Ready for a Hammer Race

DuPont came into my life at kind of a perfect time.  I'm training for this mud run/race type of deal and it's on Saturday.  Like, this coming Saturday.  Yuck.

It's five miles long and there are twenty obstacles that I need to conquer throughout, including two river crossings, and all the while I will be toting 'Rhino', my 9lb sledge hammer.  Hence the name of the race: Hammer Race.

Having DuPont around has forced me to go out and run almost daily.  It's safe to say that I feel like a bit of a bad ass hoofin it down a country road while the sun is setting, Rhino in one hand and DuPont's leash in the other!

My training partner

For as asinine as this guy can be on a leash, he really is a damn good running/walking buddy.

Oh, and since I'm supposed to be informing you, let me take a moment to explain his head gear.
DuPont is wearing a head collar. Specifically, a Halti.  There are a few different styles/brands of head collars (ie: Gentle Leader, etc)  I prefer the Halti myself because I feel like it offers better control should the dog get the gear off.

With a puller like DuPont, I pair the Halti with a 26" chain collar (choke chain).  The chain collar never actually tightens around his neck though. 

The way a head collar works is by clipping it to the dog's regular collar where you clip the leash.  Then you clip the leash as normal and when the dog pulls, some of their power is taken away because the Halti will pull their nose around towards you.  With most dogs this is enough.  But, DuPont is not most dogs.  There is still pressure that he can put into his collar and he hardly acknowledges the head collar, so it's moot.

That's why I add a long chain collar to it so that all of DuPont's pulling momentum is put into the Halti, preventing him from getting any pulling power. It just pulls his head around.  This makes for a much more pleasant road experience with The Pont.

Happy Trails!