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Make every effort to do your training with other beginners or with an established team. It is good for your
morale and good for your dogs to be around other people doing the same thing. At any stage of beginning
training, it will help you to watch experienced dogs handled by an experienced musher. And it will help your
dogs to watch an experienced team in action.

Setting Up
When taking a dog out of a vehicle, don’t let him jump from a height of more than 1m as he might strain his
shoulders when he lands.

Walking With the Dog
If the dog is too strong to be walked with all 4 feet on the ground, lift him by the collar to a vertical position
and let him hop along on his hind feet. This position does NOT hurt the dog and he is much safer than if he
pulls you off your feet and gets loose.

Positions to Hook Dogs
If you have 3 or more dogs, consider each one’s attitude and sex. Put dogs of opposite sex together if
possible. Try your dogs in different positions to see where they do best. As a general rule, put the eager
dogs at the front of the team and the timid ones behind. Always be alert to your dogs’ moods .

Tangles
All dogs get into tangles at one time or another with lines, harnesses, other dogs, bushes, or anything else
that is within reach. To avoid tangles, first make sure that you never start out unless all lines are straight.
If someone is helping you, have him hold the lead dog by his tugline. The handler is not to stand in front of
the dog so as to block his view of the trail that he is to take. Neither is he to keep the dog immobile and
quiet. He is to hold the gang line between the dog and the gig tight to minimize tangles. If a tangle occurs in
any dog’s line, he is to straighten it out just before the team takes off.

When a tangle occurs on the trail, analyse it to see if it will hurt the dog. If it will not, leave it alone and let
the dog learn to get out of it by himself. A dog can easily get a leg back on the proper side of the gang line. A
little pressure taken off the gang line by increasing the speed of the gig sometimes make it easier for the
dog to free himself. If the tangle is going to hurt the dog or is of such a nature that he cannot possibly get
out of it by himself, such as when a gang line get completely wrapped around a hind leg, then you must stop
and straighten it out yourself.

Discipline
Do not discourage your dogs from getting excited during hitching up time. Discipline at this crucial time for
showing his joy of running will only confuse and discourage him. He will be harder for you to cope with when
he is jumping around, but he will run better for not having his enthusiasm squelched.

NEVER hit a dog. Discipline is by voice only. Even a fight can usually be stopped before it begins if the
musher is alert and gives a good shout just as one dog is thinking about jumping another.
Remember that any reprimand must come as close as possible to the very moment of misbehaviour so that
the dog can associate the reprimand with his act/thought.