R.j. Walsh Mini Sulkies

[sandgrubber]

I'm very close to getting a mini-sulky with a dorsal hitch as a way to challenge and exercise my dog mob . . . and take pressure off an ankle that has been giving me a lot of trouble. See www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini/index.htm to see the product line. Have a trainer lined up to help get it going.

I'm a dismayed to find that, although sulky is made in Sydney, most of their sales are to the US, and the recommended sources our harnesses and other tack is in the US . . . which complicates the process of getting started and makes it a lot more expensive.

Can anyone recommend a good Australian harness maker or dog outfitter who might be amenable to working on developing gear for the Australian market?

[Diva]

What kind of gear do the sled dog people use? I know the sleds and scooters are different, but could the harness be adapted?

[pipsqueak]

not sure if these would be suitable, but they seem to have a good reputation (I haven't used them myself).

http://www.windchill.com.au/

Also, I believe that "Black Dog" are willing to custom-make/custom design...

www.blackdog.net.au

[sandgrubber]

What kind of gear do the sled dog people use? I know the sleds and scooters are different, but could the harness be adapted?

Good suggestion, but, no. The dorsal harness is completely different in how it puts stress on the dog and the design needs to allow for attachment from the top.

[Diva]

What kind of gear do the sled dog people use? I know the sleds and scooters are different, but could the harness be adapted?

Good suggestion, but, no. The dorsal harness is completely different in how it puts stress on the dog and the design needs to allow for attachment from the top.

Oh well just a thought. I know someone who makes horse drawn vehicles, but he buys the harness. Even imports the fancy ones I think, so no help there.

[newfsie]

I'm very close to getting a mini-sulky with a dorsal hitch as a way to challenge and exercise my dog mob . . . and take pressure off an ankle that has been giving me a lot of trouble. See www.rjwalsh.com.au/mini/index.htm to see the product line. Have a trainer lined up to help get it going.

I'm a dismayed to find that, although sulky is made in Sydney, most of their sales are to the US, and the recommended sources our harnesses and other tack is in the US . . . which complicates the process of getting started and makes it a lot more expensive.

Can anyone recommend a good Australian harness maker or dog outfitter who might be amenable to working on developing gear for the Australian market?

I can tell you now that importing from the USA is actually cheaper............We have both horse and dog harness and it is very expensive in Australia. And not necessarily better quality. Sledding harness is quite different from pulling sulki/cart harness. There are lots of different sites. I have found it quite easy to deal with different companies in the USA. And freight is also quite cheap.

http://dogworks.com/store/harness.html

[persephone]

I had no idea these were around!

[Tempus Fugit]

For a dorsal hitch sulky you need a harness designed for a dorsal hitch with a padded saddle pad to avoid the shaft hitting the dog's back:

Chalo or Dog scooter

[Guest rhapsodical78]

My god. I want one. I wonder how much pulling power a lone Kelpie would have.

[sandgrubber]

For a dorsal hitch sulky you need a harness designed for a dorsal hitch with a padded saddle pad to avoid the shaft hitting the dog's back:

Chalo or Dog scooter

Great links!!! Thanks. I didn't know anyone except RJ Walsh was making dog sulkies. Have you -- or anyone else -- had any experience with Chalo sulkies?

[SilverHaze]

I import all my sledding harnesses from the US. It works out the same as buying them here.

Try the Manmat distance harness from Howling Dog in Alaska - http://www.howlingdogalaska.com/supplies.html

They also sell a Pulka harness. These harness are very nicely put together. I have bought harnesses from them before - very nice people to deal with.

ETA - Sandy from Windchill will make any you ask Just give her a call and ask.

Edited August 19, 2009 by SilverHaze

[Tempus Fugit]

For a dorsal hitch sulky you need a harness designed for a dorsal hitch with a padded saddle pad to avoid the shaft hitting the dog's back:

Chalo or Dog scooter

Great links!!! Thanks. I didn't know anyone except RJ Walsh was making dog sulkies. Have you -- or anyone else -- had any experience with Chalo sulkies?

Sorry, No.

Don't forget that unlike the USA, I think in Australia like the UK it is illegal to use a dog for draught work on a gazetted public road (including the adjacent footpaths). The sled dog fraternity here generally only use forest trails or private land.

[sandgrubber]

For a dorsal hitch sulky you need a harness designed for a dorsal hitch with a padded saddle pad to avoid the shaft hitting the dog's back:

Chalo or Dog scooter

Great links!!! Thanks. I didn't know anyone except RJ Walsh was making dog sulkies. Have you -- or anyone else -- had any experience with Chalo sulkies?

Sorry, No.

Don't forget that unlike the USA, I think in Australia like the UK it is illegal to use a dog for draught work on a gazetted public road (including the adjacent footpaths). The sled dog fraternity here generally only use forest trails or private land.

Buggar!

I have a private limestone track that runs out behind my property, which should be ok for starters, but it would really be nice to be able to use public roads. Do you know if that's a national or a state law?

Btw. A book called The Pawprints of History (S. Cohen, 2002) gives a wonderful description of the outlawing of dogs as draught animals in the UK , and all the horrible consequences (tens of thousands of dogs died, many poor families lost their companion/draught animals as a consequence . . . and child labour was often brought in to do the work that was once done by dogs. The second legislative triumph of the RSPCA -- after banning bull baiting and dog fighting -- came in 1839, when dogs were outlawed as transport animals within 15 miles of London's Charring Cross Station.

