Weight Pulling...

[Marylou Mader]

Good morning list, does anyone weight pull their Rotties? I'm begining to work my dog into weight pulling and wanted to know if anyone else is working in this fun sport. I did it years ago, and decided to get back into it, the group I pull with are the Malamute Club of Wisconsin, they have their own rules from the American Malamute Club and do not use the IWPA rules. I was just at their pull this weekend, and I noticed a Rottie, I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner, as his dog was in the NOVICE class which only allows 1,000 pounds max and you can use a line and you can move in close to help your dog, it is like a teaching class. By the time I got their, they were done and the competition classes were begining.
Years ago, we had a Weight pull at the ARC Nationals in Texas, My "Angus" won the top weight pulled. 2,100 lbs. It's fun and healthy for the dog and the handlers, the training is important to build stamina, as the one good thing about pulling, when the dog is done, he/she is done, there is nothing anyone can do, it's all up to the dog, and I like that.

[NikkiDeland]

I was thinking about trying weight pulling with Willow our Rottie/APBT (we think) mix. I thought it might be something she'd enjoy. She's a little power house with lots of energy and stamina (has more of a pittie look to her). I haven't gotten a chance to actually go see a pull though as there's not many in our area.
I'd like to go see a pull to see if it's something we might be interested in. It does look like fun.

[rottielover2004]

I tried weight pulling, it was a no go with harley, he hates to pull, even on leash

[Marylou Mader]

Nikki: do a google search on Alaskan Malamute Club of Wisconsin, they have a listing of pulls. All pulls offer the Novice class, which is like a learning class within an actual event. It's fun and the people are soooooooooo nice :0)

Rottielover, I know what you mean, and that is why weight pulling is the sport for the dog, cause if they don't want to pull, they won't.

[NikkiDeland]

Marylou, I did a search on Alaskan Malamute Club of Wisconsin. It appears as though their next pull is December 1st.
Have you ever, or know anyone who has, pulled with the Tri-State Alaskan Malamute Club (TSAMC)? I found their website and it looks they they have pulls a little closer to me.

[Skip]

Call me paranoid...but I don't think I would want to try that with my rott. Some breeds are still actually bred for pulling a lot of weight, but I'm just not sure that a rott's structure (even with all the good necessary OFA health clearances done beforehand) is built for pulling huge weights.

[Marylou Mader]

Skip, if you think your dog is not capable of pulling weight, so be it, but Rottweilers are very capable and have been pulling weight for years.

Actually ALL dogs are capable of pulling weight, they can pull more weight than a horse, horses pull 10 times their body weight and dogs can pull up to 30 times. Now of course if a dog is not sound, it shouldn't be doing anything, but we are talking about dogs that have no medical problems and of course would have sound joints.
The novice class only allows dogs to pull up to 1,000 pounds.
and responding to Niki, yes I have pulled with them, they use the IWPA rules which are a bit different, you may want to compare them. I'm sure you will have fun and your dog will enjoy getting out and working, now training your dog and conditioning your dog will take work and the best way is to have him/her pull a tire, this causes drag and builds stamina.
Number one importance is a properly fitting harness, and the correct harness, this can be found at the pulls and the people there will be more than happy to help you get started...

[Skip]

Originally Posted by Marylou Mader

Skip, if you think your dog is not capable of pulling weight, so be it, but Rottweilers are very capable and have been pulling weight for years.

Actually ALL dogs are capable of pulling weight, they can pull more weight than a horse, horses pull 10 times their body weight and dogs can pull up to 30 times. Now of course if a dog is not sound, it shouldn't be doing anything, but we are talking about dogs that have no medical problems and of course would have sound joints.
The novice class only allows dogs to pull up to 1,000 pounds.
and responding to Niki, yes I have pulled with them, they use the IWPA rules which are a bit different, you may want to compare them. I'm sure you will have fun and your dog will enjoy getting out and working, now training your dog and conditioning your dog will take work and the best way is to have him/her pull a tire, this causes drag and builds stamina.
Number one importance is a properly fitting harness, and the correct harness, this can be found at the pulls and the people there will be more than happy to help you get started...

