now or later?

I read on a site that a dog shouldn't start pulling anything until they are 18 months or older b/c doing so could cause bow legs. My dog is 1yr now and I would like to know, could I have her pull light weight or is there a possible threat to her bones and muscles?

 

Im not into the whole pulling thing but what i have read is that you should wait till about 2 years old to be safe. I wouldnt get started with little weights right now becuae you are going to have to get a harness and she is still growing and you will have to put out more money for another harness when she is 2 years old so i would wait.

 

I'm not looking to get a custom harness just yet. Is there any way to condition her to build muscle mass or is muscle just something bred from certain lines. I figure body builders work hard to get their results so what(if any)type of work could I do with her to get ripped results? Thanks!

 

I just hand walk my dogs for a couple miles and they have been getting muscle. You can build a spring pole or flirt pole for her to get started on and that will work her whole body and give her a work out.

 

When you walk your dogs, do you allow them to pull?

 

Yeah i dont let them pull freely. They pretty much pull me so i just tilt back and try to stay on my feet so yeah they pull.

 

Cool! I'll walk her for about a mile a day and see what results I get. Thanks for the replies!

 

If you are serious about Weight pulling her, you can let her pull around light-weight loud objects now i.e. Milk jug filled with rocks.

But then again, this info (and lots more) could all be found quite easily by running a search on the board.

 

Honestly, I started entering my girl into pulls when she was 14 months, and had been training her since 8 months. (I've seen some people put little baby puppies into harness, but I think that's just crazy.) Anyway, her front is fine. Pasterns are still strong, elbows still in. The only difference is she has a slight roach to her back, but that may have occurred anyway. That said -- with the exception of the actual pull she was entered in -- I did not start her dragging anything really heavy until recently. (She's over 2 years now.)

 

Not much info posted regarding specific ages, but thanks anyway!

 

There many post about this subject. If you ask me I would say wait till a dog is full grown (about 22 months) before you start working him for real. The time before your dog is fullgrown is the learnig period and you let him become accustomed with the workouts you want to do when the dog is matured, but don't work him hard. The most important is that the dog likes the activity you're doing with him. Quit with the workout when your dog is still having fun and want to have more. Do not work your dog till he wants to quit himself.

You want your dog to be ripped? You can get that result from long handwalks, run beside a bike and working the springpole etc.

 

You can start drag weighting your dog now without any problems if you take it slow and easy. Start with a light weight and gradually work your way up. Don't have a young dog strain to pull the weight but don't make it too easy that he's running with it either. If you want to wait until your dog is 18-24 months to go to heavy cart work that's fine but the drag weighting won't hurt your dog at all.

 

I went to the local pet store and seen a no jump harness. Could I use it to start her pulling b/c the harness I have now she always stands up on her hind legs and also jumps around. Has anyone heard of using a no jump harness as a premature trainer for weight pullers?

 

do not use a harness that is not inteded for the application you need it for. You could seriously injure your dog

 

I tried to regular harnesses but those just dont seem like they are right for weight pulling.Any suggestions on what type of harness to use,any-one?

 

just pull half the dogs body weight and attach at the collar.........if you want get the dog ripped put on low fat high protein diet and feed regular amount 3 times day. in 4 weeks youll see what you want. if you dragg weights and walk at least 4 times a week.

 

i dont want her dragging weights without the proper collar, but I do walk her 1-2 miles faithfully everyday or should I say she walks me.

 

A weight pulling harness looks like this:



You can sometimes find them at pet supply stores. (They carry them here, for example, at Southern Agriculture.) But they're usually cheap and not very well-padded, and tend to end up costing just as much as a good harness. To get a good one, you have to go to a harness-maker. The one in the pic is from http://www.cdpits.com/ There's gobs of harness-makers on the 'Net.

But if you're just doing it for exercise, you can easily rig up your own harness. (I read a story about someone who made their first harness out of seatbelts!) Or do the hand-walking thing. Lots of ways to exercise a dog.