Poodle Mushing, Urban Mushing, Dog Scootering

While there are a lot of silly dog products on the market, the Dog Scooter looks like it would be flat out fun for dog and owner.

Big dogs need more exercise than most people can give them. They love to run, but allowing them to run off-leash can be dangerous. For us to run on a leash at their speed is impossible.

With the Dog Scooter the human is in control of steering and braking instead of having the dog out in front which requires a lot of specialized training and is not suitable for urban settings. To propell the scooter, all the dog needs to do is go forward, which they love to do. The scooter is light with low rolling resistance and no downward drag on the dog. To be part of a team, the human can also kick to provide forward momentum.

The Dog Scooter would be good exercise for any big dog, but I think it would be particularly good for a standard Poodle.
They are quite courageous, powerful dogs. They learn quickly, enjoy working as a team with their owners, and love to show off. Poodles have distinguished themselves as sled dogs, but their paws are not made for running in snow. Most Poodles and their owners refuse to accept the stereotype of Poodle as wimpy dog.

The scooter has a lot of built in safety features, which allows it to be enjoyed by older children and older adults.

The scooters are custom built depending on the dog’s weight and measurements. You can even choose the color. The price of $540 for a custom built scooter seems in line with other sports and hobbies and you won’t have to travel long distances to use the Dog Scooter. No special equipment or clothing is needed.

The scooter was invented and developed by Mark Schuette. And I will admit that his email, “Poodle Mushing” caught my attention and imagination.

More information is on their website, including tips for beginning the sport.

Video

Comments

[Tomtomtu]

The dog scooter is what i need for my great dane and dobie. Do they make tandem scooters?

[Carina]

Wow! That is neat....I bike with my dogs, but this looks ever so much easier. I'm going to post this to myy dog yahoogroup....we have several poodle (all sizes) members. They'll get a kick out of this.
Does it come with snow tires for midwestern winters? Hmmmm.....

[Sally]

That is a great idea. It looks like he has put a lot of time and effort into bringing a good product to dog owners. Hope it sells well.

[schnoodlepooh]

Very interesting. I'm going to check it out.

[pol.b]

cute dogs!

http://www.e-com-mom.com

[Chandira]

There are times when I really envy dog owners..

(As for the dark chocolate at Halloween, I'll take some too. Great post.)

[Janey Loree]

Awesome idea! Why didn't I think of something like that! Really enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing it.

[Cynthia Blue]

How fun, my border collie would love that. :) A tandom would be great then I could do my collie and my bc.

[Louka]

However, poodles are perfectly capable of mushing in snow as well. A team of standard poodles finished the race 5 years in a row in about the middle of the pack. The daughter of that team's musher also mushed poodles in another race and still holds the record for best rookie. So yes, this would be good for them, but know that even their paws are as good as any dog's in a real winter race.

[Carrie]

I have been training my dog for this since he was really little, we started with him getting use to a harness, the commands, and him dragging barbie dolls and other little things around. He is almost a year old and we have recently hooked him up to a bike. I am now looking for a scooter that we can run together with. You can get the hookups to have as many has 4 dogs on a scooter, or you can use a gang-line to have more dogs than that in front. The main concern is to protect the dog's feet. Sometimes they get so excited about running that they ruin or hurt the pads, especially on concrete or asphalt. So if you are going to get into this seriously, look into doggy boots.

[rox wisely]

Man are really smart in inventing new things. This one is great for exercise both for pet and owner, and also great for pet-owner bonding!