Customer Reviews

Mush! Revised: A Beginner's Manual of Sled Dog Training

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book over a few years ago when we got our husky puppy. I picked up the revised edition (2007) when it came out shortly afterwards. The detailed pictures and drawings really helped me work out the basics, such as how to harness your dog and how things look when they are pulling and everything is in it's proper place. This is essential b/c a poorly fitted harness will make things very uncomfortable for your dog and running should always be enjoyable for them! Our husky has enjoyed many years of happy casual pulling thanks to the good info I found in here.

I'm looking forward to trying the leading exercises when I have the space/snow, since he's now old enough to start building up to heavier loads. I will also be using the "dog house" plans to build him a house when we have our own property. My grandpa kept his hunting dogs in plywood houses and they are fantastic! Nice an warm (use straw of course) and easily replaceable when your dog chews on them. The index of companies and organizations in the back was a great help as well! It helped me find a local company to buy our first harness from! I also appreciated the fact that this book had sections for skijoring, carting, and backpacking. There are so many fun things to do with your dog and these were great intro pieces to let you see what else is out there! Naturally if you want to get into any of these you should probably pick up a book specifically on that.

I didn't notice much/any spelling mistakes in my version as one poster complained about. My suggestion would be to sample the book (on googlebooks or something) before buying if you are concerned.

Currently this is my only dog mushing book, but I am also planning to buy Dog Driver here in the near future.

I like this book because although it is a manual for mushers it weaves the technical aspects with interesting stories and history. It's easy to read and practical. I keep it on my nightstand and periodically refer to it on my path to being a musher. If running sled dog teams is on your "bucket list" you should have this book.

I am interested in learning to train a dog to pull a sled. I am a beginner and have no interest in racing. I thought this would be the perfect book, but it is really intended for someone with some experience. Also, the book was difficult for me to read because it had SO many grammatical and spelling problems throughout the book ("I took a pole of sled dog owners to see . . . "). Sometimes the author would give way too much information (for example, three paragraphs on how you should not yell at your dog, that dogs have good hearing) and then other times no information at all where more is needed. I think it would be a good book for an intermediate person, but it is NOT a "how-to" book for the beginner.

First, let me state that I have not read this book yet. But, I have read positive reviews of it and thought one piece of information could be very helpful. This book is said to contain information on canicross, bikejoring, skijoring, pulking, backpacking and camping, in addition to sledding. Since there aren't many books out there yet which cover these topics, it's good to find one that does.