Polar lost desire to lead?

[aikibujin]

Polar was a puller when I first got her at around 4 months, so I spent a long time training her to walk nicely on a leash. She walks really nice on a leash now, she can even "heel" pass some distraction sometimes (although reluctantly). When she's around 7-month old, I got her a regular walking harness and started jogging with her. When I jog with her, I let her run in the front and train her to understand "gee, haw, whoa" and such. I never let her pull too much in the lead, because she's still young, when she runs fast I run fast, so there's never too much tension in the bungee leash. Now at 9-month old, she doesn't like to run in the lead anymore. She seems very content to run at my side, or even behind me. When she is in the front, she runs very slowly, to a point I can almost walk with her. Only if she sees something interesting (a goat, a cow, etc) she will suddenly increase speed, but she will slow down again once we run pass the distraction. She never had any bad experiences while running in the lead, ie I've never ran into her or stepped on her when she's running in the front.

I wonder if too much training on loose leash walking made her loose the instinct to pull? It will be another three months before I actually let her pull something, but by then will I have a dog that has no desire to pull at all? I plan to do bikejoring with Polar, but it will be kinda sad if she doesn't like it. Any ideas?

[Sarah]

she'd have a different harness on if going on a bike / scooter I don't think a husky can loose it's interest in pulling / running

when she goes out in front maybe use an excited voice and words of encouragement to show to her that she's where you want her to be?

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

try different harnesses - like saz sed she will have a different 1 on when shes running so get an xback - to run with her then a normal 1 when working - when she gets used 2 running in a different harness and walking in another soon u will have a husky that is ready 2 work and run as soon as she sees that xback harness - maybe its because she knows she has 2 walk with that harness on because thats what uve taught her

[aikibujin]

Thanks for the feedback. I plan to get her a Manmat distance harness when she turns one, right now I can only use a regular walk harness because 1. I live in a village in China, it's difficult to buy any pet products here; 2. I don't know what size to get her just yet. When I walk her I just use her collar, I only take out the walk harness when I go jogging with her, so she should have associated the walk harness with going in the front now. When she does get in the front I do encourage her and say "good girl!" Sometimes when she gets a burst of energy and runs very fast, I try to keep up while yelling "good girl" and laughing at the same time, it's a good feeling running so fast with your dog with the wind rushing by your ears. And she seems to enjoy these moments too, I'm just not sure why she doesn't like to do them very often.

[Sid_Wolf]

I wouldnt worry too much

Kira is a working sibe (in training, will be out on the trails winter '10), but is trained not to pull when walking on a collar. Put her harness on her and you dont stand a hope in hell of getting her to heel!!

Does she know the word 'hike'? This is kira's FAVOURITE word EVER!!! She can be walking to heel (on a collar), but if i just mumble 'hike'... We're off!!!!!!!!!! lol

[Sarah]

Does she know the word 'hike'? This is kira's FAVOURITE word EVER!!! She can be walking to heel (on a collar), but if i just mumble 'hike'... We're off!!!!!!!!!! lol

hmmmm.......just made a mental note of that

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Boer - maybe instead ov shouting good girl put the word HIKE or HIKE ON infront ov it b4 saying good girl - she might associate that word with running fast? i know if i shout hike on 2 blaze n start running with him he just shoots off

[aikibujin]

I started training Polar to in the general sledding terms 2 months ago, hike, gee, haw, whoa and such. I *think* she understand them. With gee and haw, she gets them right 80% of the time. When she gets a burst of energy and runs, I do what bingblaze'n'skyla suggested (thanks btw), yell "hike" and "good girl" right after, hoping to associate the two for her. I think she gets it, she's a smart girl, she just isn't motivated enough. She used to like running a lot, but it seems she's getting a little lazy... I'm wondering if it's because spring is here and it's getting warmer.

[valkyries]

can't really help here as i don't run mine as yet xxx

[Cathy]

Another thought -- has the weather changed much throughout the course of your training (i.e. has it gotten much warmer)? There has always been a drastic drop in both Nikita's and Dakota's motivation to run and pull once the weather gets above 50 degrees F. We'd be back to walking for the season until winter comes around again, and they'd pick right up pulling as soon as it got cool again. Right now, I'm back to walking again until next Fall; I can get Dakota to pick up a short run in the early mornings, but even now, he'll be trotting by my side by the end of it.

[aikibujin]

Another thought -- has the weather changed much throughout the course of your training (i.e. has it gotten much warmer)? There has always been a drastic drop in both Nikita's and Dakota's motivation to run and pull once the weather gets above 50 degrees F. We'd be back to walking for the season until winter comes around again, and they'd pick right up pulling as soon as it got cool again. Right now, I'm back to walking again until next Fall; I can get Dakota to pick up a short run in the early mornings, but even now, he'll be trotting by my side by the end of it.

You may have hit the nail on the head, Cathy. With the coming of spring, the day time temp here can get as high as 75-degree F now. Even though I run with Polar in late afternoon when the temp is cooler, it's still around 60-degree F. So maybe that's why Polar hasn't been motivated to run. I pour cold water over her when I go running with her in the hope that it will cool her down, but maybe it doesn't help as much as I hoped. That will be a separate topic, how to keep our cold climate dogs cool during the warmer seasons.

[Cathy]

I've asked that question before, and it's a challenge. There was a dryland mushing demonstration here recently, and I went down to where the teams were staged so that I could ask mushers about how they keep their dogs cool. What you are doing is precisely what they told me: They advised me to wet down the dog. They said to even wet them down before running so that they can have the evaporative benefits while they are working.

I haven't tried it yet, but I will!

[Sid_Wolf]

In the summer I run kira at about 11pm, sometimes as late as 1am, when its had time to cool down

[aikibujin]

I've asked that question before, and it's a challenge. There was a dryland mushing demonstration here recently, and I went down to where the teams were staged so that I could ask mushers about how they keep their dogs cool. What you are doing is precisely what they told me: They advised me to wet down the dog. They said to even wet them down before running so that they can have the evaporative benefits while they are working.

I haven't tried it yet, but I will!

When I run with her in late afternoon and pour water over her back, her fur doesn't always get dry before we finished our jogging session. Could wet fur cause any issues with her skin?

[aikibujin]

In the summer I run kira at about 11pm, sometimes as late as 1am, when its had time to cool down

Wow, wish I can do that, but I have two problems if I try to run with Polar so late at night. One, I run on some uneven trails, so it's really easy to twist an ankle at night; two, I'd be eating a lot of bugs that's swarming around my headlamp. Extra protein, I guess...

[Sarah]

I'd be eating a lot of bugs that's swarming around my headlamp. Extra protein, I guess...