Draft dog

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Depiction on a Greek vase, 500 BC. Chr
French dog team around 1905

A pulling dog or load pulling dog is a dog that is used to pull a load in a dog cart or dog sled .

history

The oldest document of a dog as a draft animal comes from a Greek vase, dated around 500 BC. The Roman historian Lampridius (218 to 222 AD) writes: "The dogs were not only fed with foie gras, but four of them were harnessed to a wagon and driven around his palace and on the estates with them"

Heinrich Zille : Unfamiliar view of the familiar, peddler with dog team

The use of dogs as the “ poor man's draft animal ”, on the other hand, was quite widespread , at least from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. Around 1900 there are said to have been 150,000 such "cart dogs". Dog teams were also often used by peddlers to transport their range of goods, because large dogs were not only cheaper to buy than horses, but they should even be anatomically better suited for pulling carts and dog sleds . Pull dogs can pull up to three to five times their own body weight.

Ancestors of dog breeds such as Rottweiler or Sennenhund mainly transported food and goods:

“Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to come to an Upper Austrian market town on a market day, or see the crowd of messenger, milk and vegetable carts moving to town every day, will not soon forget the colorful, splendid picture of these dog teams contribute. It is a pleasure to see how the resolute market-goer in her traditional costume and the characteristic headscarf guides the happily moving dogs. "

- Joseph Bodingbauer : Vienna 1935

The military also occasionally uses service dogs as draft animals. In the First World War alone , 40,000 dogs are said to have been used by the German armed forces as guard, medical, telegraph, reporting and pulling dogs.

Sled dogs

In northern countries and in Siberia , dog breeds such as the Siberian Husky or the Samoyed are still used as sled dogs . In packs and in a team, these dogs show pronounced social behavior , which is similar to that within a wolf pack . This is used by the breeders. There are special bitches who act as “kindergarten teachers” to raise the puppies. Sleigh teams with dogs were a central basis of the culture of the peoples living in the far north, such as the Eskimos in North America or the Chukchi in Siberia.

Usage today

In dog sports , the Nordic dog breeds are mainly used in dog sled races. When mushing hooked typically one to eight dogs (categories C, B, A, and O), in the open class , the carriages can also be greater. Mainly the lead dog communicates with the human ( musher ), who is usually not identical with the highest ranking individual of the pack. In summer, these pulling dogs are trained with a wide variety of dog carts . For dogs used for sport, there are several special features in handling and care that often appear strange to outsiders. Dog paws of draft animals are often protected from injuries with fabric boots (booties). The pack is also "watered" before a run. When fed with a watery soup, the risk of dehydration is prevented.

literature

  • Norbert Benecke: Man and his pets. History of a millennia-old relationship . Parkland Verlag, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-88059-9955 (reprint of the edition, Stuttgart 1994).
  • Susanne Preuss: The draft dog - then and now. Kynos-Verlag, Mürlenbach2002, ISBN 3-933228-42-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Susanne Preuss: The Zughund - then and now. Kynos-Verlag , Mürlenbach 2002, ISBN 3-933228-42-5 , p. 15 ff.