By Pat Killalea
As he continued to learn what was expected, and I tried and failed and tried again and again to produce a servicable cart, we both became more relaxed with the necessary skills. The third cart still had a lot of problems: it was too high and therefore tippy, its shafts were weak; it didn’t ride well over rough ground. But, it had the plus factor of giving my other poodle, Ravin’, a safe feeling, so that she could be his cargo weight. We earned the carting badge at Dog Scout Camp in June of 2003 using this cart. I left the cart so other campers could use it and worked on another one when we got home. We were at a standstill for a time, as I didn't know where to go from that point, but I had in mind that he could eventually participate in parades and/or give children rides at SPCA or Humane Society events. Training lapsed somewhat while I concentrated on building a better cart. I accomplished this just in time for the winter. Eventually, I hit upon the Canadian Kennel Club's booklet of regulations for Drafting Dog tests through the kind help of Anne Wright of the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Ontario. I had hopes that we could be ready for our test by the time they held their (all breed) Draft Dog tests in the fall of 2004. We started in early June making a one-mile daily round-trip to the post office and back every day, all summer long. At first Charley pulled an empty cart, then one with a 16-pound cement block, and finally his 50-pound friend, Ravin'. We started on leash and on sidewalks all the way, gradually progressing to off-lead work on the street. Charley had reached a comfort level with the whole project. He was enjoying the daily work and the friendly interest he evoked from passersby and post office visitors.
By the fourth of July, he had reached the point where I planned to participate in the Our main problems as the summer advanced were that, in his comfort, he wanted to go much faster than I and that he still didn't "get" 90° turns or circles (a figure-8 being a requirement). On Sundays, we worked on our next door neighbor, Verizon Telephone Company’s, blacktop parking lot (unused on Sundays) on that maneuver, and improved markedly. I would learn later that we had a long way to go. Meanwhile, I hadn't received a premium list from the Bernese Mountain Dog Club for the fall tests. The CKC website gave information about September tests being held by the South Eastern Ontario Region Newfoundland Dog Club of Canada. With some trepidation, I entered him and made some adjustments to the cart so that the required 40-pound load could be tied down firmly. At the last moment, I was relieved to find that he could earn his title over the weekend. I had misunderstood the booklet, thinking that the three judges would work as a committee to give or not give one “leg”toward the title. In reality, each one can confer a leg by scoring a pass on each of the nine required elements of the one test, so in two days he could earn six legs if he aced everything.
At the beginning of the trial day, the three judges inspected the carts, looking for failures in safety. All entrants had carts (ours was the only homemade one), but wagons are acceptable. Backing a wagon in a straight line is very difficult; thus wagons are not often the “wheels” of choice.
After the equipment check, some tires needed to be further inflated; there was plenty of time to relax and have a cup of coffee and a doughnut. The first three exercises were the control ones: heel off lead, 1-minute stand-stay, and 3-minute group down stay. No pictures were taken, buty Charley aced this section. I was amazed that some handlers “pep-talked” their dogs all through the heeling. This was NOT against the rules, the two stays being the sole exercises where only one command could be given. To begin our individual carting exercises, I had to put Charley on a stand-stay, while I went back to get his harness. He had to stand and cooperate during the harnessing and hitching process. He had no trouble with this, as it was exactly what we do at home. All three of the judges were carefully watching us to be sure that Charley was under my control at all times and that I was harnessing and hitching with efficiency and reasonable speed. At the same time, they wanted to see that Charley was willing and cooperative with the process. We have a harness that requires that I pick up his feet and put them through the straps. He either lifts each foot for me, or leans away from that foot to help in the process. The judges watch for Nonqualifying behavior: being unable to harness or hitch, or for the dog to sit or lie down. Judges Lynn Park-Dixon and Tom McLean came and looked for such problems as caught fur, twisted straps, or traces too long or short. One exercise (harnessing and hitching) is out of the way, and two are left to go.
The second carting exercise is called, Maneuvers and figure 8. It all started out well as we made turns at the corners of the ring. In the center of the ring there were two traffic cones placed 8 feet apart, just as in standard obedience work. I had not prepared either Charley or myself for such a difficult maneuver. He did well in the left rotation, which I had decided to take first, as soon as I saw the setup. This was easy because, being at his right side, I could easily “push” Charley with the signal and command for “haw.” It was when we came to the other cone that disaster struck. For a right turn, I must “pull” him with command and signal, but he didn’t make a tight enough turn, and we ran the cart into one of the iron stakes holding the rope marking the ring. In my concern, I had actually gone out in front of Charley, but didn’t help, and it’s not really acceptable.
After we hit the stake, I backed him away from it. Only his willingness to do this rescued us from complete ignominy. We were able to complete the exercise, and Lynn Park-Dixon saw enough value in this to allow her to score Charley as passing in this exercise. The other two judges failed us on Maneuvers and Figure 8. The third carting exercise is backing up about 2 meters. Since Charley now backs up like a champion, and had just proved it in extricating himself from the stake, we came through that with flying colors.
