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018. Training for skijoring




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This article is from the Working Dogs FAQ, posted to rec.pets.dogs newsgroup. Maintained by Cindy Tittle Moore with numerous contributions by others.

018. Training for skijoring

Skijoring is you on cross country skis and the dogs pulling you. YOU MUST BE A VERY GOOD CROSS COUNTRY SKIER. This is a must. Before attaching dogs, cross country ski all over the place, on a wide variety of terrain. Learn to fall in a controlled way. You will eventually need to do this when skijoring. You will need to learn to turn quickly and ski in control at high speeds. Skiing downhill in cross country skis is a good way to simulate skijoring speeds.

The dog(s) must be well trained as well. Train all of them as lead dogs. They need to know and obey all of the commands very well (especially whoa!). The references all include information about this fast growing sport.

Health, diet, and care -- Sled Dog Specifics (briefly)

Sled dogs are athletes. They are also remarkably healthy. It is important to realize that because sled dogs are athletes, they require special attention in at least two specific areas.

Probably one of the most important aspects for caring for sled dogs is the foot. You should inspect your dog's feet regularly. The skin of the pad should feel tough, but pliable, be resistant to abrasions and lacerations, and be free from cracks, dryness, or scarring. Also inspect the nails of the foot carefully. Nails can help the dog grip ice, but if too long, they can cause serious foot injury. According to Miki Collins in _Dog Driver_, if the nails are long enough to force the toes upward when the dog is standing on a hard, level surface, clip them. Nails that are too long can get caught and ripped out on the trail, or they can cause toes to break. Both of these injuries can be quite serious, and they are certainly painful.

The subject of diet should also be touched on here. Most mushers feed a high stress, high energy diet during mushing season, and switch to a "maintenance" diet during the "off" season. For example, one experienced musher mixes Science Diet Performance dry with canned during mushing season. This is a high fat, high protein food. Some mushers even mix food in with lots of water hours before a race to encourage drinking. Dogs must be very well hydrated. During the off season, the musher in this example feeds Science Diet Maintenance canned mixed with either Science Diet Maintenance dry or Eukanuba dry. During the mushing season, the dogs are using all components of the food that is fed. During the off season, there is no need for such high energy food, and in fact, high protein foods can cause kidney trouble later in life when not fed in moderation.

 

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