Weight Pull

My name is Brandon. I have a 4 month old 7th Gen. Pedigree APBT name "Shadow". Right now, he weighs about 32 lbs. I want to get him involved with weight pulling and I'm not sure of the best way to do this. I have read a load of stuff on the net about getting started but I guess I want to hear from some other people.

He is comfortable wearing a harness and he drags 1g milk containers around the house fine. I built him a drag sled for when hes older. His dad is a champ and I really want to pull Shadow but I feel like I might be rushing things.

I feed him Wellness dog food.
I also taught him how to run unleashed on a treadmill just last week.

If anyone can give me some tips, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
B

 

You guys are friendly. Does anyone have some insight?

 

Hi Brandon,

The only advice I would personally give you is, let him be a pup and dont worry about doing too much with him just yet. The fact that you have him used to a harness is great stuff and the fact that he's used to pulling an object behind him is good, maybe just keep that up.
I have just started one of my girls on weight-pulling and she picked it up straight away, I just picked up an old car tyre and got her to drag that up the garden, I have put a sheet of wood inside the tyre and am increasing the weight weekly with bricks.

But I would recommend you don't that with your pup until he reaches about 17-19 months old. Until then just enjoy his puppyhood.

Hope this helps.

 

too young i got a 16 wks old pup also wouldnt do it still a baby

 

i would also suggest not over working his developing ligaments and tendons as well
as risking stress fractures with to much resistance training. as stated, give him huge servings of confidence and let him be a pup. try not to get to involved with pulling until he's over 10mo. old. it won't be detrimental if you have him enjoy the play/work aspects of wearing the harness and pulling light objects...to much to soon can make a dog lose intrest,...then it's all for nothing.

 

my dog had already won sanctioned points at the age of 14months.
not that i don't think your advice is solid, but you really have to know
what you're working with. hands on experience and a good eye will
go a long way.

 

I agree, every dog is different and youve got to be the judge of when youre dog is ready, but I personally like to know my dog is of full maturity and wont end up getting injured, although im sure if done correctly, the chances of injury are low.

 

Ive seen on the web some places allow you to enter a dog for weight pulling that's under the age of 1yr. Like around 10 months. Some people think that this is not good at all. I guess it all depends on who is sponsoring your event.

 

A lot of folks start pulling at 9 months with the ADBA, but I personally disagree with it. I won't start pulling until they're between 17 - 19 months. You can start doing drag work at 6 months, but I wouldn't go any earlier than that with actual weight - walks with the harness before that are fine.

Slow is fast. You work a dog up right, you'll have a weight pull dog that WANTS to pull, not one that does it because you force them.

 

Right. I made him a drag sled and it weighs 37 lbs. I haven't let him pull it yet. He just hit 5 months. I made him a flirt pole and attached a sock to the end of it. He loves it. I also made him a spring pole. He wouldn't touch that thing for nothing. Then I got the great idea to put a sock on it and well, he is also all over it. There are no problems with the harness. I guess Ill keep working him with the poles for another month and then incorporate some actual pulling.
Thanks for the input everyone.

 

You need to go slowly. Let that puppy be a puppy, hon. You've got YEARS ahead of you to get him where he needs to be. I've seen too many folks ruin a good dog by rushing things.

 

x2. Keep things positive and build the mind first. Its nice to see dogs that enjoy pulling and are healthy enough to pull for a long successful career. Always remember its not about the sprint, its about the race.

 

What´s the rush now and days with people and there dogs.

Dubois you said your dog just hit 5 months, let it be a pup enjoy the innocent time you stil can have with the dog before it´s gone .
And do not compare it to what others do with there dogs.

 

Good advice by all.

I would spend what time you have now with just general training and make the most of the most important time right now in building that bond that you will want forever, and that is realy the first and most important thing imo.
Theres nothing worse than watching the reaction of someone with a lesser bond with their working dog than the next person.
A dog with a strong bond will do anything for his owner and that should be paramount for anyone in weightpulling.

 

Ive been letting him do his thing you know. Playing ball and stuff. He really likes the flirt pole. So I figure if hes going to chase it, ill use it for play. He is getting stronger each day and he loves tug of war.
Thats all ive been doing. He wears the harness when we play. Once in a while, Ill attatch a gallon of water to him and let him chase me around the yard. We have just been playing.

 

There is good info on how to start a weight pull dog on www.weightpullharness.com

 

This is the best advice, hands down.

Try to get in with a local club or even a person that who owns the sire to your dog, he became a ace from someone who knows what they are doing. IWPA is a good start if there isn't an ADBA club around, IWPA has even in more places than the typical ADBA weekend conformation/WP shows. IWPA might even have someone in your area to help you out. Another idea for a bit of drag weight, old window weights, lot lighter than a sled but still heavier than a gal. jug. Another idea, weigh chain from the store, old man I use to talk to said chain is more reliable than anything for a pull dog, lots of noise and he kept different lengths that weighed different amounts and just hook them as needed to the harness.

 

Good deal, ask him questions till he won't answer his phone, buy him his favorite drink or food and then go clean up poop (dogmen love a eager learner willing to clean up poop) and some of the best advice I was ever given. Eyes forward, Ears open, Mouth Shut. Do that, work hard, keep your dogs healthy and the rest falls in place all by itself. Goodluck to you and your dog!

 

what do you guys think of using these as a traing devise ? i know its not a rail cart system like the shows, but seems like it would be a good tool to train withhttp://www.tractorsupply.com/lawn-g...y-duty-utility-cart-1-000-lb-capacity-3599202
i will probablly have to do a little costumizing to it to work the way i would like though like removing the handle or tieing it so it doesnt get in the way.... i have been doing conformation and seems like i have the best dog, but its based on the judges preference and im getting tired of that. he is almost champ, so i will continue to do that till he makes it, but weight pulling there is a definate for shure winner and thats what im liking about it... what do you guys think of the traing devise i mentioned? good? bad? or anything better i can get with out spending money on a rail cart system. i could get that in the future if i get into this professionally in the future.... im thinking that yall will agree that the cart is a desent idea to get and train with though.