Something about our activities with dogs.

We practice mostly different exercises with our dogs. We hike, bike and jog with them. At winter we practice skiing and at winter 2005 Veera and Pontus tried pulling pulka for the first time and it did well. Our biking with dogs is that they pull bike ahead it, not running beside it. Even though our dogs hasn't been trained as obedience courses, they know and obey many kinds of commands, which makes everyday-living easier for everyone. In winter 2007-2008 we participated some sled dog races with Yepa. Veera might be good at obedience if you think about her race-mix, but her character not, because her background; she is too resigning to train and on the other hand, she takes too much stress about it, even if you'll try to train very short periods. Agility isn't good for her either, because her aggressive react for other dogs. Although we practice it for our own joy. Generally speaking, Veera likes to pull bike, skier and kick-sled and those are things that we practice with her. She also loves to play with soccer ball or any kind of ball. Pontus trains obedience with Pekka for their own joy. Pontus does perform moves really well. Pontus also loves running and that's why biking and running with him are good hobbies for Pontus. Before his spaying, he didn't stay at our yard but runs away instantly and that's why we haven't trained agility with him either. Yepa has been taken to walking and running, biking and hiking. We have also trained "Weekday obedience" with her. Pulling training we started when she was about 7 months old. First it was only getting used to following sound and light weight. At winter 2006 Yepa has pulled kick-sled, skier and at spring also bike and three-tire bike. In season 2007-2008 Yepa participated some sled dog races. Yepa seems to have eagerness and will to pull and she works really well. Yepa has also pulled with Veera or Pontus and sometimes even all three of them has worked together. Nowadays she trains with Hino. We are also going to take part some Dog Shows. In the future, we hope we could still practice malamute things with her. Hino's hobbies are different kinds of malamute things. We also train some obedience with him. Hino has already started learning to how to be a sled dog both alone and with Yepa. He seems to have some talent for pulling, but his training sessions are still quite short and easy, so he'll be enthusiastic. Also we want to "guard" his health, when he is still growing. Hino has already trained bike-joring, pulling sled with Yepa and sometimes we train him by himself pulling kick-sled. Future will show, how he will develop. Yona is still too young to practice sledding. With her we train obedience and our family's manners. Future will tell more about her hobbies. But sometimes our dogs could be real "couch potatoes". We also take it easy for a change and enjoy our life with our dogs. They are family members to us, not only show- / or practice things.

How did we start training: Both Yepa and Hino started training quite early. First we practiced only harness, how to put them on and take them off and in a same time getting used to those. We use x-back-harness (also know as husky- harness). When puppy don't mind those harness any more, you can attach some little carpet or a moped's inner tire to them with elastic string. It is NOT purpose to add weight, but give puppy opportunity to get used to following noise and little resistance. At first "pull" trainings we usually worked together, both Pekka and I; other one will go to the end of a small distance and calls puppy to come. When puppy comes really eager, he / she is rewarded. We have also trained "starts" with Hino; other one of us takes bike and starts biking along our home road and enthusiastic with Yepa's example, Hino runs after her and bike really eager. Next phase is attach dog to bike, sled or your own waist and train a little bit heavier resistance, using short distances. Training should be really short and you need to be sure, that you don't tire puppy down. Training should absolutely stop when puppy still has fun and strength left, not bored or tired. That could easily make puppy's enthusiasm and motivation getting low. Another important thing are appropriate and fitting harness. If they are too small or too big, they can also take motivation down. I think nobody wants to train wearing too small suit or constantly falling pants. In sledding dog need also direction commands, with those you'll get dog to go wanted direction. Those we have trained in regular walks in every turn. Little bit later those commands can be trained in straight road too. Our other useful command with directions are also Stop, Wait, Forward, Side (that helps keeping dogs in road bank when you need to go along).