Just thought I'd introduce myself, I'm Pete. I live in Colorado in the US and I recently got my first Sibe after wanting one for a few years. She's almost 3 and on the smaller side so she won't be doing any competitive sledding, but I'm hoping she will enjoy some bike an skijoring. First on my list is teaching her the basic commands of course while I'm out walking her... Gee, Haw, Whoa, On-by.
She's getting the hang of Whoa; comes to a stop, but turns and starts sniffing around. If I continue walking towards her she thinks it's okay to continue, so I'm trying to break her of that so she doesn't continue until I tell her "ok, go" or "hike" depending on if she should be walking or pulling. I guess it will just come with repetition though.
I guess it will all come with time, right now she's really well trained NOT to pull by her previous owners. I don't want to break her of that though, instead I want her to know the differences in harnesses she's wearing so she knows when it's correct to pull and when she shouldn't.
Overall I'm hoping I can learn a lot from everyone else's experiences and share some of my own experiences as they occur.
Glad to have you here Pete. It will be great to watch as you and your sled dog progress together in the sport of mushing. Feel free to ask questions - and relate your own knowledge on the forums.
You're a software engineer? That's sweet. What languages do you program in?
Colorado sounds like an excellent state to live in. Do you get any snow in the area you're located?
Mainly Java, but I also work with perl, php, C, C++, VB, ASP, and shell scripts depending on what the day might contain.
As for area in CO, I'm just north of Denver, we get snow, but not to the extent that most people think (except the occasional winters like in 2006 that closed down the city). 30 minute drive and I'm in the mountains around 8000feet (~2450meters) above sea level and an hour I'm in an area that gets 300 inches (~ 7.5 meters)/year of snow. So there's no lack of snow to be found during winter.