luvmycash Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Just wondering if anyone on here does skijoring. It looks like a blast and I really want to try it. Where do you get your equipment from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninso Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 We just started doing dryland training, with the intention of doing skijoring this winter. If you can find a club in your area, that's the best way to get started. I've been working with the Midwest Skijor Club, and they have some training info on their website. I got my equipment from Skijor Now. If you can find a local place that can fit your dog for a harness, that is best, because a proper fitting harness is important. The determining factor seems to be whether or not your dog will pull. Pulling was automatic for my dog, so we've just been working on staying in the middle of the trail and not sniffing on the sides and learning his directions. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silhouettestable Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 I got the equipment and have done a bit, but I'm not really a cross-country skier (I've always been into downhill skiing) so I prefer to stick to the dogsled than to skijor. My daughter started last year though and she enjoys it. We bought our skijoring belt and a matching harness from Komatik Outfitters, a vendor that was at a race and I've bought a bunch of other equipment from him as well. For harnesses though I really like the ones I ordered from AKKO Sports, they specialize in harnesses and have many different styles to choose from. You can find a link to "equipment and supplies", as well as beginner tips etc. and a ton of other mushing related information on the Sled Dog Central site. Ninso, if you're just starting out something you might want to think about is where you'll be skijoring and teach your dog to keep to the right side instead of the middle. It will make passing much easier if there will be other skijorers, skiers, snowmobiles etc. to deal with. I'm still working on that a bit myself with my team, they like to travel up the middle of the trail, or just slightly over to the right. I'll be racing them this year and need them to be able to make clean passes with other teams, plus if I'm dryland training on the dirt roads I want to be sure to stay over out of the way of traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninso Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Ninso, if you're just starting out something you might want to think about is where you'll be skijoring and teach your dog to keep to the right side instead of the middle. It will make passing much easier if there will be other skijorers, skiers, snowmobiles etc. to deal with. Oh, good point! I hadn't even thought of that! The trails we've been practicing on have been completely empty except for us, but they aren't ski trails. I will definitely keep that in mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silhouettestable Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Oh, good point! I hadn't even thought of that! The trails we've been practicing on have been completely empty except for us, but they aren't ski trails. I will definitely keep that in mind. You're lucky if you have trails to yourself! I maintain my own trail around my property but for more distance and a change of scenery I like to find other places to run the dogs. It seems that around here I don't have a lot of options, none of the ski trails welcome dogs to the best of my knowledge and I'm currently investigating the county rail trail. I do dryland running on it but I'm not sure if it's meant to be exclusively for snowmobiles in the winter. I did a 4 mile run on it just yesterday in the middle of the day and met about 5 snowmobiles, even though the trail hasn't started being groomed yet. I'm waiting for the lakes to freeze up enough to be safe to run on, that opens up a whole lot of new possibilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvmycash Posted December 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2008 Thanks, I'll have to look into it. I do believe both my dogs will pull. I did a little tracking with them just for fun and they just about drag me down the track when they get their harnesses on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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