Never said he wasn't capable, just said I wouldn't do it with him. And of COURSE all dogs are capable of pulling weight, but we're talking a LOT of weight here. I think your figures are a little skewed though. A dog can't pull more weight than a horse. A dog can pull more in relation to their individual weights than a horse, but not more than a horse. Do these trainers and trials require the rotts to be certified thru OFA before being allowed to trial? What are the requirements to make sure they "have no medical problems and of course would have sound joints"?

[NikkiDeland]

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you Skip, but to be fair I've been to other canine athletic venues that didn't require seeing an OFA certificate.

I think any canine athlete needs to be in proper condition for ANY sport, and an owner needs to be responsible enough to know their dogs limitations and not to push them too hard. From what I understand weight pulling (if done properly) is actually a pretty safe sport. I would NEVER do anything with my dogs that I thought would injure them.

If you think about all of the ACL injuries we hear about with the Rottweiler breed, some people may think it's irresponsible to participate in such sports as agility, flyball, or even herding where sharp turns are required. Obviously Rotties are a lot heavier than say a Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, or other such breeds that excel at these sports.

I agree that there are some breeds that will do better and be more suited to weight pulling. I think it would be difficult (not impossible) for a Rottweiler to out pull an American Bulldog in the same weight class, but as long as the dog enjoys what he/she is doing, and the handler is being safe, I say go for it.

Disclaimer: I have absolutely no problems with anyone doing agility, flyball, or herding with their dog. As a matter of fact I did agility with my Rottie Alex and have a setup in the yard now for fun.

[Marylou Mader]

I'm not here to argue, I started this thread, as an experienced weight pull trainer and just thought there might be some listers that would be interested in this sport. I would be happy to give pointers and suggestions to all that are interested.

Having been in the breed since 1978, I gave materials for Joan Klem's book on the Rottweiler, as well as her video regarding weight pulling. I put on a weight pull seminar when the IFR came to Chicago back in 1997. This sport was met with great interest, With all the negative issues regarding our breed, I thought it would be one more way for people to present the dogs in a working light, which is what they are WORKING DOGS

[NikkiDeland]

yes I have pulled with them, they use the IWPA rules which are a bit different, you may want to compare them

I guess I'm going to have to check the websites a little more closely to see what the differences are. I would love to be able to try it with Willow just to see if she'd like it. For some reason she doesn't really love agility (too bad, she'd be awesome) but she has to work and have something to do. If I don't do something with her everyday she starts to mulitply
I had to work some pretty long hours the other week for year-end review and asked my DH if he could please walk the dogs for me. I could tell the days he didn't because there was two of Willow by the time I got home.

[Gwillie23]

I'm very interested in Weight Pull can you give me some tips to get started you know reading material or such. Also i have head that weight pulling actually stengthens joints helping to prevent injuries and also help with hip Dislypsia(SP?) i might be wrong but i read it some where.

[MShaw]

This seems like it would be a neat event! I think I may do some research, Vegas loves any type of work, but I think it'd be great to get her into something where she can use her strength a little more.

What is the age requirement for something like this? I don't think I'd get her into this until she was 2 or so, so that her joints and muscles were fully developed, but are there ways to "try it out" without having them actually pull that much weight?

[Skip]

Originally Posted by Marylou Mader

I'm not here to argue, I started this thread, as an experienced weight pull trainer and just thought there might be some listers that would be interested in this sport. I would be happy to give pointers and suggestions to all that are interested.

Having been in the breed since 1978, I gave materials for Joan Klem's book on the Rottweiler, as well as her video regarding weight pulling. I put on a weight pull seminar when the IFR came to Chicago back in 1997. This sport was met with great interest, With all the negative issues regarding our breed, I thought it would be one more way for people to present the dogs in a working light, which is what they are WORKING DOGS

Good for you. I thought you posted it on this public forum to discuss it also, and that's what we do here. While the sport sounds interesting, I wanted to ask/point out some health issues that I would suggest people double-check with their dogs before-hand, since that wasn't mentioned upfront.

[Gwillie23]

from what i understand alot of organization require the dog to be at least a year old but i would agree with you wait till at least 2