Are GSDs good for use in the "carting" sport?

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We have a husky, and decided to hook him up to our daughters' Radio Flyer all-terrain (bigger tires) red wagon to pull around the neighborhood on the sidewalks and streets. We want to tap in to his sled dog purpose, and thought this would be fun for him and our 2 girls (3-year old and a 1-year old). It's also fun for us to do/see! Last night, I decided to form my first "sled team" with Nara (GSD) and Paw Paw both pulling the wagon side by side with me in the middle of them to guide and control them. I posted on a husky forum about this, and was told this "sport" is called carting. I was given the site http://www.romanreign.com/ to use as a good starting point for info and references on carting.

Last night, the two of them were able to pull, with ease, my wife and both girls sitting in the wagon. We eventually want to get another wagon or similar child's vehicle and hook each dog up individually. We plan on have more kids, so we could put two each per wagon/cart, with one dog per cart.

This pulling (using a harness for both dogs) is natural for huskies, and Nara did fine, but has anyone else had experience doing this sort of thing with their GSD for exercise? I know similar sports are bikejoring, skijoring, and weight pulls. How do GSDs do with this? Does it affect/raise their potential for hip problems? Any other forseen problems? We're using this as exercise for our dogs, and fun for the rest of the family. How much weight would you suggest be a limit for a GSD? Nara weighs about 75 lbs and is still filling out. She's been well-exercised her entire life (of 16 months) and is all muscle.

What I'm doing, since it's not practical for my wife to always ride in the wagon (hehe...looks kinda funny) is to take my barbells and add those to the bottom of the wagon, covered by blankets, with our girl/s sitting on top of the blankets. I put 100 lbs of barbell weight in last night and plan to hook up both dogs together for tonight's walk. So, in actuality, the total weight of the wagon tonight will be about 30-50 lbs lighter (depending on whether our younger daughter stays up on Mama in a baby sling or goes in the wagon with our older daughter) than last night.

Thoughts? Experiences to share?

Thanks in advance!

Kevin

[dreamofwrx]

from a weight pulling stand point gsd's arent the number one choice, but i am sure they could excel at it if trained and conditioned properly. I dont think they could stack up to the bull breeds in short distance pulls or the sled dogs for longer pulls, although i guess that depends on the dog. Sometimes its a matter of heart. Competitive wise anyway.

As long as the dog is done growing it shouldnt have any effect on hips (unless there was already an underlying problem to begin with) There will be more wear and tear on the dog, but hey we didnt get GSD's to sit around right?

The weight limit you use should be dependent on your dog, build up gradually and pay attention to how much strain and distance you put on your dog. To condition her even more make sure you have a proper weight pulling harness and hook a dumbell or plate to it and let it drag across the ground for more friction. Alternate shorter pulls with heavier weight and longer distance with lighter weight. Also make sure to give her some days off. Just like weight lifting you can get sore. Couldnt tell you about the skijoring, except i would love to try it.

I plan on weight pulling my GSD when he is old enough because i own ab's as well, so why not do it with both dogs?