Spring Scooter Fun

It's almost summer now but we have had very nice cool spring weather for most of May which has allowed us to do a lot of scootering with the dogs. Lise often goes with me on Sunday or Monday mornings and we are able to get most of the 14 dogs we currently have out for a run. We haven't been doing a lot for distance; generally only two to four miles max. It really is a amazing way to learn more about each individual dog. When we run them in teams of eight or ten it is hard to tell exactly what each dog is doing. You can see the obvious like if one of them is not pulling at all but there are a lot of subtle things going on there that are very hard to detect. Running single dogs with the scooters leaves nothing hidden. You can tell right away if a dog is confused about what to do or exactly how much they are pulling and how fast they are comfortable running. Some of the dogs have really surprised me. Orion in particular. I have always run him in wheel (position at back of team directly in front of the sled or cart) and judging by his behavior in the dog yard thought that he wasn't all that bright. When I took him out with the scooter he responded to commands like a true lead dog! He is also showing me that he is one of the fastest dogs in the dog yard. I would have never found this out if it wasn't for running him with the scooter. He likely just earned himself some time in lead when we begin regular cart runs this coming fall.



The biggest benefit of running with the scooters is that it allows us to keep playing with the dogs long after the snow is gone. Typically we would have packed things up and been in summer vacation mode by now. This year we have been running at least twice a week. It is very relaxing working with the dogs on scooters. It's rare for me to be able to spend one on one time with each dog. Usually as I stated above they are working as a team and when I'm with them in the dog yard they are all together as a group. Having just one dog out at a time allows me to focus on their individual personality.





I have found the scooters to work well in a wide range of conditions. I've been running on everything from class three dirt roads to single track trails through the woods with stream bed like surfaces. It is amazing how much control you have with the scooters. Some of the trails I have been on I have mountain bike on in the past and I have found it to be more stable running these trails with a dog and the scooter than riding them with my mountain bike. The lower center of gravity with your weight being below the wheel axles makes a huge difference. It is also much easier to step off with one foot and give a kick to hop over a rough spot on the trail. All of the scooters I have been using have disk brakes which work very well. My newest mountain bike it about five years old and still have V brakes so this is my first experience with disk brakes. In a word, fantastic! Especially with running dogs where you have the brakes on 90% of the time. It only take a couple of fingers to keep things under control.




I hope we can continue to work the dogs with the scooters right through the summer. They do fine with two mile runs at temperatures in the low 60s so I expect most weeks I can find a morning or two here that are in that temperature range. No matter what the scooters have already allowed our season to expand greatly and provided all of us with a great dry land activity!