Of course small dogs have jobs and work too! Many small dogs can do and are doing as much as large dogs are. So I wanted a page to "toast", on this Working Dog Site, the small breed Working Dogs too.

This is Frankie and I out carrying our packs on a walk. We used to backpack with our (larger) dogs (goats, llamas, donkey, horses) but have not in a few years. It is such a good work out, that Frankie and I are just out getting some exersize and he has a new pack on in this photo.

You can see in the close up that Frankie is ready for anything....he has a Survival Bracelet clipped onto his backpack. <winks> All joking aside, a small dog, when trained and conditioned well, can carry more than most people might think in a backpack. If you were going for a day hike, your small dog could sure carry a First Aid Kit, some Water, a Sandwich for you and some food or snacks for itself. If the dog were well conditioned (and trained) and if you can pack well, you might have a lot more gear with you on an overnight trip if you took your, even small, dog in backpack with you. Plus the companionship and protection.

And sometimes a small dogs job is just to keep you company and get some excersize while you are a couple of miles out "mending fences". Our dogs love to go with us when we do these kind of things around here. We call it "Cross Training" here. These drop offs are as steep as they seem in the photos.

Cross Training really is am important part of training for a Working Dog of any size. Remember the movie Karate Kid? Wax On Wax Off we call Cross Training here.

We have always taught our dogs to learn. As soon as a pup is old enough to learn that a crate is it's place, it is also old enough to start leaning the do's and don't's of living in our home. I also have learned through the years that Trick Training is important. It is fun for the dog, and it teaches them in a quick and easy lesson to learn to learn. It also teaches dogs of any size to learn to please. To learn how to get that treat, we call them "cookies" at our house.

In these photos you can see we have also taught our dogs to "honor other dogs". That means, if it is not your turn to perform, sit still and honor the dog who's turn it is. Sit and don't move, sit and be quiet. A very good thing for a dog of any size to learn.

Our dogs must also learn to stand still for grooming....no matter who is watching. And as you can see, our animals of all sorts are taught to get along! This is also another sort of honoring.

This is Tanner getting his haircut, with our cat, named One (as in the three little kittens that lost their mittens), llama Seiran, and Abby our Donkey who thinks she is human and likes to be in the middle of everything we do outdoors, and is know to look in the windows at us when we are late bringing her meal.

Any dog can pull a wagon with training and the right sized equipment. This little wagon has sure seen the miles. I used it too for my Pygmy Goats and other small dogs. Unfortunatly, a horse stepped right in the middle of this wagon and now, gone. And these are not easy to find and are pricey. I bought this one at a Garage Sale and have my eyes open for another one just like it.

I would LOVE to and I am sure Frankie would be very good at, competing in Dock Dogs or also known as Diving Dogs. However, we do not have a Pool or Running Water (we haul it 50 miles from town, yes, really www.faroutliving.com )

But I bought this cute outfit for Frankie just for fun. Maybe we should go over to the pond about a mile from us and do a little water work....but the soil here is, well, that is a whole nother story. <smiles>

There are a lot of small dogs with jobs. And as I said, with proper training and the right sized equipment a small dog can do just about anything. These are photos of my son, Drew, 18 pound Beagle, named Trigger. Oh what a dog! She was a riot. She would ride on the Rig while I trained my Sled Dogs and we called her the "Horn", yes, she barked at anything that got in the way.

Here she is Weight Pulling at an IDPA Event. She did very well, and took her class more than once beat other dogs out twice her size. <smiles> Training.

The other photo of her in Backpack was taken, many moons ago, at the Wolf Sanctuary in Pacific, MO (St. Louis County). The Gateway Sled Dog Club was doing a Demonstration of Working Dogs. Trigger is being walked by my youngest son, Jesse, and I am walking Abigail, our Malamute. Yes. They lived together, with also German Shepherd Dogs and later, Labrador Retrievers, in harmony.

My father was a Rabbit Hunter and I was raised with Beagles, a small dog breed.

This is Deron with Maggie, Tanner and Frankie. I don't care what we do, they want to be with us.

I am working on a Cactus Moat around our fence line. I go out on our property and dig cactus then move it to under our fencing. Why? To make a Moat that our animals will not cross and will stay on our property and other animals, those here grazing or wild, will stay on the far side of our property. My Cockers will go out with me and sit and wait for me to load the wheel barrel, as they sit in the shade provided BY the wheel barrel. I love that our animals like to be with us.

I love agility! So does Frankie! Here are a couple of the photos we took of him out here on the prairie learning to run an Agility Course. If you would like to see more photos of Frankie ( www.DogStarKennel.com )and read more about Agility with other animals, such as Goats, Ratties, Guinea Pigs, Hamsters, Mice...... check out our Sister Sites listed at the right under the Navigation Box.

As you can see, mostly my Cocker's jobs are to make me happy... to be cute and make me smile!

-- The Working Big Dogs Team
Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:54:33 -0400