've said it before and I'll say it again......
When teaching dogs to cart strive for calm acceptance before moving on to teach more advanced training.

Next the same two people hold the shafts and loop their finger thru the D-ring of the breastplate harness. The owner is the one walking the dog. Tw people, a dog and a cart take a calm stroll forward being aware that you should only be asking the dog to pull forward and not turn at this point. If the dog becomes unsure about this new sensation and want's to bolt out of the cart, it is a simple matter of the owner releasing your finger from the D-ring on the harness and allowing the dog to go freely out away from the shafts. The helper stays with the cart so that it does not drop. This usually only happens a couple of times at most and then they realize the cart is not gonna eat them. Once the dog is accepting of this step you know the dog is ready to be hooked into the cart.