With six exercises of the nine behind us, and the three fieldwork ones before us, we took our cart and harness down the hill to the open and overgrown field, where the dogs were to prove that they could serve as true draft animals. Bev Molloy explained to me exactly where to go to get the load, which was two 20-pound dumbbells. We were using the exact same equipment as earlier, so we didn’t have to harness and hitch again for score; the rest of the first exercise also includes loading.
In describing the draft work, the CKC booklet says, “The judges will determine that the load is safe and secure before proceeding with the hauling exercise." I failed to take this to mean that I would have to tie the load down and would therefore have to be prepared with bungie cords or rope. Luckily for us, my friend Dianna Lloyd, the Test Secretary, warned me by phone when I called her for some other information. I hastily added a number of U-bolts to the bed of the cart and bought some good quality rope. I have too often had bungie cords fail me; they also tend to be just a bit too long or too short for the immediate use. Unfortunately, I did not cut the rope into workable lengths and didn't have proper scissors or matches for doing so on the scene. I had to struggle along with the full 25-foot piece. I dealt, however awkwardly, with that whole 25 feet of rope. Tom McLean and Bev Molloy waited patiently as I madly wielded loops and ends around, over, through the dumbbells and Ubolts. I remember dashing from side to side at least twice Poor Charley must have wondered what on earth was going on, but he stood like a statue. The process was interminable, and I got more and more flustered as the minutes ticked off. You thought it was over, right? Not even close. Lynne Park-Dixon, the third judge, moved up to join the others judges, now not quite so patiently.
Even Charley checked out some motion to the side, probably the photographer. Meanwhile, I was still flailing around with the rope. My hands were clammy, and beads of sweat were gathering into rivulets on my forehead. I was getting dizzy with all this leaning over with my head hanging down. And still, I couldn't steady those two dumbbells without starting all over, and I just couldn't do that to myself, Charley or the waiting audience. Eventually the torture (for all of us, I'm sure) was over. Tom McLean stepped up to the cart, firmly grasped one of the dumbbells, and pulled. Of course, it shifted a bit. As bad as the whole scene had been, none of the three judges failed us on this exercise! I was by this time all undone and, after circling the stake, encouraged Charley to run back to the starting line. Back we go, just as fast as I can get Charley to go. Any bystander could see that Charley is no longer unhappy with this work. He flies his tail most of the time when he is moving, and his body language shows that he is comfortable.
The third exercise of the field work, and the ninth or last, is unloading and unhitching. Bev Molloy kept tabs on our progress. Charley again stood perfectly still while I unloaded. This time I was able to deal with the rope efficiently and get Charley out of the shafts to finish the process.
At this point, I was sure that we had earned no legs, and that it was almost entirely due to handler error. The fault part was quite right. Charley's only problem was caused by my poor training and handling for tight turns. To my surprise, no judge failed us on the hauling, loading and unloading exercises, and Lynne Parks-Dixon gave us a passing score on all nine exercises, so Charley now had a leg.
My evening was devoted to cutting the rope into reasonable lengths with loops tied in the end and to planning the tie-down and how to improve my handling so as not to fail again. All my nocturnal fussing and figuring, mental imaging and projective rehearsing paid off. Charley did a reasonable right turn on the figure 8, and I had the tie-down of the weights aced. All three of the second day’s judges passed him on all nine exercises, giving him his Drafting Dog title.
All in all it was a wonderful experience. We enjoyed the drive up through beautiful lands, our stay at
The end
Here are some scenes from dog scout camp of dogs performing carting exercises. 
Charley was identified early on as suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Like most such youngsters, he was clearly very bright but absolutely unable to control his impulses. This made it very difficult for him to learn obedience and agility work with any degree of what could be called excellence. When tracking proved to be another area requiring too much concentration, I finally hit upon carting work as a field where he would be strictly controlled but could expend plenty of energy.
We started with a $5.00 rejected toy from Wal-mart; a little rocking caterpillar that had lost its antennae, and therefore its charm, to a child. The addition of a dowel supplied with metal eyebolts to accept the clips of the traces enabled it to serve as a drag. Charley was not thrilled. Nevertheless, this rig served us very well. Using it, Charley learned to start pulling, and to stop, as well as to gee and haw. He never liked it, and he never recovered from the certainty that it would catch up to him and inflict serious damage. Even so, I was pleased with his progress and began to construct wagons and carts for us to switch to.
We started off by passing over the imaginary line between the two stakes. On the way out to the stake where the load awaited us, we had to pass through a narrow “gate,” make a sharp left, and then a sharp right, with a noticeable rough patch between them. Then, there was a fairly straight stretch over long, heavy growth, somewhat trampled down by the club members in setting up the day before. This roughish terrain is required by the rules.
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