weight pulling

So since joining hear i have heard it flying around. would love to know a little bit more.

so we went sledging today and were we went it an old railway line that has now been converted into a lovely place to walk so it was flat and straight. so i thought why not lets see how tykes does with ryan on the sledge. (janey put the idea into my head few weeks go when we had snow haha) so got him all up and walked in front he followed and pulled ryan along no problem he was running away or scared by what was behind him. Ryan thought it was hilarious. did not let him do it for long as did not want him doing his self an injury but he responded very well to reward and was pleased with his self if you get he would have carried on......

so we all know tyke is not in the best of health due to weight but that is slowly coming away and people are now commenting that he looks well. I thnk this would be something for tyke (we all say we know what our dogs would like) and for the likes of agility i do not think this would be his thing (may still try) so can any one give me any info on this as could i use as part of weight loss or wait till his weight were we wanted it, what are peoples opinions on this as a whole and how could i do it and what would i need

I can't give any advice, I know Andy does it with Max, so he should be able to advise you. But great to hear Tyke's doing well with losing weight, and I think weight-pulling is a cool thing to get them into, can't wait until Loki's old enough to do it

I love weight pulling. I think it's great and I'm def gonna do it with Logan.

Both Andy and Ella does it so they'd know best.

All I can say is start of small and work your way up. As with any hard exercise it's best to only do it for small amounts of time also.

I want to try it as well. I thought about doing agility with Romeo... but he wont even jump onto the sofa let along anything else (he drags himself up)
but last year we went to the trail days, he was too young at the time to joing completely, but he was great, he wasnt even bothered by the pulling rig behind him he was like.,.. meh what ever, and then scurried to where ever i was standing

Try just dragging a chain about for a while to get the dogs used to pulling things around. When you work him give him some extra protien in his meal that day.
Key thing is slowley slowley and never be tempted to load to quick, you need to use the instinct to please tk get results. Marley loves his training and makes a right racket when hes pulling. When laska is old enough ill get her doing it to as she has staffy powerfull legs good for short power bursts rather than marleys endurance style body make up.

I take the boys weight pulling to a club/class whatever but I plan on doing extra at home

A proper harness so they don't injure themselves is needed there's a few knocking about on eBay and that and come made to measure, and I plan on buying a normal kids sled and having the pull that while using whatever for weight. That is quite a common way to do it with it being relatively cheap and easy to do

Hey all thanx for the advice and comments.

Taryn, tyke was the same its was like ......and mummy! Haha

Ella and nathan were do you train? And ella which clubs do u go to?

Nathan, yea he is too over weight at the mo to even start and wouldnt over load him but what chains would u recommend?

Matt, yea i think its such a good idea

My advice would be to get a Hunter style "U" harness to start with for drag pullin rather than a proper weight pull job, as you can use it like a normal harness and then just clip the load to it, then off again during rest/cool down time, it pulls from the side's and across the chest in a "U" shape (a little less faff than a pulling harness when out and about, but obviously once they're into it properly, the real thing is needed)

Pulling is very tireing, and demands a pretty high level of fitness in dogs even when done gradualy, so take your time and watch your dog like a hawk, they must enjoy it, and be willing to work

Always have plenty of water to hand (Max drinks loads!) .. and as said, up the protien in his food for recovery and repair

I know its been said a million times before (but I'll feel better if I say it again ) ... PLEASE dont anybody go out and hook your dog up to a weight and shout "MUSH!" type thing .. your dog will willingly hurt thereself on your command pretty much, so you must remember that at all times

romeo is such a sook, its not even funny some times where i go, so does he. but romeo had surgery at the start of the year so we are still waiting for the ok

Taryn wrote:romeo is such a sook, its not even funny some times where i go, so does he. but romeo had surgery at the start of the year so we are still waiting for the ok

Romeo is still young, you plenty of time so the longer you leave it after surgery the better ... an activity like pulling WILL find out any weakness in a dogs body

I'd def wait a good while after the recovery to even consider an exercise like weight pulling. It would do a lot more harm than good.

rebeccaleanne wrote:
Ella and nathan were do you train? And ella which clubs do u go to?

Nathan, yea he is too over weight at the mo to even start and wouldnt over load him but what chains would u recommend?

I dont go to any clubs and have no intention for any competitive stuff any time yet as I dont concider him fully grown. He is still growing at 18 months and Ive spoken with someone who has the same cross and they didnt stop untill 2 and half so i have plenty of time to work the basics.

There is a nice flat park 5 mins away where we do a few pulls, nothing heavy and at the moment its more focused on commands to wait, pull and stop because he gets quite excited.

I started with about a foot and half of med link chain which doesnt add much weight but they get the sensation of something behind them which can un-nerve some dogs. First time marley wouldnt move with that even and would just stop turn around and look at it...

