Dalmatians/ Carriage Dog / Hacking with your dog

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Arkmiido

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I have a dally pup (6 months) that I want to bring on as a carriage dog to compete with, and also to be able to take her out riding with me.
Would love to hear any experiences of dalmatians that people have.
Also, those of you you ride out with your dogs, how did you train them to run with you, and specifically deal with riding on the roads (quiet country lanes that link lots of long bridleways!)
I have a vague plan that is starting with her coming running with me on and off lead, establishing recall, heel, down and stay (all pretty good so far!!) and that she learns to automatically drop to Down in the verge the instance she hears a car coming. I'm planning to graduate to cycling, and may also try having her on a long line from my very quiet, sane mare, who is already used to her running in and out of her legs, and around her in the yard and leading in from the field.
But any suggestions or experiences of how you have trained your dogs to go out with you greatly appreciated!

I'd love to hear from any one on here who has experience of producing a carriage dog as well. More info on www.carriagedog.org

(And yes, I know dalmatians need lots of exercise, and I also know puppies shouldn't be over-exercised, which is why she goes running with me, and not the super-fit OH :p).
 
As far as I know if you have a loose dog (off lead) on the public highway you are breaking the law & should the dog cause an accident your insurance will not pay up. Yes, some dogs are very well trained but things still happen suddenly. I would value my dogs life too much to try it. Stick to off round & you will be fine.
 
POLLDARK said:
As far as I know if you have a loose dog (off lead) on the public highway you are breaking the law & should the dog cause an accident your insurance will not pay up. Yes, some dogs are very well trained but things still happen suddenly. I would value my dogs life too much to try it. Stick to off round & you will be fine.
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Ooh I didn't know that - thankyou. Well, we do have lots of bridleways, so I don't need to go on the roads - and I guess I will attempt to train her to work on a line from my horse then, so I can progress to longer routes. She can obviously stay on her lead from the carriage (as this is how we take the collie out!)
 
Don't have a Dalmation, but our terriers come hacking with us regularly. They have always been used to being around horses so are very aware of moving out of the way of fast hooves.
Although they know to stand on a verge when traffic passes, we tend to lead one horse in hand and have the dogs on a lead when on the short bit of road linking the bridleways, just in case they spot a fox or rabbit while we're concentrating on the horses. Roads and traffic don't give second chances. Even my old Collie X lab would have a red mist come down over his eyes if he spotted a fox.
The plus side of riding with the dogs (apart from saving time having to walk them), is that they are confidence givers to spooky/unconfident horses. Getting a horse used to hacking alone is much easier with the dogs scouting ahead for dangers lurking in hedges.
 
I used to have a Dally :)

He came out running, biking and hacking with me. I walked him off lead so he knew commands like wait, and would keep a good pace with the horse.

Stayed mostly off road but if we had to do any road work I used to say "over" and wave my right arm behind my back and he would come behind the horse onto the near side. He was fab and I would definately reccomend it for yours once she's older.

As you know they need an awful lot of exercise, once you get recall you're halfway there. Got any pics of her? I miss my Dally so much :(
 
Both my Dallies come hacking with me, on very very quiet lanes:D I never used a long line, but they both went out with OH on his bike on the springer!
Both of mine are good at lying when told, wait, running forward on command, ie, through gates i need to shut and Hock, One picked it up very easily the other wandered around behind the wheelbarrow (which we used as carriage/horse subsitute) with a very vacant expression for a couple of weeks, but we got there in the end, Neither of mine would be very good at the trials Lol, not sure they would behave with an audience, but its fine for what i do, have you been on the carrige dog website, lots of good tips, and excercises on there!

The only time i ever had a problem was trying to take my two, plus friends beagle out at the same time, not an experience i would like to repeat, took a week to get my voice back Lol!

My liver boy as a pup learning to wait whilst tacking up!

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My black boy as a two year old

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My dogs come out hacking with me, and the only new command i introduced was 'mind' for 'get out of the chuffing way fast!' - can be very useful sometimes! I also made sure that their recall, wait, and sit commands were spot on before we went for the first time, and each dog had her first ride out with another experienced dog, just so they could learn the ropes a bit.

