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The Training Cart
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| The Training Harness
When I'm just starting out with my dog, I don't want to be distracted (or to have her be distracted) by needless complexity. That's what I like about the training harness; it's simple Lay it over the dog's head, tighten one strap around the chest and that's it. Get her connected and let's focus on today's lesson.
There are a lot of good options, but after trying 3, I settled on this design with the quick release which saves additional time and reduces frustration yet further.
The handle at the top is a nice place to fold up the leash and stash it while still attached to the dog. This was especially valuable early on when I wasn't completely confident about Livvy's Ho but didn't want her to feel that she was on a tether. I could grab it quickly and it was not likely to trip her up.
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The quick-release harness is a favorite feature of mine for beginner training. It's simple, it's quick. (I've also heard it called a Parade Harness.)
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| The Cart
There are many places to purchase or find directions for building carts and wagons. I surfed around for images of simple training carts, studied how they were put together and then struck out on my ownI started my research by looking around a carts for dogs and mini horses. There are as many varieties of carts as there are varieties of dogs to pull them. Some features I knew I wanted and I designed for them.
Some features I just lucked into. For example, the first time we took Hannah to a town concert on the common, I quickly realized the advantage of being able to stand the cart up so as to take up less space on the grass and to loop harnesses, bags, etc, on the poles.
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 When in tight spaces, it's nice to be able to stand a cart up.
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When preparing to hook up the dog, it can be convenient to set the cart poles down. This also makes it easier to load the cart before hooking up the dog. Now that the girls and I are very comfortable with carting, I have no hesitation letting them carry my tripod and camera equipment either.
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I had a barrel full of birch wood flooring left over from the study. Far too nice for the wood stove, it was just begging to be made into something. Birch is very hard; that's what makes it so suitable for flooring. In addition, I prefer to see the natural wood grain and would rather not paint if I can avoid it. My target dog was bronze, so I figured a light birch color would compliment her coloring very well. Ok, I didn't really figure it, my bride figured it and arranged things so I figured that I figured it. Whatever . . . a nice color choice in the end.
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| A little glue, some brass screws, a few of Dad's old wood clamps, a picture frame vice, a table sander, a planer, a radial arm saw, and a router . . . I just love it when I have a good excuse to use my tools.
But keep in mind that many plans require little more in the way of experience and tools than what you would need to build a bookshelf.
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| I had two bicycle wheels out in the barn that completed the major parts list.
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| This is a very simple cart, suitable for training but not for hauling any serious weight. It is fine for carrying our lawn chairs to the Wednesday night town concerts. |
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