Weight Watchers For Dogs

This is the "Little Sausage" at home

In 2001 I was a national team member representing USA in skijoring for the IFSS World Championships. Before the event I had had a pretty good season up until then winning races in Colorado, California and Oregon. I had ramped up my mileage leading up to the event because the worlds was a 20km race for the two dog event. Most of my races up until then were about 3 mile sprints. When I arrived in Alaska I trained for a week in Anchorage with my brother Kit before I went to Fairbanks. It was then that I noticed that one of my dogs was underweight. By then it was too late to get her weight back on. I think that that factor had a lot to do with her performance in the main event. She bonked in the final kilometers. It took about 3 more weeks to a month before she was back to her competitive weight. I was a little naive and was not watching her weight as close as I should have.

Tempo is the tricolor husky on the left that was underweight during the 20k 2 dog event.

Since then I have been a lot more attentive to the weight of my dogs. I learned from my old friend Al Magaw of British Colombia during the limited class sled dog races at the Worlds how to check for your dogs weight . I like what he told me and I use his advice to this day. He said to feel between the pelvic bones for the spine. If your dog is underweight then the bone is prominent. If you can barely feel the spine there then that is about right. If you can't feel it at all then your dog is overweight. If you check frequently enough then you will know before your dog gets a weight problem. With huskies and their thick coat then it is not always so obvious if they are under or over weight. I am using GSPs now and with their thin coats it is easy to see if they are underweight. I like to be able to barely see their ribs. It may depend on the dog. On my little sausage, ( Mojo) I like to keep a little more weight on because he performs better when I can barely see his ribs. My dogs Otto and Seamus are better when their ribs are a little more prominent but not obvious. Because I mainly run short distances I like to keep my dogs a little lighter than someone doing distance mushing.

This is Otto at home. Proof that a 60 lb dog can fit in a little bed made for a chihuahua

More often I see dogs that are overweight. Being overweight is a much more serious and detrimental condition than being underweight. Too much weight is an invitation for joint and heart problems just like in humans. The weight of your dog is so much easier to control than your own weight because you are in control of the food. If your dog doesn't eat what is served in less than five minutes then remove it. Ideally your dog is an eager eater and it should be inhaling it's food. Start with portions recommended on the bag and watch your dogs weight from there. Never let the dog feed itself with a full bowl left to eat at will. Maintain a schedule of feeding that your dog knows and can trust you to stick to. I recommend feeding twice a day.
My dogs love to eat as much as they like to run. If I let them eat all they wanted they would fart all night and gain weight rapidly because they are all neutered. Because they are working dogs they need a high protein and high fat food. The basic formula is 30 percent protein and 20 percent fat or 30/20. You may not be able to find a 30/20 food at the local store that only has pet food. That is the minimum formula that I will feed. Often I supplement that with meat over the winter depending on their activity level.

Seamus at home. All my dogs wear fence collars at home to keep them inside the fence when they go out the dog door.

Dog Scootering

Tim Curley and his levitating dog at the start of the Pacific Northwest Dryland Championships in Roslyn Washington. Photo by Megan Capon

This past year I started to train dryland almost exclusively on a scooter. I
had been using a mountain bike before that. I am about 6'1" tall and about 190 pounds. I had tried several scooters before I decided to buy the Blauwerk/Sidewalker "Downhill". I like the larger 26" wheels because they tend to roll over the rough stuff a little easier than smaller wheels. The steering is not as quick as the riser bars on small wheeled rigs. That is a good thing. The wheelbase is longer than a bike so there is much less tendency to go"endo". "Endo" is when you are thrown over the handlebars, often landing on your face. Compared to a bike, I notice that when standing on the platform of a scooter the rig is much more planted on the ground. A mountain bike has a higher center of gravity and is more likely to "endo" when starting out and when going down hills.
The brakes on the Blauwerk are linear pull V style brakes that are adequate but they need to be
adjusted frequently. The pads are not as easy to change as higher end V-Brakes. The
cable routing to the rear brake is in need of improvement. The front suspension forks are nice and have much more travel than a small wheel fork will allow. The long steel frame is heavy but springy enough to be comfortable and I don't feel the need for rear suspension.
The wheels are also heavy with wide downhill rims. I think I can get away with much
lighter wheels. The bars are also heavy. I would like to replace them with more
conventional mountain bike flat bars.
I haven't had a problem with the rear wheel getting in the way when I pedal. Some users complained that the larger rear wheels did get in the way.
The platform is high enough that I haven't had problems with it bottoming out on rough stuff like I have experienced on some other scooters. There is about 5.25" of ground clearance. The platform is 8"above the ground. The larger wheels allow greater ground clearance.
Here is a photo of me and my second place team on the scooter at the recent Roslyn Rondy. Megan Capon took the photo. The race winner was Ellen Donoghue. She was running Alaskan Huskies from the Streeper Kennel