I don't go on the roads as I don't need to and would be too worried about the dangers. There is a lady who hacks with her pointers on the very narrow lanes near my mum who has trained the dogs to tuck close into the hedges and lean into the banks when cars pass - tis very impressive!
 
My old staffie bitch would come out with me but was very good on all the commands. The extra one I taught her though was "leave" so we could avoid anything that seemed too interesting. I "tested" her to make sure she wouldn't want to go off with other dogs but forgot about other people so did lose her once when she stopped to be a tart with a bunch of hikers and we carried on.

Just an a bit of int info re: dalmations.. did you know that the staffie was originally bred from Dalmatians? which is why a lot of staffies have spots on their stomachs - honestly!
 
My dalmatians have never been happy to come riding with me , I don't know why . I could ride straight onto a bridleway so didn't have to go on a road but they would bog off home after a few minutes . They would however follow a tractor or vehicle of any kind for miles . Two of mine once went a mile and a half down the main road following my barsteward ex husband on the tractor .:eek: They had tucked into the back wheels and got into the zone ( when they get into their big trot they can go for miles and miles !). He couldn't understand why everyone was flashing and beeping , just thought it was because he was holding them up on the tractor . :rolleyes:
I used to ride out with a collie I had and he was brilliant . Very obedient and was great on the lanes if traffic came , was even passed by a police car once and they didn't stop to have a go , so have always assumed it was okay to ride with them .
 
Thanks for all your replies - I'm a bit more optimistic about doing this but we shall play it by ear. She's definitely gonna be better than the collie who just spends the whole time at the horses heels trying to round them up! She (Lily) definitely has the carriage instinct, and hopefully I'll be able to train her to come out hacking - when she gets bigger, lord knows if I'll be able to run far enough to keep her occupied!! Thankfully she also finds poo-picking an enjoyable past-time at the moment, along with running. She's quickly picking up throwing herself at the nearest verge when she hears a car though - bless!
I'll try and work out how to upload pics from my phone to satisfy requests - she is a VERY spotty dalmatian (more black than white!!) and she does look pretty cool next to my spotty grey (white) mare. I may just have to find some spotted small ponies to drive...
We are going on a walk with other dallys from Kent thru the Carriage Dog people - very excited! Hopefully they will have lots of advice and suggestions for us. And our group training/obedience class starts this sunday :D
 
Quick question for all of you that do this (I'd love to do it with mine, but as I can't hack anymore it's not an option) do you all stop and get off to 'clear up' after your dogs?
 
Interesting - who clears up after their dogs when going along byways, footpaths and bridleways, even on foot/bike...??
 
I hack out with my dogs (Spaniels), and they sit wait and heel on comand from horse back, I carry a schooling whip when hacking, for various uses and for one, I used to use it as a guide, I'd hold it infront of them and say wait this is a handy visual for them, and I would waggle it for heel.

Poo......tbh, most times no, but I have even trained them to move and poop in the bushes, I growl 'no' and point and the will stop, move and resume pooping :D

but I have a whole dog poop issue all of its own, so am resisiting my soap box, resistinggggggggg :rolleyes:
 
Hedwards said:
Quick question for all of you that do this (I'd love to do it with mine, but as I can't hack anymore it's not an option) do you all stop and get off to 'clear up' after your dogs?
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Good question! I don't pick up when out riding because it's not practical, but my dogs nearly always tuck themselves away in the bushes to go anyway. On the rare occasion that they aren't so neat and tidy I get off, find a stick and flick the nasties into a hedge/undergrowth... then usually hike for aaages to find something to use as a mounting block ;)
 
See this is where it wouldn't work for me, I pick up after my dogs no matter where we are, fields, paths, pavements, woodland etc. This is a personal opinion and is in no way meant to antagonise anyone, but I'm not sure I agree with the 'doing it in undergrowth' I just think it should always be cleared up
 
horserider said:
The plus side of riding with the dogs (apart from saving time having to walk them), is that they are confidence givers to spooky/unconfident horses. Getting a horse used to hacking alone is much easier with the dogs scouting ahead for dangers lurking in hedges.
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second that!! I used to take my terrier with me when i went to do canter work and he used to run ahead of us (god forbid should his friends see him being beaten by a horse) and he used to flush out all the wildlife :) VERY handy!!

I used to hack with him when i was younger, all country lanes, barely saw cars but he was very established in his training for heel, sit, wait, and most importantly 'get in'. now adays i wouldnt take him on the roads. none of them are safe!! infact i think the *quiet* country lanes are the worst!!
 
I hack out with my Mr Perfect Sidney, wouldn't dream of doing it with any of the other pack members as none of them are well behaved enough. Sidney grew up with Kane (the horse) and Kane takes alot of comfort from having Sidney around so it's really helped with napping issues and confidence. If Sidney is happy to go past the scarey horse killing stone then so will Kane!!:rolleyes:

Sidney has brilliant recall, he will stand on command..doesn't do down but I've never taught him to because didn't need it if he stands when told. He's utterly wonderful with other dogs, people, bikes, horses..etc etc so never have to worry that he'll do something naughty. I don't take him hacking on the lanes, despite him being perfect I don't trust drivers and wouldn't risk my dogs life for the sake of him coming along.

I love nothing better than going for a gallop on the beach and having my beautiful curly dog running alongside my horse!! First time I did it I cried with joy, a childhood dream come true!!:D

not the best picture in the world but Sidney helping Nora (only 3 years old and on her first forest hack!) through the scarey water!!

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not nearly as elegant as a dalmation - but i used to hack out on my HW 17hh with a minature poodle in tow - the dogs' obsessive jealousy of the horse meant that he never left our sides & the horse [ as an expreienced hunter] was used to dogs - BUT we only did it when no road work at all was involved - i certainly wouldn do it now
 
I used to hack with the Spitz. She was first taught to heel as normal, then I transfered this command to me riding, starting in an eclosed, safe environment, then progressing to bridleways when I was sure she would obey. It was really good fun but I wouldn't do it on the roads, partly because it's now illegal but also because I would be worried that if something went wrong my reactions on horseback would be limited.

I never used a long line when on the horse, I would imagine the line could wrap itself around the horse's legs and cause a horrific accident.
 
Echo post earlier re. care needed if long-lining from a horse.

My old boy was a darling, a real plod - and I tried to get our little (now deceased) JRT riding out with us, using a long extending nylon cord dog lead, from the saddle.

What happened was that dog panicked, and ran round the horse a few times, wrapping him up like a cocoon in nylon cord. Bless him, he didn't turn a hair, but when I looked at his legs later he had a friction burn.

So I'd never, ever do it again. Not even with a quiet dog, or a quiet horse. Things can quickly go wrong, and nylon cord can cause awful friction burns.

Its just not worth it IME.
 
I'll be doing this soon with my boy (1 year old Dalmatian). We've been to a carriage dog competition and seen what it was all about and he's very used to the horses and has ridden up and down the (private) road with me but I've not been brave enough to take him hacking properly with me as he still likes to run at people and other dogs :rolleyes: I will be dragging him out to a forest somewhere and letting him come with me, we have been practicing with the bike and the wheel barrow.
 
[ Thankfully she also finds poo-picking an enjoyable past-time at the moment, along with running.

Just a wee small bit of advice. When I got my first dalmation pup I was advised not to run with my dog untill he was over a year old as their joints and bones would not be fully matured/set and could quite likely cause problems/pain for the dog later on in life.

Check with your vet but I'm sure it was good advice as my first Dally is still with me and comes out running 3 to 4 times a week at the ripe old age of 13 and a half and still looks as good as he did when he made his 2 appearances at Crufts. Even my vets think he looks amazing!
 
It is actually illegal to ride a horse or a bicycle and have a dog on a lead. Little known law but a law all the same.

I teach my dogs the command of "Come in" meaning that they have to drop in behind me. I carry a hunting whip and when the lash is down and the whip held out they know they must stay behind it. I start this on foot and then progress to on horseback.

I use my dogs all the time with the horses. I take either my GSD or BC with me when I am long reining out on the roads and tracks, if something spooky comes along like a tractor with trailer full of silage bales with the wrap flapping and only a couple of feet to get past, I send the dog ahead, this gives the horse a lead without it realising it.

It is vital that the dog is totally obedient to all commands so they are safe.
 
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