I'm going to start Dragon on weight pulling too at the end of this month or so.
I've been wanting to do it for ages but always forget about it, but I should start doing it soon once the weather gets better and stuff.

My recommendations for you and tyke is, take it slow... Very light weights at first to get him used to be pulling something (even though is very light) start adding just a bit more once you feel he's use to it and keep going like that.

He will end up losing that weight you want like this.

Andy what harness do you use for weight pulling? And what type of weights do you use?

DragonTheStaffie wrote:I'm going to start Dragon on weight pulling too at the end of this month or so.
I've been wanting to do it for ages but always forget about it, but I should start doing it soon once the weather gets better and stuff.

My recommendations for you and tyke is, take it slow... Very light weights at first to get him used to be pulling something (even though is very light) start adding just a bit more once you feel he's use to it and keep going like that.

He will end up losing that weight you want like this.

Andy what harness do you use for weight pulling? And what type of weights do you use?

Max has one of these http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/harnesses/hunter/169874

Tho its a little on the tight side for him now across the front so might get another for him

Andy wrote:

DragonTheStaffie wrote:I'm going to start Dragon on weight pulling too at the end of this month or so.
I've been wanting to do it for ages but always forget about it, but I should start doing it soon once the weather gets better and stuff.

My recommendations for you and tyke is, take it slow... Very light weights at first to get him used to be pulling something (even though is very light) start adding just a bit more once you feel he's use to it and keep going like that.

He will end up losing that weight you want like this.

Andy what harness do you use for weight pulling? And what type of weights do you use?

Max has one of these http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/harnesses/hunter/169874

Tho its a little on the tight side for him now across the front so might get another for him

Thanks, what about forweights what do you use? And did you buy anything to put the weights on so he can pull?

Andy wrote:My advice would be to get a Hunter style "U" harness to start with for drag pullin rather than a proper weight pull job, as you can use it like a normal harness and then just clip the load to it, then off again during rest/cool down time, it pulls from the side's and across the chest in a "U" shape (a little less faff than a pulling harness when out and about, but obviously once they're into it properly, the real thing is needed)

Pulling is very tireing, and demands a pretty high level of fitness in dogs even when done gradualy, so take your time and watch your dog like a hawk, they must enjoy it, and be willing to work

Always have plenty of water to hand (Max drinks loads!) .. and as said, up the protien in his food for recovery and repair

I know its been said a million times before (but I'll feel better if I say it again ) ... PLEASE dont anybody go out and hook your dog up to a weight and shout "MUSH!" type thing .. your dog will willingly hurt thereself on your command pretty much, so you must remember that at all times

thanx andy for all that.........tykes fitness at the moment is no were near to even start this, its something im looking into as the next phase when he has dropped the pounds and built his self up a little. I will have a look at those harness's and see what i can find. Are there any pacific proteins you give?

how many times a week/month do you say you train on average?

Nathan wrote:

rebeccaleanne wrote:
Ella and nathan were do you train? And ella which clubs do u go to?

Nathan, yea he is too over weight at the mo to even start and wouldnt over load him but what chains would u recommend?

I dont go to any clubs and have no intention for any competitive stuff any time yet as I dont concider him fully grown. He is still growing at 18 months and Ive spoken with someone who has the same cross and they didnt stop untill 2 and half so i have plenty of time to work the basics.

There is a nice flat park 5 mins away where we do a few pulls, nothing heavy and at the moment its more focused on commands to wait, pull and stop because he gets quite excited.

I started with about a foot and half of med link chain which doesnt add much weight but they get the sensation of something behind them which can un-nerve some dogs. First time marley wouldnt move with that even and would just stop turn around and look at it...

thanx nathan......am not the competitive type so you wouldnt be seeing us on the next you tube vid haha i was just seeing if there were any groups to 'train' or anything like that. thats great advice with regards to the commands

DragonTheStaffie wrote:

Thanks, what about forweights what do you use? And did you buy anything to put the weights on so he can pull?[/quote]

Weight - I use a 25ltr heavy duty nylon barrel (hydraulic oil barrel) , that I weight by pouring in building sand .. its the ideal thing really, as it slides on any surface, has a moulded handle to attach the rope, and is infinately adjustable for weight

Pulling rig - I have made my own pulling rig out of old climbing rope, a splitter bar, and karabina's ... it works really well, I'll try to get a pic to explain whats needed

rebeccaleanne wrote: Are there any pacific proteins you give?

how many times a week/month do you say you train on average?

Protein - just the usual in with his FFD kibble, like mackerel, sardine, tuna, stewing steak (without the gravy), and any other meat we eat thats left over, we always make his meals quite hi protein for a couple days after he's worked hard, then cut it back down a little

Pulling - we dont really bother in the summer months at all, he gets too hot too quickly, and just isnt up for it at all ... so for us its a winter thing when he can regulate his temp better, and in turn works harder ... but even then its probably only once a week at the w/end, as its just something differant for him, not his only form of excercise