I am using Mojo in the lead for my 2 dog team. I call him " The Little Sausage" because of the long round shape of his body.

This photo shows my team finishing. There was a strong headwind during the race. I think I managed to shave a few seconds off my time by getting down low on the scooter platform.


This is Ellen Donoghue with Tim Curley along side her finishing the race on the second day.
I expect to see Ellen this next winter at some of the skijor races.

This is Bob Wilson and his two Alaskan Huskies. Bob was the the 3rd place team out of 18 other teams in the scooter class. The bikejoring was mainly a novice class at this race. Bob is also a very competitive skijorer.

Equipment needed for Skijoring, Bikejoring and Canicross

The Dog's Harness

The preferred harness for your dog is the X-back harness which is the standard for most sled dog sports. Avoid pet store walking harnesses that ring the chest perpendicular to the spine of your dog. These type of harnesses can restrict chest expansion and inhibit breathing. They also can severely encroach on the leg room that your dog needs to run. Harnesses that have webbing too close to your dogs fore legs can cause chafing and discomfort for your dog. Other harnesses that purport to be designed for skijoring are not as comfortable for the dog as the typical X-back.

The harness in the photo is an X-back. Notice how much room the fore legs of the dog have. The transverse webbing allows for chest expansion.

The X-back wraps the dog's body and allows the dog to pull with the whole body. Harnesses can be ordered with padding on the neck and chest. Other options are reflective strips for night running and closed cell padding that is lighter and will not absorb water. Harnesses can be ordered online for 17 to 25 dollars depending on the options you choose.


The Towline


You should not use a leash for a towline. A leash will be too short and will also be too jerky when a dog is pulling. The line needs to have a bungee section incorporated into the core of the line to smooth out the yo yo motion of the skier and rider. The bungee is a form of suspension that makes it comfortable for the dog and the driver.

The line should be at least nine feet long. You need the extra length beyond the length of a leash so that you have more reaction time in case your dog stops to poop or mark. Without the extra length, you might be in danger of running into your dog. If you have very fast dogs then you should consider an even longer line. The end of the line that attaches to the dog's harness should have a small brass swivel snap. The end of the line that attaches to your wheeled rig or skijor belt should have a loop. Here is a link that will help you make your own lines. For canicross, it is not necessary to have such a long line. You will still like a bungee section. A canicross line should be about seven feet long.

Always attach the line to the front and center of your rig. Do not attach the line to the grips of your bike. This is a common mistake that will make you fight for control of your bike with your dog. When the line is attached at the center at either the stem or the head tube, then your hands are free to use your brakes and control your steering. Do not use your skijor belt as an attachment when bikejoring or scootering. A line attached to your body will get you dragged in case of an accident. If the line is attached to the bike, then the bike may get scuffed and dragged for a short distance before the dogs will stop. Human bodies are much more expensive and painful to repair than a bike.

This is one of the places your dog team can take you. Left to right, Tempo, Flash

The Skijor / Canicross Belt

Skijoring is a relatively new sport and equipment is still evolving. The driver needs some kind of harness that will be comfortable and allow your dog to pull you without the pulling forces digging into your back. Older skijor belts were lightly padded, narrow waist belts. These belts become very uncomfortable after a few miles with hard charging dogs tugging on you. They also tend to make your clothes ride up exposing bare skin to cold air. A newer innovation is a belt that wraps your butt and pulls you at a much lower center of gravity. Leg loops help keep the belt in place . I call these belts "diaper" belts. The diapers do not dig into your spine and are not uncomfortable after long distances. The same belt can be used for canicross.

