Urban Mushing And Central Oregon Vacation: Learn To Dog Sled Or Learn About Urban Mushing

A Central Oregon vacation can offer many things but one activity you might want to try is dog sledding or urban mushing. Urban mushing is actually the same as dog sledding only without the dog sled and a scooter instead! Central Oregon just so happens to have the best teacher around for dog sledding or urban mushing on a Central Oregon vacation with any breed.  Karen Yeargain is happy to share her dog sledding techniques that you may apply here in Central Oregon, Anyplace USA or worldwide.

Tumnatki Siberians is the best kennel in Central Oregon for acquiring a Siberian husky or urban mushing and dog sledding equipment.  Karen Yeargain can teach you all you need to know about dog sledding, urban mushing or dog scootering and get you started in methodology you will understand and find easy to apply here in Central Oregon or back home.

A Central Oregon vacation involving urban mushing/dog scootering or dog sledding can acquaint you with the mechanics and equipment necessary via individual lesson or group lesson in dog sledding and urban mushing/dog scootering and you can even order all the equipment necessary from her. See her website above at Tumnatki Siberians for more details.

Central Oregon is a great place to vacation in winter because of the many venues for dog sledding. Even if you haven't done dog sledding before, Central Oregon is the perfect place to get a glimpse of this wonderful sport. All the principles of dog sledding fortunately also apply to the summertime version of dog sledding here in Central Oregon - urban mushing or dog scootering.

Likewise, all the elements of dog sledding can be readily transferred to skijoring (basically dog sledding on cross country skis) in Central Oregon on vacation or on your own. They also can be applied to daily life wherever you live, not just on vacation here in Central Oregon. There is also bikejoring,again applying all the principles of dog sledding. Bikejoring involves dogs pulling you on a bike rather than on a scooter.

The equipment for dog sledding, urban mushing, dog scooter, bikejoring, skijoring, carting, etc. is basically the same. For dog sledding, whether in Central Oregon or another snow locale, you need a kick sled or a small stand-on sled.

For urban mushing, the most common vehicle of choice is a Diggler scooter, which you can order through Tumnatki Siberians. There are many different variations of the Diggler scooter and you will have the chance to see which scooter would most suit your need, your dogs, and your pocketbook.

Dog sledding and urban mushing/scootering, or dog carting are sports that you can do with any breed dog. Some of the fastest breeds of course are the Siberian husky and Alaskan husky, while malamutes are very good at it but proceed at a more sedate pace. The Siberian husky is built for speed as is the Alaskan husky, whereas the Alaskan malamute is built for load and strength, not speed.

Just because you have another breed though - labs do urban mushing and dog sledding, shepherds do it, hounds do it, border collies do it - again there is no limit as far as where you live or what breed the dog is, though the dog does need to be medium sized and above. Most recommended is running dogs on dirt surfaces rather than pavement for long periods of time. Forestry service roads are great or any other surface with 'give'.

Urban mushing as an adjunct to dog sledding is becoming perhaps the most popular way to exercise dogs of all breeds in cities across the country. It is not a unique sport to Central Oregon. However, Karen teaches in such a way that people feel at ease running their dogs in this fashion and she is one of the best teachers I have ever encountered. Moreover, she totally understands dogs and what motivates them to run while maintaining the individuality of their breed!

And yes, for those competitive folks out there, there are many races you can enter once you train your dogs regarding mushing on any level.

Basically for dog sledding or urban mushing in Central Oregon or anywhere USA you would need the following:

• Kick sled, scooter (preferably Diggler), cross country skis, dog cart, bike or even roller blades
• Pulling harness for each dog made specifically for pull activities (Taiga recommended)
• Lead line which keeps your dog(s) hooked out in front of you
• Line or chain that hooks scooter to vehicle while getting dogs in harness/onto lead line (this keeps the dogs from taking off with the scooter or sled while you are getting ready)
• Water for dogs!!
• Helmet for human (optional)
• Knee and elbow pads human (optional)

Whatever you need in terms of equipment, Tumnatki Siberians can get for you or recommend where you can order yourself although there are other websites available.

The 4 videos contained in this hub are all produced by Audrey Kirchner from a scootering outing in Sisters, Oregon May 1, 2010.  This delineates from start to finish what is involved.

• Go /Let’s go – Start pulling or get going faster
• Hike or Hike-Hike – Get going
• Mush – (although I’ve never heard anyone use this) Get going
• Haw – Turning left
• Gee – Turning right
• Easy – Take it easy and slow down (say it eeeeassssy)
• Whoa – or WHOOOOOOAAAAA – Stop and stop NOW
• Leave it – Quit messing with that thing you just spied or want to go after and keep your attention on the road (issue this command firmly and loudly)
• On by – Used when passing people, dogs, or teams – means leave them alone and keep on going
• Straight ahead – Same thing as on by but takes longer to say it
• Line out – Face forward on the line and keep it straight and tight – with more than 2 dogs, tangles in the line can occur so it is important for lead dogs to know this command - usually for 1 or 2 dogs - not so important
• Tighten up - Means move closer together or can mean line out for 2 dogs
• Gee over – Move over to the right side of the road
• Haw over – Move over to the left side of the road
• Over - If running down the middle of a road, sometimes important to get them to one side or the other but gee and haw works better combined with over
• Come gee – Make a U-turn to the right – this is a very advanced command
• Come haw – Make a U-turn to the left – this is a very advanced command
• NO!!! – The usual meaning - knock it off and now!
• Other swear words and adjectives in any language to denote how you are feeling about your run at the moment and what they are doing!  Oddly they seem to translate well to dogspeak! 

More info and mushing terms courtesy of Urbanmushing.com and Audrey Kirchner been there, done that

These commands can also be worked into 'casual training' while you have your dogs out and about - especially reinforces when they are in harness.

If you ever wanted to try something that involves mushing or dog sledding, here's your chance to learn from one of the best teachers! If you are ever in Central Oregon on vacation or just passing through, it is well worth the instruction to learn from a pro.

Even if you are not in Central Oregon and want to learn about dog sledding or urban mushing, contact Karen and she will either give you helpful advice or direct you to someone who might be able to provide you with information.

Urban mushing, whether it is in Central Oregon or sunny California, is a great way to exercise your dogs - as is dog sledding or some of the other sports mentioned above.

Do take the time to do it properly, however, because it can be dangerous to you and your dogs if you don't know the proper techniques, equipment, etc. 

Especially for Nordic breeds, it is advised  not to run them when temps are over 60 degrees, so have a care and try to run them before the thermometer hits 60!

Have a care as well running them on pavement - if you take off your shoes and it is too hot for YOUR feet, it is too hot for their feet. 

Running in snowy conditions, if there is severe ice spiking, booties are a good idea for the dogs.

Happy mushing!