This weekend I had another chance to practice carting with the Newfs. It was the first time I was doing this all by myself without the help of my husband.

Now we all know that I am an adult and should be able to complete simple tasks like this on my own, but we all also know that I am me. Queen of “shit like this only happens to me.”

Regardless of my past history of that I still decided to do this on my own.

It was a risk I was willing to take.

Why? Because I am totally geeked up about doing this with the dogs. It is so nice to be out training with them again and introducing them to the world of carting. I love working one and one with them and each of them has their own style with the cart.

This weekend I decided to start with Leroy first and instead of him pulling an empty cart I put a (2) 12 packs of Pepsi in the back for him to haul.

Leroy was the one who was a little more hesitant of the cart last week but this week he did a lot better. He needed a little motivation to get going and I found that little Goldfish crackers worked wonders to keep him moving.

He made several trips around the yard easily and then we worked on him sitting and relaxing with the cart still attached.

He did great.

Sherman was up next and I switched the load up a bit and had him haul a case of Bud Light. I thought maybe he could be like the Clydesdales of Budweiser. I mean really, Bud Light needs Brown Newfies to pull their beer, right?

Right.

See what I can come with when I am left alone too long.

My Brown Newfies, The Official  Draft Dogs of Bud Light

However, Sherman was fast to smash my dreams and wanted nothing to do with pulling the cart. He laid down in the driveway and refused to move. Now, keep in mind that Sherman was the one who did perfect with the cart last week on his first time out. The difference today was that I was the one initiating the cart and not my husband.

This is the same thing that happened with Sherman and I in the show ring. He wouldn’t show for me. My husband says it’s because he knows that I am a pushover.

Which is true.

Now, I know that Sherman is comfortable with the cart. He laid down attached to it without any direction from me. No dog is going to lay down when he is attached to something if he is not comfortable with it, especially Sherman.

Sherman was being stubborn, but I wasn’t going to let him get me.

I brought out the Goldfish crackers and as soon as he saw those he stood up and started truckin with the cart.

We continued to do a few laps around the yard and while I was counting on actually walking up to the corner store with him and the cart and the beer, his actions left me not feeling very comfortable with taking that step.

I am still trying to learn the cart too and after studying the harness and the cart and the dogs, I determined that I don’t like the harness we are using. We are using a parade harness and what I really want to be using is a harness called a Siwash harness. So I ordered one yesterday and it should be here in a few weeks. In the meantime we will still continue to practice with the cart, but I will hold off on having them haul anything more than a case of beer, and we will continue to practice on our commands.