[Tempus Fugit]

For a dorsal hitch sulky you need a harness designed for a dorsal hitch with a padded saddle pad to avoid the shaft hitting the dog's back:

Chalo or Dog scooter

Great links!!! Thanks. I didn't know anyone except RJ Walsh was making dog sulkies. Have you -- or anyone else -- had any experience with Chalo sulkies?

Sorry, No.

Don't forget that unlike the USA, I think in Australia like the UK it is illegal to use a dog for draught work on a gazetted public road (including the adjacent footpaths). The sled dog fraternity here generally only use forest trails or private land.

Buggar!

I have a private limestone track that runs out behind my property, which should be ok for starters, but it would really be nice to be able to use public roads. Do you know if that's a national or a state law?

Btw. A book called The Pawprints of History (S. Cohen, 2002) gives a wonderful description of the outlawing of dogs as draught animals in the UK , and all the horrible consequences (tens of thousands of dogs died, many poor families lost their companion/draught animals as a consequence . . . and child labour was often brought in to do the work that was once done by dogs. The second legislative triumph of the RSPCA -- after banning bull baiting and dog fighting -- came in 1839, when dogs were outlawed as transport animals within 15 miles of London's Charring Cross Station.

Animal welfare laws are State laws, generaly administered by agriculture or primary production departments. Go to Laws and look up 'animal welfare' for your state.

Bear in mind that being in sulky behind your dog may not be regarded as complying with leash requirements under local government department dog law. How would you control your dog if it saw a cat?

[Carter]

For a dorsal hitch sulky you need a harness designed for a dorsal hitch with a padded saddle pad to avoid the shaft hitting the dog's back:

Chalo or Dog scooter

Great links!!! Thanks. I didn't know anyone except RJ Walsh was making dog sulkies. Have you -- or anyone else -- had any experience with Chalo sulkies?

Sorry, No.

Don't forget that unlike the USA, I think in Australia like the UK it is illegal to use a dog for draught work on a gazetted public road (including the adjacent footpaths). The sled dog fraternity here generally only use forest trails or private land.

Buggar!

I have a private limestone track that runs out behind my property, which should be ok for starters, but it would really be nice to be able to use public roads. Do you know if that's a national or a state law?

Btw. A book called The Pawprints of History (S. Cohen, 2002) gives a wonderful description of the outlawing of dogs as draught animals in the UK , and all the horrible consequences (tens of thousands of dogs died, many poor families lost their companion/draught animals as a consequence . . . and child labour was often brought in to do the work that was once done by dogs. The second legislative triumph of the RSPCA -- after banning bull baiting and dog fighting -- came in 1839, when dogs were outlawed as transport animals within 15 miles of London's Charring Cross Station.

Animal welfare laws are State laws, generaly administered by agriculture or primary production departments. Go to Laws and look up 'animal welfare' for your state.

Bear in mind that being in sulky behind your dog may not be regarded as complying with leash requirements under local government department dog law. How would you control your dog if it saw a cat?

By all means check the Companion Animal Act and amendments for your state. I have just done that for NSW and failed to turn up any regulation relating to the driving of dogs on public roads - which is not to say there aren't any such regulations, only that I haven't found them. What I have done is over 6,000 kilometers of driving a dog in NSW, nearly all of it on public roads, and occasionally past a group of on-duty police (who just smiled and waved). The only time I have been "pulled over" for dog driving was in Sydney's Centennial Park a couple of years ago, when a ranger told me that what I was doing was illegal under the park rules. I subsequently checked those rules; found no reference whatever to dog driving, and wrote a long letter to the park's administrators pointing out, inter alia, that their rangers were unfamiliar with the park's rules and requesting that the rangers be updated on the rules. To this day I have received no reply to that letter (sent by both post and email). I know dog drivers in NSW, QLD, VIC, TAS and WA, the UK, Sweden, the USA and Canada, and none of them have reported any problems with driving their dogs on public roads and/or footpaths.

On the matter of harness for dorsal hitch dog sulkies, the best there is comes from TZLites <www.dogdriving.com> (the brand I use myself and find to be excellent).

As a general comment on the issue of animal welfare, it should be borne in mind that modern driving vehicles are a far cry from the basic, often poorly balance and overloaded vehicles, which led to legislation (mainly in the 19th and early 20th centuries) banning the use of dogs as draft animals. The modern cart is a lightweight (11 to 18 kg) vehicle, which can be had with independent suspension and disc brakes, and in which single dogs (without any encouragement by way of a whip, verbal or anything else) have pulled an adult drivers at better than 60 kph both on and off-road. This is faster than a harness horse can manage, pulling the same load, and on a race track. It is a general rule in dog carting that the load (driver plus vehicle) should not exceed three times the (fit) weight of the dog or dogs doing the pulling. In my own case, the load is 2.7 times the dog's weight, and my dog has pulled me (on pavement) at over 60 kph for no other reason than the sheer exuberance of running. Driving has got to be fun for the dog, or they just won't do it. But given an energetic dog, good training an appropriate conditions, dog driving is a win/win for both dog and driver.

[Tonymc]

Sandgrubber, send me a pm. Tony

[Tempus Fugit]

Ok. I may have commented off the top of my head earlier.

The following is from the NSW Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1979 No 200:

13 Certain animals not to be ridden etc

A person shall not:

(a) ride, drive, use, carry or convey an animal, or

(b) where the person is a person in charge of an animal—authorise the riding, driving, using, carrying or conveying of the animal,

if the animal is unfit for the purpose of its being so ridden, driven, used, carried or conveyed.

Maximum penalty: 250 penalty units in the case of a corporation and 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both, in the case of an individual.