I've begun my dog hiking during the summer months

[Christian]

Here's a photo of my dog and I on one of our daily hiking trips. I take one dog out each day - and focus on the training needs for that dog. Today I worked on "On Bye," and "Heel." She did really well. After a good amount of footwork with dogs - I think its very beneficial to do cross-training/obedience work during the summer with sled dogs - as it strengthens your bonds, you understand each other better, and it enables further control over what tasks you ask your dog to perform. As some have mentioned, and I now agree - obedience work with a sled dog doesn't seem to ruin its mushing performance. Any thoughts?

hiking_with_kia.jpg

I will be writing more stories regarding my hiking adventures in the upcoming Monthly Bark.

[Eskimo Carol]

Hey that is cool, I think it's important to have one on one with every dog in the kennel. But I imagine it's tough to do that with over a hundred dogs, for those who have much bigger kennels. I'd definitely want to take a dog out and get to know it personally - one on one, just to have that unique connection. Summer time is a great time to do that! I would think that they'd admire you more thus respecting you more in how you want it to perform, I don't know though since I've never had that connection.