Rosewood Rottweiler Carting Page 1: Practice Makes Perfect

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

The essence of recreational carting

For those first couple of times you take your dog out and about I recommend you go to a park where there is plenty of open space and practice familiarizing your dog with the feel of varied surfaces and the feel of the cart behind him as he transitions from one surface to another. Search out bridges and windy paths to practice on, progressing from easy, safe transitions to eventually taking on a low flight of stairs diagonally. Practice your serpentines and circles using trees and begin to teach your dog to back up and to do long downs while you enjoy a break for a snack (don't forget to bring something good for your dog too)

PROGRESSING
Page one of this series left us with a basic understanding of how to get our dogs into the cart and start moving forward. Progressing to the point of being able to enter in a parade or competition will take a wee bit longer and requires nothing more than having a good time with your dog in various locations. Really it is just that simple.

Take your dog and his cart to the park, to town, down your own Street or any place whre you can enjoy fresh air.. Hitch and go and enjoy your time together.

GREAT BREED P.R.
If you haven't given it much thought you may be suprised the first time you take your dog to a public place to cart. People are generally very eager to meet and talk with you about it and want to know what you are doing. Most people have never seen a dog pulling a cart before. Once your dog is solid in his new role this is the best opportunity to show people just how great our breed is by explaining it is in the Rottweiler's heritage to pull carts and do various other tasks to help his master. Explaining that dogs have jobs is also a new concept to so many people and a real eye opener for some. It's not uncommon for us to offer cart rides to children. Once done the children are told that they must thank the dog and give them a big pat on their head for appreciation. I have no doubt that a child will forever remember their first cart ride being pulled by a beautiful Rottweiler for the rest of their life in a favorable light. You will particurally enjoy seeing how happy your dog is to do this and the smiles on children's faces delight everyone watching.

So ya wanna cart with your Rottweiler?

Special thanks to:
To all my friends and students that have allowed my to photograph their dogs for this article. I hope it will help many.

If you are preparing your dog to enter in a test, it is a simple matter of throwing a few cones into your truck to bring along to the park to practice with. They can be set as a serpentine and various distances apart so your dog can practice going thru and around them. Your gate width in an ARC test is a 4' opening so it is also good to practice going thru this space with your dog where hitting a few cones is much better than hitting a stationaly object.

Backing up is probably the most failed exercise in the test. I will go into more detail about this below. Remember, It's good to practice in large open areas where you still have plenty of room to practice your turning.

Beasil earning what it's like to be calm in a long down while in her cart

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE
Very similar to teaching a horse to pull a sulky the desired result is an animal that has a lot of slow and whoa in his work. Remember the dog is working and is required to accomodate our schedule not indulge their own. The dog must understand that he is to wait calmly in a down until we tell him to get back up to resume pulling his cart.

ATTENTION:
Don't consider your dog is safe in the cart until you have done many stops and restarts and many downs with restarts including long downs. A dog can react to something when you least expect it to. So be ever diligent for several sessions before you start to take things for granted. It is your job to help your dog to understand and accept his new role fully.

Nobody gets away without doing this.....Xanto practicing his down

WHAT WAS THAT AGAIN?
Oh yea! Practice makes perfect.

Not exactly what I had in mind

Proofing the down in cart

Don't forget to practice sitting and waiting as well

As in any dog training venture your dog will improve proportionately with the amount of time you put into teaching and working with him. You couldn't possibly teach your dog to do his Novice or Open obedience exercises in one or two training sessions, so there's no reason to expect you could be prepared to negotiate a carting test course after just a couple of times in the cart. So if it is a carting title you are after you will have to spend a little more time finessing your moves and perfecting your performance.

Ruger the Dobe getting some practice time

Regardless if your goals are purely recreational carting or occasional parades, continue practicing and exposing your dog to different areas in town to accustom them to the many different sights and sounds they can expect to encounter.

Shelby getting a refresher on what it is to back up in her cart.

LB & Artos are practicing their serpentines that they will
encounter in their upcoming test

Toga in her travois and Mack in the cart

Weebie the Wonder Dog completely understands
what the long down is all about

Rosewood Rottweilers, Ramona, CA
Copyright � 2004 - 2008 RoseWood Rottweilers, Sandy Kinsman.
No materials from this website can be copied or reproduced for any purpose without express permission of Sandy Kinsman of RoseWood Rottweilers.

Never under estimate the importance of a solid down stay in the cart. Your dog must understand it's a time to relax and hold until he is released. Ideally you've done your ground work and taught your dog his down stay out of the cart before expecting him to do so in the cart. Otherwise you are not being fair to your dog.

