Weight Training

[josorio]

Can a rotti be trained with weights like a pit bull can? Like a weight sled and a heavy chain.

[AngelBunny]

How old is your Rottweiler?

You want to weight train your Rottie for what purpose?

[josorio]

My puppy is only 3mo. and I'm not looking to start any time soon. Its just that I've seen some rottweiler's that have more muscle definition then others. I have seen pit bulls be trained with sleds and heavy chains. I've been told that the heavy chain builds the neck muscle and the sled for a full body work out.

My only purpose is to make him as strong and healthy as possible.
I've put a link to illustrate what I have seen. The third pict. of the rottweiler has a lot of muscle definition and while the rest not much.

Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks.

[Gunsey'sMom]

I really would not reccommend starting any kind of training like that anytime soon. Your puppy needs to be physically developed before he can do such activities. Even then, those dogs have been trained VERY gradually. You will need to wait at least unitl 24 months of age to and get his hips X-rayed ( I am sure others can tell you what else as well) to make sure he is physically sound to participate in that kind of activity.

It is also worth noting that genetics also play a role in just how muscular your dog may get as well. Some dogs are genentically predisposed to be more muscular than others so please do not be dissapointed in your dog if he hasnt won the "muscle lottery" so to speak.

You can also find out more about weight pulling competitions in youe area by going on line and researching ABDA or IPWA competitions. Your dog is judged by how much weight he can pull in ratio to his weight and what time he/ she can do it in. - Which means there are actually Corgis that can beat Pitts in overalls contests because they pulled more weight to their body weight and maybe faster.

In the meantime keep your dog healthy, feed a high quality food, and do other obediance training as well with your dog to prepare him if you will eventually embark on this- all of these are indeed important.