At some point, while Kuma was a pup, I started trying to walk more. I would take him on short walks with a leash as able. This was good for both of us!
I realized that when walking Kuma I would say “Gee” before we turned right and “Haw” before we turned left. Some may recognize these commands as commonly used with many draft animals such as horses, oxen, mules, goats, even dogs.
Kuma: full grown
Not surprisingly, these were rounded out with “whoa” for stop and “git up” or “go” for go!
Perhaps some explanation would be appreciated here?
Years before, I was fortunate to have had some experience with trained working sled dogs. However I never expected to have contact with any working dogs again. Besides not expecting any opportunity, I wasn’t up to it physically.
Somehow, something of that must have stuck in my subconscious mind, as here I was geeing and hawing Kuma without really even thinking about it.
Kuma caught on pretty well. Most dogs will if given a chance. I think even Toto was getting it, but as the ultimate scatter brained dog it was always hard to tell with her. (Toto is another story!)
I was able to get a harness for Kuma. This is how I started to use it with him. During some winter snows, we would find some open space or common areas within a few yards of the condo. (Very close.) I would tie a small plastic child’s sled to the rear of his harness with some rope, and lead him with a leash. He learned to pull that kid’s sled, though he might not have always been thrilled with that strange thing following him! We were able to do that a few times.
After the winter, we started going up to the nearby mountains where we had enjoyed ourselves in earlier times. One of our activities was collecting firewood to keep warm with. To help out, Kuma learned to pull a full size, 6 foot, plastic toboggan loaded with firewood. Kuma would pull this across the dirt, wait with his leash across his back for unloading, and follow us back for the next load.
In case you were wondering, Kuma was full grown by this time, a slender, yellow Lab mix of typical size, and a good 60 lbs. So much for puppy predictions!
Kuma: with his girl