Quote Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties View Post
As far as dogs not running if they don't want to.... you can train a dog to jump off of a cliff or into a shredder too. A loyal dog will happily do whatever you ask of it, if only to please you.
Clearly you don't own huskies. No self-respecting husky is going to do anything just because a human asked them to do it!

I have a wonderful lead dog who never misses a command, unless he thinks I'm wrong! If Reggae thinks I'm wrong, gave the wrong command or for whatever reason just doesn't want to turn where I told him to, we aren't turning, no matter what I do. I have gotten off the sled a dozen times, moved him the way I wanted, by the time I get back on, he's moved the team back to his way. I've cried, begged, pleaded, even yelled a couple times and I rarely yell at my dogs. (My mentor told me once if it's worth yelling about, it's worth getting off the sled to fix it.)

My Sundin, who is a Yukon Quest finisher, has decided he no longer wants to lead. He'll run about a mile up front and then he locks up the brakes and sits down. No amount of training will change that, he's done as a lead dog. The fact that he's damn good up front; has thousands of miles on his paws; ect, not of that matters; he's done. I run him in swing now and he's a happy dog who wants to run again.

My Sleet, who is retired now but in her prime was the lead dog mushers dream about, would run nowhere but lead. Even as a puppy, if she was farther back in the team, she'd go limp and let the team drag her(an act that becomes life threatening in a hurry). Up front, she was truly flawless, a born leader; she's been retired for four years, I still miss her skill!

You can't push a rope. Commands can be taught, but you can't teach the instinct to pull. A sled dog either wants to run or it doesn't. If it doesn't, nothing a human being does is going to make that dog run.