Inside a Dog's Mind #7

So now, let’s take our pooches for a walk in the park.  The first thing that they want to do is pull our arm off while trying to get to the little white poodle or another dog in the parking lot. 

You’re probably surprised that your pooch has more strength than you thought! How is it that he can drag you across the pavement, yet, hitched to a sled, He plays around and pees on everything?

This is the most common complaint I get from one-dog owners who want to sled or skijor: “They just want to play around.”  

So, let us look again inside their canine minds and understand the hidden designs that govern how their brains work. Pooch wants what he wants, and hell or high water, he’s going to get it, or at least try his best to do so.

 This want, or desire, is what makes him happy and is the fuel that drives him, and it will be what drives us in the direction that we approach our “training”.

By now, you probably realize that our training is nothing more than discovering what makes our pooches happy, channeling it, and feeding their desire with the correct and positive fuel.

 Kind of like channeling a boy’s energy by signing him up to the school soccer team.  The kid is built for soccer and loves to kick a ball and run, so send him out to play! And if he has an excellent coach, he will be a star soccer player. However, if he has an incompetent coach, he won't do so well.

We are mere coaches, and it's up to us to be always upbeat, positive, energetic, and caring. I know from firsthand experience, having played sports in school that a happy, enthusiastic coach who loves the kids will help them become good athletes. And if the coach loves the kids and wants to see them excel to their highest potential, and is willing to invest his time in coaching, the team players will be champions.

However, remembering that each dog’s talent, personality, intelligence, strength, weakness, and so on is different from his mates.

This is why we must train from within one’s mind, uplifting it, encouraging it, and positively showing love and affection which is the foundation of our training. Everything else will smooth out as long as his head is in the game.

If we just direct and condition our dogs on the surface, without going deep, they won’t reach inside themselves and pull out that deep inner strength that all beings have.

Alaskan Malamutes have been dragging sleds across the Arctic for thousands of years; not only are they physically built for it, but mentally they are too.  They have an iron will and absolutely love pulling. 

We have to “train” our dogs to do what they do naturally.  And again, I want to ask, who is training whom?  That’s right!  Our dogs are training us to do what's right, and not to force them to do anything; otherwise, they will rebel, and we might not even realize they are rebelling!

 Recent studies have shown that the average long-distance racing dogs only pull 9-12 lbs. per dog.  You guessed it, they are rebelling, and the musher doesn't realize it.

We need to follow the guidelines specific to our dog breed.

 If it's a lab, he’s going to perform best retrieving ducks, a malamute is going to do best used as a draft dog, and a hound for hunting, and so on.

 Nonetheless, many breeds are doing well in all sorts of things; however, are they living up to their full potential of being the best they can be?

 Any dog is capable of pulling more than 9-12 lbs.  And all dogs love to pull, and are capable of excelling in being a sled dog.

Let’s take a look at sprint dogs, which are a mix of breeds, including hounds. They have a blast running super short races on groomed trails, but we certainly wouldn’t put them in a team for hauling freight.  Hunting dogs/hounds are speed demons, not freighters or trail breakers.

As coaches or trainers, we are simply fueling the fire that's burning within.