I think Sawyer would do well with carting. The type of dog-carting you are seeking is called draft carting where the "driver" walks along side.
These types of carts are very easily home build and can consist of well centered wheels attached to a milk crate and conduit shafts.
My experience with dog carting centers around driving where the driver is seated in the cart. My carting "career" started with dogs some 24 years ago. A few years later we branched into miniature horses. Carting with customers was always my favorite past time and being out early in the morning before the day started was always a special time with my dog and set the day up right.
I DO believe in multi-vocation animals and especially dogs. Tracking can start with fun games like find Mom or Dad or kids. One of the finest Shutzhund three dogs that I ever saw was ball motivated. I think that play motivation is the best of all and so tapping into this can bring pretty phenomenal success in a wide range of endevours. 'Mom brings a very GOOD point to the table re food motivation. We never used it except in high stress training situations and then to a very limited extent. Play reinforces the bond partnership and is always superior in my mind.
When I had to switch from Police tracking to Shutzhund, I found that I had to add a new type and layer to Kam's skills. I used German to let him know the style of tracking that I wanted. When I was evaluating him on road tracking for the first time (after an FH length track already and starting with a water hazard ellement) I did use some hot dog to help encourage him with something he had never seen before. I only did it the one time and it served the purpose well. Tracking is a very aerobic exercise for the dog, so try to use the cool part of the day to make it easier for them at least at the beginning.. I never did understand why folk would seek the hottest time of the year to trial their dogs. That black German Shepherd mentioned above did THE best blind search I had ever seen and when he came to the last blind with the "bad guy" he did a beautiful bark and hold as he should except that no sound came out of him. When he got marked down for lack of sound, I was quite apoplectic at the judge for doing so,. So much so, that my friends had to grab me to sit me down and be quiet. Wasn't the dogs fault. The extreme heat of the day was to blame. Track when it's cool if possible.
Sawyer looks eager, so the sky is the limit. How exciting.
Bb