At my house I like to work with several of my dogs at a time. It really does create an eagerness with the dogs and a "pick me" attitude. In these two photos a few of my dogs volunteer to stay with Toga and Xanto while it is their turn to do their long down practice, in hopes they might also get a cookie when we are done (of course they all did).

Each dog takes their turn doing their work while everyone else is having a good time playing loose around them. This way they all learn to work thru distractions.

Once your dog understands his/her job in the cart they will really grow to love it and beg you to be the first one in the cart.

ARC CARTING RULES have been recently
changed to doing agroup down in cart rather than individual.

What...... More Downs in Cart?

Is that a Beauceron carting?

Xanto doing his down while his brother and sister volunteer to help

When done well, backing is probably the most impressive of the exercises in the ARC carting test. It is especially nice to watch a well coordinated team backing together. I do not start to teach the back in the cart, nor do I ask for a back in the cart until my dog is completely confident with all of his other exercises. Basically it is the last exercise I teach. I start it at dinner time by asking my dog to give me a few steps backward before he receives his dinner. Then I begin to ask for steps backwards occasionally throughout the day until my dog fully understands the command. When the dog is asked to do his backing for the first time in the cart I don't expect he'll necessarily understand the exercise in this situation, so I help him by once again only asking for one foot to move back at a time and rewarding big for even one step backwards. If you get more on the first try you are very fortunate, but don't get cocky..... There will still be a time when they look at you with a blank expression and have absolutely no idea of what it is you want them to do. It is these many practice sessions that I stay calm and reward for the tiniest step backwards. If your dog tries to sit while backing (which is very likely) tell him to stand and use your foot or hand to steady him if need be before asking again for a step backwards. If you are using a cookie to encourage your dog to back be very careful to not hold it too high as to bring their nose up. Nose up equals butt down. hold the cookie just in front of their nose so that it is even tipped slightly downward. Tell him to "Back - Back" and nudge the cookie had at them gently until you get the required response. REWARD for even that first step back! doing it this way, eventually you will withhold the treat for two, three four and more steps back. Lastly you will change our body position to the side and start over asking for the bak until the dog understands again.

Some dogs respond well if you are at their side and others much better if you are in front of them. This is something you will have to play with until you find out which your dog prefers. Cookies are most beneficial for teaching this exercise however a lot of dogs get over excited at the prospects of a nummy and offer up behaviors when they do not yet understand what you want. Simply hold the cookie at their nose level and slightly down to keep their nose either level or slightly downward. If the cookie moves in an upward motion and pulls your dog's nose upward he will surely think you want his nose to come up and his butt to go down. This would be your fault! Bad trainer:) Stay very relaxed and begin again. Keep the initial backing practices to a minimum as it can be stressful. Once you get one or two of these successfully pull your dog into forward motion and go cart straight ahead with energy! Switch it up and even throw in some energetic turns. For those of you who are familliar with training "in drive" you will know that this will blow out the cobwebs and give your dog a fresh outlook so that you can begin again with a happy dog.Once your dog is re energized you can continue with the exercise and repeat as before and rewarding one step before you feel he is going to give you with a "verbal and release again. Keeeping this exercise very upbeat and positive will give you a dog that is eager and happy to back in his cart.

I personally like to take my dogs down the road in front of my house as it offers distractions for the dog to think about while they are moving. While We're crusin down the road I'll stop unexpectedly and ask for a few steps back, reward for whatever they willingly give me then continue down the road again making sure to be very energetic about it. Repeat this many times as you go down the road always keeping it fun and encouraging. If they get confused, simply pull forward and try again in a few moments. Don't stress or punish your dog for not backing several steps, this will come very quickly if you follow this method. Keep these sessions very positive, you will be surprised to see how fast your dog will catch on. They really like being taught the backing in a game more then being drilled. From my experience this is an
exercise that is not learned well if you expect too much too fast or demand they respond.
Repeat as often as you can always in short sessions for best results. Twice a day is ideal.

Toga's turn with Bubbie, Tasko and Xanto all hoping to benefit by the exercise

Did I happen to say we do alot of these?
I believe the long down in cart is of utmost importance!

Oops, forgot the cones.
Anything will work, tracking boots are used here,
it's what I had available. Use yur imagination.

Teams! My all time favorite!
Carting at dog shows.
What to expect at a carting test and how to prepare for it.
What type of equipment will you need and where do you find it?

New pages are being added.

If you want a happy carting dog you have to teach it with kindness!
Be happy and have fun!

Cathy Modica's Shine

My first draft dog Highland's Villain v Autohaus and the father of my current draft dogs with 20 ARC carting titles between them all.