How do i get my dog to pull?

How many of you ? who have witnessed a weight pull contest and have watched huge 40-50 kg Malamutes pulling a massive 600-700 kgs and beyond and have thought GOD how could my dog compete with that. Well ! it doesn't have to, Weight pull competitions are divided into classes according to the weight of the dogs. The classes are:

A . 27kg (60 Pound) Class-All dogs weighing 27kg, or less.
B . 36kg (80 Pound) Class-All dogs weighing more than 27kg up to and including 36kg .
C . 50kg (110 Pound) Class-All dogs weighing more than 36kg, up to and including 50kg
D . Unlimited Class - all dogs weighing more than 50kg.

Another class worth trying for is Body Weight ratio (which is how many times its own weight the dog pulled )e.g.a dog weighing 19.5 kg pulls a top weight of 285 kg which equals 14.60 times it's own weight ,beating the over all winner .a dog weighing 56. kgs that pulled 645 kgs with body weight ratio of 11.51. That is 3.09kg times less than the smaller dog.

Now I hear you say how do I get my small dog or even large dog to pull ,well that comes down to that old trick training. Training ? yes it should be quite simple to get a 20 - 25 kg dog to pull 175 kgs or more .How you train your dog is a hard a one to explain because every situation differs, but there are three stages of training. They are:

#1 getting your dog to pull a weight pull trolley . This can be accomplished by getting hold of your clubs weight pull. trolley, starting off empty and coaxing bribing or even begging the dog to pull it .

#2 Once you have conned your dog into doing this, you need to be able to get him to do it when he doesn't. This is having control over your dog and is the tricky part , but this is an important part because many dogs, even the trained ones will try it on you when the weight gets heavier.

#3 The next step conditioning ,(building up your dogs strength.) A simple way to do this is just have your dog to pull a small weight around a park or field for 15 -20 mins. Do this 2-3 times a week or when ever it suits.

weight-pulling.jpgThis dog is showing good pulling technique, head down & three feet on the ground. This article has been written with the hope it encourages Dog owners to have a go next year at the various competitions .With the right training your dog will be able to pull more than the 1st 2 weights. So we hope to see you in the shoot next year. This article was written by Rex Woodward.

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