Why not ??? After all, we HAD the cart...the very same neat wooden training cart I had built for my Mollie in 2002...still in great shape....all we needed was a harness.
Obviously Mollie's old harness was NOT going to fit the Big Guy...so we sold it to another Newf friend and bought one from yet another friend. Unfortunately THAT harness was WAYYY too small ... but I decided to keep it anyway and went to Sandy Gabel ( www.dogworks.com ) in search on one which would fit Zander.
Sandy, who always takes the BEST care of her customers, immediately fixed us up and sent a lovely bright red Siwash for Zander.
Then...heartbreak....Zander developed some terrible back pain which necessitated several trips to the vet and radiographs. In addition to some nasty Spondylosis in his lumbar spine area, we were HORRIFIED to also see multiple buckshot/BB pellets scattered in the tissues near Zander's spine....somehow...somewhere...SOMEONE had shot my dog !!!
Sadly, I made up my mind to put the harness away in a safe place because caring for Zander and helping him manage the episodes of pain became the MOST important thing to do. I even thought briefly of selling the cart and harness but never got around to it.
Zander's pain finally subsided with daily Deramaxx but because some dogs can develop liver problems with chronic use of NSAIDS we began to look into other options for pain control. A mound of research later, we asked my ever faithful Newf-L friends and decided to give Zander a trial of Adequan injections. Our vet faxed in the Rx for us and gave me instructions for administering the Intramuscular injections myself to save us the cost of the office visits to do this.
Within 3 weeks, I noticed a definite change in Zander....he was moving better...seemed to have less stiffness and just looked better all around. We then decreased the Deramaxx use and scheduled routine blood work. By the end of that vet visit, it was apparent that the Deramaxx would have to be stopped as two of the Zander's three liver enzyme values were elevated...not dangerously so...but enough to take him completely off the medication and also to add Milk Thistle to his supplement regime.
Zander's liver values improved, we found out happily 8 weeks later ...and then I started looking forward to Spring....could Zander still, at the estimated age of 9 years old, still be healthy enough to begin cart training ?? ??
Last weekend, I decided...what the Heck....dusted off the cart. pulled the lovely harness out of it's safe place...and put it on Zander .
I had had errands to run and Peggy Sue needed her weekly socialization outing ...so I told Zander he'd have to stay home because his "sister" needed some one-on-one training...but I'd be home soon and then it would be HIS turn.
When I arrived home and unloaded the van and out the dogs out for potty...it was the moment of truth...
We had a time at first getting the harness adjusted to where the forward girth would fit around Zander's mid-section ( yes...he probably needs a minor diet reduction ..LOL ) AND still have enough material left for the loops to fit over the tennis ball "brakes" I had had on the cart shafts.
Remember...this WAS Mollie's cart and she was a much smaller Newf ...so it took quite a few frustrating moments...and suddenly...Zander was hitched....
As expected, he was a bit spooked at first but then with lots of encouragement and several offerings of his favorite treats...he settled down and pulled the cart like he'd always done so.
We practiced starts, stops , backing up and a few turns and went up and down the road from the house twice plus some time in the yard and I could not have been any prouder of Zander ...he is such an intelligent Newf and so very eager to please and I could tell that near the end of our session, he was beginning to really enjoy himself because his lovely tail was up and WAGGING.
We will be continuing our training as the weather gets nicer and Ron, my hubby, fixed the cart shafts with eye bolts for brakes and I removed the tennis balls so this will allow me to make the shaft loops smaller and thus give Zander more girth space.
Because Zander IS 9 years old, we probably will not continue too much into him hauling things in the cart...freight training ...or doing work towards a Draft title ...but we will just be having fun with some recreational Carting and lightweight hauling.
I am looking into getting Zander the collapsible crate cart that several people told me about and showed me where to get. I have e-mailed the company Zander's measurements and hopefully can have his new cart ordered by next week.
Now just in case you may be wondering what i am going to with the OTHER harness...the one I bought which was way too small for Zander...guess what....it fits Buttercup, the silly Yellow Lab perfectly so after I get Zander to working with his new cart, maybe that ditzy Lab will take to pulling the training cart and thus get some more exercise and a sense of purpose, too....
Here are some quick pictures I took of our amazing training session....
Oh....what FUN it is to go Carting.....
Remember, this is an activity that dogs of ALL sizes can enjoy. several companies make carts for even the smallest of dogs ... any many types of harnesses are available.
For the BEST customer service...remember... WWW.DOGWORKS.COM
Sandy Gabel will do her BEST to help you fit your dog for a harness and cart if you decide that this is an activity you'd like to pursue with your dog.
Zander still gets his Adequan shots but we are now titrated down to one shot every month and I pray it helps keep my 155 lb " Mr Mooshie" happy and pain free.
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