# Anyone here do carting?



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

I want my little dog to be able to ride when we walk a long time, without us carrying her in the heat.

So I bought a cart for my big dog and I can't get the stupid thing to fit. I hauled the cart and the dog to the trainer, and they couldn't get it to work either.

The problem is the shafts - he can't make a turn. The ends poke him right in the side. Even if he could ignore that, he STILL couldn't make a turn because they are just too close.

I looked at him compared to photos on the internet, and I can't tell a bit of difference. It looks exactly like I see on other people's dogs.

I can't find a local carting group or anyone who knows what they are doing who can physically look at my dog.

So i thought I would take a shot and ask here if anyone does it, and has any idea why this isn't working for us. The person who sold me the cart isn't interested in helping me figure it out.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Might not be able to be a lot of help as I am one stage behind you in the carting. However, could you post some pictures of the cart, harness and them attached. 

I am sure we can work it out 

My project you see for the summer (my pup is only young so I have time) is to finish of my own cart.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Good luck! I hope it works out - I am too lazy to get him in that contraption to take a photo (I also have a horrible time getting the harness put together correctly, by the time it's all on there with all the pieces in the right place he is sick of standing there). I might have one at home I will try to find later.

My husband says we need a cart with one shaft that goes to a swivel on the top of his back, rather than the two along his sides. I think that's a great idea except it might not be very stable - maybe I should do like you and make one.


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

We LOVE carting here!

The problems with turns is the dogs have to LEARN to side step rather than turning their body. Do work on leash without the cart watch how dogs turn their body when turning right or left. It generally takes me 6-8 weeks to teach a dog to cart, it's really not one of those things you can buy the harness and cart and you're ready to go. Turning and hills take longer to teach.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

The type I am making is a single shaft dorsal hitch cart like the one below (but a bit smaller as I don't intend to ride on it.










They do not require the side stepping way of turning and are dead easy to walk next to your dog and follow. The narrower you make the wheel base the easier it is to turn, and the bigger the wheels the easier it is to pull.

The big point is to make it fun fun fun for the dog and he will do it forever.

My reasoning for using this kind of cart is I intend to do weight-pulling rather than sledding or carting as my pup does not have the drive to sled :-( although I have been offered to make a team of her and a malamute, which I would love to do just for the pics .


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

Polly's "Easter" cart. She's done several parades. My youngest son has Cerebal Palsey and she pulls him when we go pplaces that would require him to walk long distances.

Dog's backs are not designed to hold weight so I am wary of the single shaft devices.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

That just tells me I need to find someone with experience to show me how to teach him to go sideways - I did the thing where he pulled the bottles behind for awhile, lots of treats, happy times - but I am now afraid to put him back in the cart because I don't want him to get scared of it, and he DOES get scared when it pokes him.

eternalstudent, that is EXACTLY what my husband said to get. I msut not have been searching it right. I don't think that puts weight on their back, does it?

maplewood, that is what I want to do and those are great photos - not necessarily the parade part, but just be able to walk long distances with both dogs. It's uncomfortable for both dog and human when we have to carry her in the heat.


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

xellil said:


> That just tells me I need to find someone with experience to show me how to teach him to go sideways - I did the thing where he pulled the bottles behind for awhile, lots of treats, happy times - but I am now afraid to put him back in the cart because I don't want him to get scared of it, and he DOES get scared when it pokes him.
> 
> maplewood, that is what I want to do and those are great photos - not necessarily the parade part, but just be able to walk long distances with both dogs. It's uncomfortable for both dog and human when we have to carry her in the heat.


Where did you get your cart? What does it look like?

Go back to having him walk nicely/heel next to you and have your husband bump his sides with the cart behind him. Massive treats while doing this. Keep up the bumping until he doesn't react at all to the shafts touching his sides. 

If the shaft ends are hitting or digging into his sides during turns move him back so the shaft ends are even with his chest or stick out slightly. Depending on your cart this can be done with extenders you should be able to order from where ever you got your cart. Once the shaft ends are in the proper place hitch the dog up and say "whatever verbal word you want to use for that direct", and gently nudge the shaft with your knee or hand. When the dog side steps, give a few treats lots of praise and unhitch him. I do this several times a day in both directions untill the dog willingly sidesteps in the cart. Some dogs catch on really quick others take some time. It's not a sport your dog is going to learn over night.

After the dog is side steping in both directions at a stand still I add turns while walking. The first walking turns should be very wide. As your dog catches on you can make them tighter.

Hope that helps you .


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

yes, that helps alot - we did the bumping thing on his sides, he did that great, got used to it very fast. We did that and the bottles for a couple of weeks before we actually attached the cart. I actually thought we were doing pretty good, taking our time etc. - but I didn't teach him to do the sidestep thing. 

I also can't see how physically he can turn in the cart - I guess the sidestep is what we haven't mastered.

I got this cart:
Work

And then I bought a siwash harness from mydogworks


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

I like that cart! try hooking him up to it and adjusting the stops a little further back so the shaft ends are even with his chest front, and work on the side steping so he learns to sidestep for turns. You can alway's move them back once you start pulling the cart with him. I'll try to find a good side view of Polly hooked up, but because she and the cart are mostly black so it's hard to see.

And yeah those siwash harnesses can be a pain untill you figure them out. When we first started I would put them on the dogs for their regular walks to get used to putting them and taking them off.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

To be honest I to like that cart, and I would continue to work with what you have.

The single shaft carts where designed I think to take the load of the back. The standard two shaft carts would load the horses back and where not suitable for dogs (my carting history is not great so anyone if I am wrong with this please say so). The single shaft idea is that the load is central over the axel or axels so the dog only has to pull. 

Besides I take it you are not going to be carrying much weight so it is probably immaterial.

I am going for that sort because I have no trainer and I was a little intimidated by how hard trying to get rally carting and the like can be. Guess I'm just not as brave as you .


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

People have been using dog's to pull carts for 100's of years. Yes some of the older carts put alot of weight on the dogs back and in some places it is illegal for dogs to cart. Any dog cart should be easily lifted at the end of the shaft while loaded. I can lift ours with my pinky finger with my 13 yr old daughter in it.

We didn't/don't have any cart trainers or groups in my area. I learned a lot from trial and error and asking questions from those who have been carting for years. I emailed a Mastiff breeder from Canada out of the blue asking questions. Thankfully she was kind enough to answer all of my questions


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

It good to know that its doable 

I am patiently waiting for the summer where I can get the whole thing of the ground, I think it looks a lot of fun, and when I get my second pup at the end of the year I am hoping that I can get them working as a team. My knowledge this far has been purely garnered theoretically so I am hoping to put it into practise. It's a tad mad as I have plans for the cart and harness and found a leather worker to make either H back, X back or weight-pulling gear custom fitted to my dog I just need the time after exams to get it going ;-)


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Well, I am getting enthusiastic again, thanks for the input - all this happened to us last fall and i was afraid he was thinking getting poked in the side was a punishment, so I put the cart up.


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## maplewood (Apr 14, 2011)

xellil said:


> Well, I am getting enthusiastic again, thanks for the input - all this happened to us last fall and i was afraid he was thinking getting poked in the side was a punishment, so I put the cart up.


Yeah! Don't give up. If it's been some months go back to the beginning and do a refresher. Polly has been carting for two years and I still gave her a refresher after 6 months of winter.


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