I am fairly new here, and this might have been touched on before, but I was wondering how many members actually train and run their dogs for mushing.

And, am I neglecting something if we don't mush ours?
We have hooked Nanuk to a recumbant bike (like a longer with wheels) and he seemed to enjoy it. But tho we live in Michigan, we are not in the UP and do not get quite as much snow as they do up there.
There are some locals who get together with other Husky owners and are thinking of getting everyone together and hook them to a sled, but I think there will be too many owners with the thought that THEY know what needs to be done. It seems to me that any dogs running together need to be in a pack together?

Just curious.

Heh, I think throwing a bunch of dogs together would at least yield a good video. The dogs don't really have to be in a pack together as much as they need training together. Mine don't really get mushed, but we do some pulling often on the bike. Our training is mostly for endurance at altitude.

I don't think you neglect anything by not mushing, unless the dogs come from a kennel born to run. Any dog can pick up on the basics of turning and what not. Still, the Huskies tend to have drive for going forward. Plus it looks cool to have a few hitched up and running on line.

Personally, I don't have anywhere to "mush" Kodi. I live in Tennessee, so snow is a blessing. But when it does snow, which is usually about Fedurary, I think im gonna sit on a garbage can lid, and hold his leash while he pulls be down the drive way. Just to see if he enjoys it. And since my drive way is downhill, I figure it will be pretty interesting to see him try and stop himself and I.

Also, I dont really think it has to be just huskies that pull together. I'm pretty sure if you trained labs, dobermans and huskies together, that they would run just fine. The other dogs might not catch on as fast, but who knows.

Thats just a thought (:

We don't mush Koda, but I bikejor with him and he loves it They were made to pull!

I know you're just joking about the idea, but make sure you don't do any hard exercise (like pulling or running for a mile or more) while he's still a puppy. He's going through some serious growth spurts and the impact/exercise can really injure his muscles/joints as he grows. Heavy exercise shouldn't be attempted until at least 1.5 years to 2 years.

awww man. that sucks
but thanks for the heads up. ive read that huskies are really pron to hip injuries?
and i wouldn't want that to happen to him. I guess i'll have to wait a couple of years, maybe by then ill move to somewhere a little colder, and we can do it all the time. (: