I live in Texas, so the traditional carting breeds aren't really happy with our summer heat. I wonder if a brace of greyhounds could pull a cart without harm to themselves?
2007-03-01 10:41:21 · 7 answers · asked by hoodoowoman 4 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Um, just would like to point out that Huskies and Malamutes are not cart pulling dogs. They pull sleds. Not carts. They were bred for cold conditioned weather, and they have a lot of fur. And they shed. A lot.
Youe best bet would be a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, or a Bernese Mountain Dog. They were bred for this kind of thing. Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs also have short hair, so that's a plus.
2007-03-01 10:56:31 · answer #1 · answered by Border Collie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Grey hounds are good for speed but not so good for pulling. Their shoulders arent really strong enough. Try retrievers or a large hound or mastiff breed. I have a small single dog cart that is similar to a pony cart that my bull arab pulls with my kids in it. He also shows off at dog shows and fundraisers for rspca awareness. If you are going to use a team, all the dogs must be bought as pups and trained together. Once you have your original team any pup should be easy to intergrate into the team. Try with only a 3-4 dog team to start off with until both you and the dogs are proficient. A friend of mine has a 2 dog team for cross country and they are 2 rottweiler/mastiff crosses from the same litter, those dogs are powerfull. His sled is a mad looking home job with pneumatic, 20" diameter tyres with suspension. It does off road really well provided there is no huge bumps or rock on the track. Its great fun just to watch him so i can only imagine how much fun you will have once you get started. Word of warning, training can take a couple of years before pups are ready to pull the sled with you in it. Good luck and have fun. You might be able to join a local pulling club and get heaps of help there.Dalmations have been used for this before too.
Great danes arent half grey hound half mastiff. They are pure mastiff and are otherwise known as german mastiffs or duetchdogge. Its believed all mastiffs originate from the neopolitan mastiff which was almost an extinct breed until a 150 years ago when a few pure bloodlines were found in rural italy. Neos vary greatly in conformation so its easy to see that by breeding 2 taller ones or 2 less skinned or 2 smaller could give rise to most of the mastiffs of today. I owned one as a kid that looked more like a blood hound than a mastiff.
2007-03-01 19:03:59 · answer #2 · answered by Big red 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Greyhounds are not good as they are very lightly built, Great Danes are half greyhound but also half Mastiff that is a much stronger breed and would be able to take great weight.
As dogs do not sweat a heavy coat like in a Samoyed would actually help by keeping excess heat out, but it would take more Samoyeds to pull the cart
2007-03-01 18:56:48 · answer #3 · answered by Freedem 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would stick with the traditional breeds like huskys and malamutes. you could groom their fur shorter to make them more comfortable. im not sure of the potential injury to other breeds. greyhounds are slender with small backs and could be injured easily trying to pull a cart
2007-03-01 18:50:26 · answer #4 · answered by dawn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
American Bulldogs are great pullers and so are Pits. I prefer American Bulldogs because of size and they dont have a ban on them. Which I think is wrong its not the dogs its the owners who are at fault. That goes for any breed of dog. Also because of the hot climate American Bulldogs have a thin coat.
2007-03-01 22:50:45 · answer #5 · answered by libsmacker 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
American Bulldogs!!! I live in west Texas where it get 115 degrees and they have no problems
2007-03-01 18:50:53 · answer #6 · answered by Ramsrock07 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would use a husky it should get use to the heat and make sure it stays hydrated
2007-03-01 23:35:13 · answer #7 · answered by JENNIFER H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