There are a lot of dog sports out there today from dock jumping to flyball. The dog sport that I am writing about today is called Canine Weight Pulling. American Pit Bull Terriers are used in this sport as well as sled dogs such as Alaskan Malamutes. The participating dog is put into a specially designed weight pulling harness and hooked up to to a sled that is on wheels if it is in warm weather. In the winter it is just a sled.
There is a large amount of weight put on the sled and the dogs are supposed to pull it so many feet to complete the pull. The owner can not touch the dog while it is pulling either. To participate in a weight pull, you will need a properly fitting collar, a leash and a special weight pulling harness. This kind of harness has more than the usual amount of padding, and comes down low, across the dog's back legs, to keep the weight bearing area down low. There is a bar across the rear of the harness to keep the straps from squeezing against the dog's legs during a pull.
To train, you will need weights in measured quantities, so you know exactly how much you are asking your dog to pull, and how much you are increasing the weight each time. Then you will need some type of sled or cart to put the weight in to practice having your dog pull it. It is best to have a dog pull the sled empty to start with. Pit Bulls are known to pull over 1,000 pounds in the summer weather. Over 800 in winter weather.
This sport does take a lot of obedience from the dog to be done correctly. So if you want to do this sport make sure you start really early training with your dog. Make sure you know all of the rules of the weight pulling contest before you enter. Any healthy dog could
do this with proper training but it is not just as easy as strapping your dog up to a cart and expecting it to pull huge amounts of weight without injuring itself.
Every pulling contest is different but the main rules are that the dog has to be willing to pull very heavy weights a certain amount of distance in a certain amount of time - a completed pull is considered to be 16 feet in most instances within 45 seconds. Also, you do not want your dog to go up to the crowd when it is pulling, approach other dogs, or be touched by the owner after it is hooked up to the sled during competition.
It is also up to the owner to decide if he believes his dog can pull the weight or not. If the owner feels that the dog can not pull the load, then the owner should let someone in charge of the competition know that the dog can not pull it. To keep self esteem high, dogs that cannot complete the pull for any reason are assisted by handlers (in the back of the sled/cart) that help the dog complete the pull by pushing the load from behind so they feel that they really did finish the pull.
Dogs tend to try and pull loads even if they can not pull the weight but be forewarned, this can cause injuries to the dog if you're not extra careful. So the dogs health and well-being is all up to the owner. Other tips: make sure that you check the dog's paws and nails before and after each pull to check for cracks, breaks, or anything that could cause pain to the dog. Cracked nails can be very painful for the dog and should be watched out for. So, if you decide this is a dog sport you want to try with your dog then make sure you do the proper training and have fun with it as well.
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