Scootering: a New Sport for Active Dogs
By Daphne Lewis
What is Dog Scootering?
Dog scootering is like
mushing. You harness your dog, attach him to the scooter, and off you go. Just
like mushing - except mushing means multiple dogs. Dog scootering means just one
or a few dogs. Dog scootering is mushing for the rest of us.
Who
scooters?
One scooterer in South Carolina scooters with her Golden
Retrievers in parks and around the neighborhood. When her dogs have run enough
that they are slowing down and willing to trot slowly, she hitches up her blind
12-year-old retriever alongside one of her seeing dogs. Off trot the two dogs.
Old Beau guides himself with tension on the neckline connecting him to Isaac. He
is happy now to be included in the activities of the other three dogs. He hated
being left behind all the time.
A musher in Alaska has a kennel of
competitive sled dogs. She scooters to town to run errands. She uses her scooter
to train dogs one or two at a time. Scootering is great one-on-one time for dogs
raised as sled dogs. It is also a fine way to train a lead dog and to give
confidence to a team dog. Scootering is great for retired sled dogs, who are
still feisty but too slow to run with the team.
A scooterer in Washington
State scooters the rail trails and sidewalks near her house. She has two rescue
dogs: a mixed breed and a deaf Australian Shepherd. The Aussie takes his cues
from the hearing dog. Another scooterer in Washington State scooters with her
son and nephew. She scooters with her Pit Bull while her 8-year-old son scooters
with his pint-size cattle dog mix. Her nephew sometimes scooters and sometimes
drives the sulky pulled by his Pit Bull.
For several years, a scooterer
in Michigan has organized fun runs and scooter races under the umbrella of the
local sled dog club. She races in two-dog scooter races. Her 13-year-old
daughter borrows a dog and races in the one-dog races for juniors. In Florida, a
scooterer with multiple rescue dogs tears down the roads at 2 A.M., the only
time it is cool enough for her dogs to run. She runs fast dogs acclimated to and
bred in the heat: Catahoula Leopard Dogs and Pointers.
A scooterer in
North Carolina has a mountain scooter for her two young dogs. For her “Grande
Dames” she has a city scooter with large diameter road tires. The old dogs
appreciate the easy pulling of their new scooter - and the exercise keeps them
young.
A scooterer in western Washington has Labrador Retrievers. He
scooters to condition his dogs for his two favorite sports: duck hunting and
skijor racing. He hunts in the fall and races in winter. His labs leap and bark
like huskies with anticipation at the start of a skijor race. (Skijoring is like
scootering except the human wears skiis instead of riding a scooter.)
And
lastly, a woman near the Olympic National Forest in Washington State has
12-year-old Miniature Poodles weighing 10 pounds each. These dogs are titled in
both the US and Canada in weight pull, tracking, obedience, and agility. She
would love to title them in dog scootering only we haven’t written that test
yet. Her Poodles pull her just fine, just not as far or as fast as bigger
dogs.
What commands do you use?
Most of the commands
are the same as for mushing, and scooterers have more commands than are listed
here. They have city dog commands such as “Go up the stairs,” “Go to the car,”
or “Run on the grass.” My favorite is “Whoooa darnit!”
Line out -
hold the line tight while facing away from the scooter
Hike
- g o
Hike, hike! - go faster
Easy -
g o slower
Whoa - s top
Gee - t
urn right
Haw - t urn left
On by - go on
by the distraction and keep going
Haw come - m ake a u-turn
and come back towards me
Over gee - m ove to the right side
of the trail and keep going
Over haw - move to the left side
of the trail and keep going
What equipment do you
need?
Dog scootering requires less equipment than most dog sports.
You need a dog, scooter, harness, and tugline.
Dog scooters usually have
16 or 20-inch wheels with air-filled tires. A few have 12-inch or 24 to 26-inch
tires. Scooters have good brakes which are essential for downhill travel.
Unfortunately most of them do not have fenders; therefore, mud gear is
preferable if conditions are wet. Some scooters have shock absorbers. Scooter
costs vary from $120 to $600, depending on the quality of the
scooter.
Sled dog harnesses are of synthetic webbing. The collars are fit
carefully to lie at the base of the neck. The pull comes on the breast bone via
the chest strap that goes between the front legs. The beauty of the sled dog
harness is that there is no pulling on the neck and no binding of the shoulders.
Tuglines have snaps at both ends and built-in bungee cords. Usually they
attach to the scooter by wrapping once or twice around the down tube and
snapping into a D-ring. A slide snap attaches to the loop or D-ring in the
harness.
What breed of dog can pull a scooter?
A
scooter is easy to pull on level ground. Stand on a scooter or bike, tie a leash
to it, and have your human friend pull you – it’s easy for him. This means that
most dogs can pull, and enjoy pulling a scooter. After all, you
can probably remember trying to break that same dog of pulling on a leash when
you began walking him. Dogs need to run on a regular basis - many dog trainers
believe it should be every day. Some trainers run their dogs twice a day.
Walking on a leash at human pace is not the same as running at dog speed.
Obviously large dogs and Nordic dogs usually have no trouble pulling a scooter.
What is less obvious is that because a scooter is easy to pull on the flat
ground, even many small dogs can pull as well. Cocker Spaniels, Rat Terriers,
Wheaten Terriers can all pull a scooter on the flat ground. Just remember, when
you scooter uphill on a dirt trail, you need to get off and run beside the
scooter, whether your dog is a large breed, mid-size breed or small breed. When
going downhill, the scooter rolls faster and faster, so put on the brakes and
keep that tugline tight! Don’t let the dog run too fast (for his own safety) and
never let the scooter catch up to the dog. So if your dog can pull a scooter on
flat ground, you use the brakes when going downhill, and you run beside the
scooter going uphill, there is no reason why a little Whippet can’t be a scooter
dog.
Of course a pair of Border Collies can tick off more miles in half an
hour of scootering than two Beagles, but the Beagles will have just as much fun
running their half hour as the Border Collies. So if your dog loves to run,
give him the means to run - teach him to scooter. Scootering is a source of
great exercise for both you and your dog(s). It will allow you to explore the
countryside, and give you both good sleep when you get back home. Soon you will
become addicted like the rest of us scooterers.
Dogs overheat easily and run best in cool and especially cold
weather. In summer scooterers whine to their scooter friends about the warm
weather. They wish for the cold and wet of spring and fall and winter. Instead
of loving to lie around on warm sandy beaches in summer, they love to hitch
their dogs to scooters in winter and tear down the hard wet sand chasing
seagulls on their scooter egged on by the excitement of their furry friends. An
astonishing change of attitude comes with the scooter addiction!
For information on how you can get involved, go to www.dogscooter.com.