Weight Pulling ??

[Claudia807]

The breeds that I'm most familiar with as far as involvement in weight pulling are Pits and Malamutes.

The other day I attended a seminar and one of the speakers was Brenda Aloff, who has written a book on aggression. Anyway, Brenda mentioned that in some states if you are found having weight pull equipment and a breaking stick in your home, you are automatically unders suspicion for being involved in Pit fighting. (A breaking stick is a tool used to pry a dog's mouth open). I had no idea that that was the case until she mentioned it.

As far as I know, though, weight pulling is considered to be a legitimate sport. The dogs wear special harnesses and they only pull for short distances. One of our rescue volunteers has participated in weight pulls with her Pits. I have to admit I really don't know too much about the sport, though.

Claudia
Green Acres Boxer Rescue of WI

 

[daisy_lucy]

weightpulling

Okay, I just thought I'd post my two cents here. I own American Bulldogs now that my boxer died of cancer this past January. I weight pull my dogs and have been to many competitions. Dogs LOVE this and it is great mental and physical excersise. First...it requires a great deal of training. You don't just hook up any dog and let them have at it. They are lots of rules and things must be done a certain way to protect the dogs. There are governing sanctions that run most weight pulls and even PETA has attended weight pulls and come away saying positive things. Believe me...if your dog doesn't want to pull, they WONT. Hee hee. Not everyone likes to see dogs doing "work" and that's okay. Boxers, however, can excell at weight pull. I know a breeder in PA who does AWESOME work with her dogs. So anyway...that's my input and I'd love to answer anyones questions on weight pulling.

 

[Scrapper's Mom]

The one concern that came to my mind was the same worry that you have about forced exercising a dog at too early an age - that it can harm their joints and interfere with proper bone development. So I would wonder what age would be okay to do something like this.

 

[daisy_lucy]

Not at all until they were at least a year old. Vets agree that starting slowly with very light weight after a year of age is okay without any problems...most dogs you see in competition are at youngest 3 years old...the younger dogs, like one of mine, come from 8 generations of weight pull lines and can be pulling a bit more weight at a younger age...but still NEVER before a year old. I don't even do a lick of training till they have had their birthday.

 

[daisy_lucy]

ALSO:

With ANYTHING like this you should ALWAYS have your vet evaluate your dog and get an approval to start weight pulling. Just like you wouldn't (or shouldn't) start a vigourous workout without consulting your doctor. Dogs with any heart issues, joint issues, etc. SHOULD NOT weight pull. If your vet says he doesnt' think your dog is ready for pulling then WAIT. It's an awesome sport and a ton of fun for you and your dog but the dog's health always comes first.

 

[daisy_lucy]

The two governing sanctions I pull under. LOTS of good info

International Weight Pull Association (IWPA)
http://www.eskimo.com/~samoyed/iwpa/

American Pulling Alliance (APA)
http://www.geocities.com/americanpullingalliance/

Please check them out!!!!

 

[douma]

I wish we had a club here,Avra really loves pull,when my husband comes with his boat at the beach,she would pull the boat out of the water ....you can see then, how she gloats.....she can wait for this moment for hours:rolleyes:

Yesteday a girl kicked a big rock down the hill and Avra went after and tried to bring back the rock ,she grabed it and the rock was almost twice her head:eek: and she should climb 50 m up to hill with this rock in her mouth ....and she did it ...the people there were given a big clap and she was so very proud of herself
:D ...i have never seen her so proud and she wanted to do this on and on
I think pull and clap are favorites of her and what better that a Weight pull club?

Sophia and Avra

 

[Scorpio]

I watched it on TV once, the winner was a standard poodle. I guess like anything if you train properly. I think its kind of scary.

 

[douma]

Originally posted by Scorpio
I watched it on TV once, the winner was a standard poodle. I .

:eek: standard poodle!!:eek: I wanted what breed were the rest of the dogs!!
I have seen American bulldogs and Swiss mountain dogs on "Animal planet" and seems that they love this sport.

Sophia and Avra

 

[daisy_lucy]

I love pulling with my american bulldogs. The sire of one of my pups pulled 4200lbs at a competition this year. It's AMAZING. My girls are just starting so they aren't anywhere near that amount. A nice male can easily pull 2800lbs, often much more...some females can pull that too!