I didn't mean to turn this into a treatise but I've been having side bar discussions with a couple people who keep adding on with fitting questions and I thought that the answers might be beneficial to the community at large.
Please think of this as a shoe fitting. Each dog, its gait and the cart it pulls, is different. The carts may have been set up by the company to be one way but that doesn't mean it will fit your particular dog without some (or alot) of adjustment. The ones with the wooden shafts are the most frustrating (little adjustiblility). The fronts of the shafts should project past the broadest point of the shoulder (2-3 inches) but need not be any longer that the point of the sternum. That just invites getting yourself poked in the back of the calf when you least expect it. The length of the shaft in front of the 'stoppers' is also dependent on the style of harness you use and the amount of play in it. You don't want the harness to just be able to slip off the front of the shaft by itself, which frequently does happen in poorly adjusted carts. Keeping the traces at the proper length will keep the stopper loops or Dee rings (for backing)from slipping off the front of the shafts. The brakes are adjustable. You just need an allen wrench to get at the nut. I don't think that they (Dogworks) set up the brakes in any particular spot, they just make sure they get them on at all! The variety of harnesses out there makes it extremely difficult for them to know your particular needs. So set them up for YOUR dog. With more people starting to try for Brace draft tests, other problems that I'm starting to see more of is the use of the 'Dog works' two-dog single tree setup. This just invites disaster if you use it as they suggest. The dogs can just walk out of this setup under the right circumstances. Please be absolutely sure you have enough experience before just trying to hook up two dogs to a cart or ask someone who does know before you possibly endanger your dogs. Also check your dogs fit from year to year. Two years ago when Logan was about 5 1/2 we had to rush to improvise another harness for a parade we were going to be in, because he had growth some more and ended up having to make new longer shafts for my custom cart as well. Yes, these dogs are slow to mature. Jim LaFrom San Jose, Ca now get out there and work dem workn'dogs Jim LaFrom San Jose, Ca now get out there and work dem workn'dogs
