I have a sled dog

Zippy had his first skijour practice this afternoon ... and he got an A++.

I froze water in a juice jug, and then tied that with a rope and bungee to the back of his harness ... so that he could get the feel of pulling, but with a minimal amount of weight. I also hooked a leash to the back of his harness, and then ran behind him, holding the leash and essentially doing what's termed "runjouring," but without actually being hooked up to him.

It took him a couple of minutes to get over the fact that something interesting was bouncing behind him ... and then "click" he got it. In a smooth, even trot we took off down the trail.

I choose a trail where there where a lot of forks and Xs ... so that we could start practicing the commands: Gee for right, haw for left, straight ahead to go straight, whoa for stop and let's go to start or urge him forward ... it didn't take him long to start picking up the commands ... though I think he understands gee much better than haw.

I'm also using "dale" ... the Argentinian equivalent of "let's go" to urge him forward. This is something I started doing about a month ago while trail running, so he already knows what it means.

My goal is to have him all trained up for next winter when he'll be old enough to pull the weight of a person for longer periods of time. This means lots of runjouring this summer and taking advantage of the snow now ... while it lasts.