Finding a job for my dog pack

Two dogs are companions, three dogs become a pack

The city of Columbia Falls advertised that it is the “gateway to Glacier” but in reality the climb into the Rockies really starts at Hungry Horse. The snowy season begins in the fall and ends during the spring thaw, which could be anywhere from the end of April to mid-June. Once the snow started to fall, I wouldn’t see snowless ground until spring. Even in June the piles of snow that slid off the roof took seemingly forever to melt away. My house had a steep metal roof and when enough snow accumulated the whole roof load would slide off, leaving huge white walls that reached the second story deck. From inside the house it sounded like the roof was caving in. There was no warning and it could happen anytime, even in the middle of the night. Winter could be long and boring, if you don’t ski, hunt or do cross-country. I had long since given up skiing, didn’t know how to hunt and really couldn’t invest in the gear for cross-country. And I definitely wasn’t going to enter the winter downhill barstool races in Coram. Google it. One of my friends mentioned there was a man who raised huskies in Marion, south of Kalispell. He was a “musher” and entered the Iditarod. I was intrigued. I had two Rottweilers and a Heinz 57 who thought she was. They needed a job.

The problem with having intelligent dogs is when they are bored they make up jobs, if you don’t give them one. Their idea of a job is not always a good one. If they can’t come up with a job, they will invent games. Even though I had a 5-foot fence surrounding my yard, I would look out the window and see Bones standing on the other side of the fence in my neighbor’s yard. He would stand there and wait until I came out and saw him. I tried watching him, but could never catch him doing it. He knew I was watching and would wait until I wasn’t. I checked and rechecked the fence for weak spots, looked for holes where he might be digging out – nothing. One day I hid behind the curtain and peeked out. It took a while, but when he thought the coast was clear, he started to climb the chain link fence. Once he got to the top, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t yell at him to stop.

His other favorite game was to hide behind the trees and bushes that lined the side of the yard facing the street. He would stand, motionless, waiting for people to walk up the hill from the Bible Camp and then jump out and bark, scaring them half to death. Then he would prance around grinning. Bushes hid the fence, so people thought he was loose. Dogs can’t laugh, but I’m pretty sure Bones had a weird sense of humor.

Researching the Iditarod and dog teams brought up a lot of topics. Dogs are used to pull people on skis, called Skijoring. A dog could be hooked up to pull a bicycle or scooter. I found dog carts for people to ride in with a dog pulling them instead of a horse. The wheels on the carts could be removed in winter and small skis attached in their place. Spring was not far off. This could be fun. Rotties were genetically bred to pull heavy loads. What could go wrong?

I settled on the idea of the dog cart. It could be used for recreation and the dogs could pull their own 50 lb bag of food from the grocery store any time of year. The problem was the carts were expensive and way beyond my budget. I started looking for alternatives and found a wagon made of wood with removable sides that I could order. The wheels could be easily removed and replaced with short skis. It came in a flat box and I had to put it together.

The wheels were all-terrain, good for dirt and gravel. I painted dog paw prints on the sides and “Four Paw Drive.” I invested in a short gangline and harnesses that would attach to it with carabiners. The gangline had metal rings every few feet to attach the harnessed dog and held by the person in the cart. Instead of installing the wagon pull handle, I attached the gangline to the wheels, so the wagon would turn with the dogs. I learned the commands and practiced them with the dogs. They caught on quickly.

This had all seemed like a fun sport, but facing getting into the cart and expecting the dogs to carefully pull me along gave me pause. Suddenly I had visions of dogs giving chase, me bouncing along in the cart out of control, dogs racing around a corner, the cart tipping over….

Maybe it would be a good idea to start with me walking behind the dogs until they got used to the gangline.

Once I had everything ready and the dogs were trained, it was time for the maiden voyage. A good place to practice was in the area where the barracks for the dam workers had been. It was flat, free of traffic, and the trees would be a good way to learn how to maneuver around obstacles. I hooked the dogs up and away we went. They obeyed the commands, turned right and left on cue and didn’t chase anything. It was fun and I had a great time.