There are some climbing harnesses that have been adapted for skijoring and canicross. Some of the limitations of climbing harnesses is that often the padding behind the back is inadequate. The leg loops on some climbing harnesses will chafe when used for running and XC skiing.

In the next post I will discuss the skis and the different wheeled rigs you can use to run a small dog team.

This is the road to Relay Peak. There is a fog layer over Lake Tahoe.

Go With Dog
Mike Callahan

Introduction to Micro Kennels

This is my first post to this blog.

I am Mike Callahan. I have been a competitive dog driver since 1995. I have five international medals in skijoring as sanctioned by the International Sled Dog Racing Association. (ISDRA) I am the past president of the Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers. I have competed in skijoring and dryland races in Alaska, Canada and several states in the good ol' USA. I hope to convey the methods needed and to discuss the equipment to help you and your dog to become a working team.
I have a small kennel of five dogs. Three are German Shorthaired Pointers,( Otto, Mojo, Seamus) and two are retired Alaskan Huskies. (Flash and Tempo). These dogs are the stars of this blog.

Flash is an Alaskan Husky and is fifteen years old now. He weighs 60 pounds and was my first lead dog

Tempo is ten. Tempo was a cull from another musher. She is an Alaskan Husky. She weighs 60 pounds. Tempo is also retired from racing.

Otto is five. Otto was a cull from a hunting kennel. He is 58 pounds. Otto is my main leader now.

This is Seamus. (Pronounced shaymus) Seamus was adopted from a shelter. He is about three years old and weighs about 50 pounds. Seamus is also a lead dog

This is Mojo. We adopted Mojo the same day we adopted Seamus. Mojo weighs 45 pounds. Mojo has huge attitude for his light weight. He is also a good lead dog. He pulls like a banshee.

Why this Blog?

I want to introduce the public to the sport of dog mushing on a micro level. You do not need a large number of dogs to enjoy mushing. Most people who live in the city or suburbs can not have a large team of dogs. Only one dog is needed to enjoy dog power while skijoring, (Mushing on XC skis), bikejoring, (Dogs pulling a mountain bike), scootering, (Dogs pulling a dog scooter), and canicrossing (Dogs pulling a runner). Your dog will love the opportunity to get out and run. The sport of mushing allows your dog to run under your control. You can go where leash laws are in effect because your dogs are connected to you with a line.

Walking a dog is too slow for most dogs. The speed of the walk is dictated by the human. If it was up to the dog then the dog would most like to run. The use of a wheeled rig will enable you to run your dog and really fulfill your dogs life. The most common wheeled rig for running dogs is a mountain bike.

This photo was taken at the Sierra Nevada Dog Drivers fall training clinic in 2007. I should have been wearing a helmet in this photo. Mountain bikes offer good control and stability. Until your dogs are well trained then you should only use two dogs at the most while bikejoring.
The other popular rig for running a small team is a dog scooter.

This is my team at a race in Chico CA in 2006. This scooter is made by Diggler and is very popular with the urban mushers. Your rig must have good brakes. V-brakes or disc brakes are the best. When your dogs pull hard then your brakes will allow control. When you have substandard brakes then mayhem could be your next moment. Another method to run dogs is skijoring.

This photo of me, Seamus and Mojo was taken by Mark Guillory at the Chester Sled Dog Races in 2008. Skijoring requires you to be a good XC skier before you hook up to your dogs. That narrows down the demographic profoundly. If you can not ski well then you might spook your dogs from too much falling. If you are not able to stop effectively then you could run over your dog and cause an injury.

Canicross is running with a dog pulling you. With a good dog you can profoundly improve your mile times. The dog is connected to you with a skijor belt so you can run hands free. Canicross is the dog sport that is most likely to grow because people love to run with their dogs.

This photo is of Robert Stradley at the "Not So Great Serum Run" in Fairview Park this past December in Costa Mesa CA. The event was put on by the Southern California Urban Mushers.

Training a lead dog

The most intimidating obstacle for all beginning mushers is how to get your dog out in front and pulling. Every musher needs a "Lead Dog". In the future posts I hope I can convey the methods to you all for training your dog to be a leader.

Go With Dog

Mike Callahan