2012 Santa Claus Parade

What do you get when a few people refuse to hang up their carts and harnesses for the season/ You get the formation of an improptu group so they can enter the 2012 Santa Clause Parade.  The group is named the "Queen City Canine Carting Group".

With the theme of the parade being "Story Book Time" we decided to go with a Dr Seuss Christmas Classic,  "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"   We were the people of Whoville and were were bringing Christmas back.    This was a whole lot of fun!

Count down to the Draft Dog Test

The count down has started to the Draft Test this weekend.  When I signed up for the "Carting with your Dog" workshop this spring, my aspirations were simple.  a) hang out with my friends and have some fun b) hang out with my dog and have some fun.  Well I can honestly say that those goals have been met ten fold. You can see by Reese's face she enjoys it to. 

It is time to change gears, dig in and pull together as a team. 

These pictures were all taken at the Draft Dog Fun match about 2 weeks ago, even little 15wk old Draft Dog wannabe Nugget was on hand to cheer Reese on.

The Draft Test fun match was a chance for us to find out what the real thing will be like.  We were all put through our paces and I came away with the knowledge of what we needed to work on. 

The big thing was the ring exercises, I was to fumbly putting the harness on and the judge found a few twists in the harness...not good. I need to make the harnessing smoother. My off leash pattern was pretty good, but there is always room for improvement . On the 1 minute stand stay, Reese sat with 5 secs left. That is an automatic NQ, so practise, practise, practise  Reese did great on the 3 minute group down stay, which has been a problem, so this was great success. . Once I was harnessed and hitched, the cart manuevering went well.  The freight haul went well except for a spot where we were going up hill.  We got bogged down, because I slowed down to decide which angle I was going to approach at.   I should have had that figured out in the walk through and would not have needed to slow down and loose momentum.

I am very happy with how Reese and I have developed as a draft team and feel that we are well prepared for the test.  I am sure there will be a few anxious moments, but I  I have a wonderful partner and that is the most important thing. 

Summertime Fun!

Summertime, what a great time to have a brand new  puppy.  There have been so many opportunities to get Nugget out and about and socialized to people, places, sounds and other dogs.

On July 28th, KAOS was invited to perform 2 shows at the town of Chaplin's 100th Anniversary celebration. 

Nugget's part was to make her arrival carted in by Reese. It was 31 C degrees in the shade, and if you look really close you can see the Nug laying on her back in the crate as we wait for the introduction.

After a ride around the park. We stopped for Introductions and Nugget was sprung from her chariot.

Nugget handled the kids, the crowds and the heat like a pro. Of course the occaisonal dip in the paddling pool helped stay cool.

Road and trail ready

Reese's cart painted and ready for the road

We have been out and about a few times with the cart since the workshop. We did a quick run at the aglity field and a good hour long cruise at Wascana Park. We have not really done to much load hauling as we are working on more control on turns, pace changes and stopping. 

Figure 8's, Turns and Dog racing

Tonight was a repeat performance of carting fun.  Reese and I met up with Jill, Yo and Sonny for some carting  and a little geocaching.  We carted across hill and dale, found 2 caches and enjoyed a wonderful spring evening.  Wind and bug free! 

Here are a few videos of the action.

Sonny and Reese side by side and an in turn...ha ha sounds like curling.

That went well, so next we tried a figure 8. The pile ons are set at 8'. In a test they can be set between 6' and 8'. 

Once the carts and harnesses were put away,  Sonny and Reese got down to a good old dog game of chase. What fun?

Zero to 60 - Chesapeake tested and approved

My cart was ready and picked up earlier this week. I have been itching all week to harness Reese up and hit the road. Unfortunately with crazy winds all week the weather didn’t co-operate. Last night was a different story. I dismantled the cart and loaded for transport.

I met Jill, Yo and their Golden Retriever Sonny at Mt. Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant is the site of Regina’s old landfill which has been turned into a sports area, with tobogganing hills, ball diamonds, soccer and football fields. Best of a all a huge graveled parking lot that was for the most part dry and empty.



See how nicely the cart fits in the Saturn.



First up was putting the cart back together. Its design allows the wheels and shafts to come off for easy transport. Taking it apart was easy enough and I was prepared for a bit more challenge of putting it back together. It took all of 5 minutes and had I paid attention to which shaft went where, it probably would only have taken half the time. I am ever so grateful to Rick for building it for me, its light, easily transported. 



Once the carts were ready to go it was time to get Sonny and Reese out and harnessed and hitched to their carts.

We started with a straight away off the gravel parking lot and on to the grass. Next a wide turn back towards the parking lot and an unhitching and rehitching so Reese could go to the bathroom. In my excitement to get going I forgot to ex her first. Then we headed through some trees and back on to the parking lot. We tried a few tighter turns and a modified (meaning wide) figure eight. That went well so we thought we would try a hill.



Mt. Pleasant has a 2 tiered hill, great for tobogganing. It’s covered with natural prairie grass, many gopher holes and some debris that is surfacing from the mound of trash the hill is built on. My vision was to make it to the 1st plateau which has a long easy grade of a climb. But with Sonny in lead Reese went from Zero (not budging without a treat under her nose) to 60, pretty much full speed ahead unless she ran the shafts into my leg or ran over my foot when I turned into her to slow her down. In no time flat we were at the top of the hill where Sonny and Reese stopped to survey the path they travelled.



Sonny and Reese smiling at the top of Mt Pleasant



While at the top of the hill Yo had a bead on a cache located metres away. To help look for the cache we unhooked the carts to prevent Sonny and Reese from laying down or sitting while hitched. After a few minutes Yo and Jill had the cache in hand and we hitched the dogs up to make the trek back.

Once back to the vehicles we tried a few more turns and added a little bit of weight to Reese’s cart before unhitching the dogs and giving them a drink. Now Reese’s cart has been Chesapeake tested and approved.

Hitched

Well, Reese's harness came and I got the chance to hook her up to a friends cart. Here she is hitched.  Yea I know she does not look impressed, it is sort of like " first you say don't pull, now you say pull, make up your mind"

Pulling in the building with matting on the floor was a good introduction for Reese.  The cushioned floor made the cart fairly noise free, so she just had to contend with the restriction of the shafts and something following her. 

Now that we have her harness our next step is to get out pulling the sacrifical tree to get used to more drag and noise. Also I have my own cart in the works, so looks like more carting fun in the works.

Here is a picture of Nicky, my friends Irish setter pulling the sacrificial tree. He did great and his tail never stopped wagging.