eatmyshorts
Well-Known Member
Just wondered if anyone else here practises the sport of mushing? I have two young GSP bitches (litter mates) & started them off initially bikejoring in April last year. Joring is the Norwegian word for driving, so it's like having your dog pull you along on your bike. We then bought a dryland rig (which is like a three wheeled sled on wheels) to run them as a pair & become proper mushers! 
It's a hisk righ, but amazingly fantastic fun sport which really gets the adrenlin going, both musher & dogs! The dogs are uber fit and absolutely love it, they get so excited when harnessed up, they literally start to bounce on the spot. It's a great sport for teaching them focus (passing other dogs, sheep etc) & they are also trained to various commands (eg. gee & haw for left & right). We train normally about twice a week, usually at night (because it's cooler - you do have to watch the temperatures, we don't go out unless it's below 10 degrees - less walkers around & it's also even more excillerating in the dark!) We normally train in our local forest, but we also have the use of an old 1.3mile racetrack which was previously used to train trotting horses. The track is really useful for teaching the dogs to overtake others for when they will be competing at rallies. We are fairly new to the sport so are just been training this last year, with a view to start competing next season (Winter 2013). We often train with friends (who are experienced & already competing regularly), having five rigs, 6 Siberian huskies, & 5 GSP's between us - it can get a bit noisy!
Some photos........
The girls & I out having a blast (we don't usually train on concrete - this is just the last week bit road after a series of forest paths. I also normally wear a cycle helmet but i'd forgotten it that day! And typically, i crashed, just about 5 minutes before this photo was taken - can you tell it's dented my confidence? LOL!
Our gorgeous girls, Lexi & Nissa, 20month old solid black German Shorthaired Pointers.
It's a hisk righ, but amazingly fantastic fun sport which really gets the adrenlin going, both musher & dogs! The dogs are uber fit and absolutely love it, they get so excited when harnessed up, they literally start to bounce on the spot. It's a great sport for teaching them focus (passing other dogs, sheep etc) & they are also trained to various commands (eg. gee & haw for left & right). We train normally about twice a week, usually at night (because it's cooler - you do have to watch the temperatures, we don't go out unless it's below 10 degrees - less walkers around & it's also even more excillerating in the dark!) We normally train in our local forest, but we also have the use of an old 1.3mile racetrack which was previously used to train trotting horses. The track is really useful for teaching the dogs to overtake others for when they will be competing at rallies. We are fairly new to the sport so are just been training this last year, with a view to start competing next season (Winter 2013). We often train with friends (who are experienced & already competing regularly), having five rigs, 6 Siberian huskies, & 5 GSP's between us - it can get a bit noisy!
Some photos........
The girls & I out having a blast (we don't usually train on concrete - this is just the last week bit road after a series of forest paths. I also normally wear a cycle helmet but i'd forgotten it that day! And typically, i crashed, just about 5 minutes before this photo was taken - can you tell it's dented my confidence? LOL!
Our gorgeous girls, Lexi & Nissa, 20month old solid black German Shorthaired Pointers.
