Swiss Lick Swissies

Competitive Weight Pull

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | Alex, Beowulf, Gryffindor, Indigo, Random Stuff, Uncategorized

I’d like to clear something up for any of the non-Swissy readers. Weight pulling for dogs, competitive or otherwise, is not harmful or mean to the dog if done correctly. We’ve hooked Gryffin up to his weight pull harness many times and had him pull a tire up and down the street. We get the standard laughs and giggles, but we also get the mean glares and the “that’s so cruel” statements. Some dogs, like Swissies, are bred to pull. It’s part of their history and it’s certainly not mean. If you are one of those people, take a look at Gryffin’s big, happy smile when he’s dragging his tire around and then tell me if you still think it’s mean.

Now I’ll get down to business. Weight pull for dogs is a competitive sport with rules and regulations. And titles. It was originally introduced in the US in the 1970s. If practiced correctly, your dog will build up stronger hip, leg and shoulder muscles, which potentially means less stress on the joints and possibly a longer, healthier life.

There are different types of weight pulls, which means different rules and organizations. Some weight pulls are held on snow or railroad tracks, while others are held on natural surfaces like grass or dirt, or even carpet or concrete.

Pulls are broken down into different weight classes. If it’s an all breed pull, you’ll see about eight classes – 0-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-100, 101-125, 126-150, 151 and over. You won’t see a small dog (aka squeaky toy) competing with a Swissy. There are awards for most weight pulled and what dog has the highest weight per pound.

When your dog is ready to compete, he’ll be at the start line, while you (or the handler) will be at the finish line. You can use any voice commands and signals to call your dog to you, but cannot use any treats or toys to entice your dog towards you. You must stay behind the finish line at all times. Your dog has 1 minute (which may vary depending on the governing organization and type of pull) to get the front of the sled/cart/etc across the finish line. If you are not disqualified, you will advance to the next leg. If the dog is unable to complete, it is common for them to get a little “help” and praise so it is still a positive experience.

In order to get started pulling, for competition or fun, you need to get a freight or weight pull harness for your dog. Gryffin has a nice one with his name embroidered on the side. Indy doesn’t yet, but since she’s approaching 18 months and will not grow too much more, we will be buying her one soon. Sadly, Dan cannot remember where we ordered our harness, or I would tell you where we purchased it. Many people will recommend a Siwash harness. Nordykn in the Pacific Northwest also comes highly recommended.

Once you have the harness, you should get your dog used to it. Put it on, walk around your yard a little with it with out any weight. Once they are ok with it and not nervous, you could move on to a little weight. We went to our local tire store and picked up a used tire for about $10. Dan attached a hook to it so will connect to the harness and will drag flat. It’s pretty light, so it’s just a beginners training tool.

If you are really serious about getting your dog a weight pull title, I would suggest getting involved with a local club event (the Lake Shore Club has 1-2 per year) to get started. You can also look to an organization like the International Weight Pull Association (IWPA) and their associated clubs. They can help you come up with a good training plan in addition to learning the rules of a pull.

Swissies are not allowed to start competing until they are 18 months, but you can start them on a harness and light weight before then. Harnesses are not cheap, so I would suggest looking for a club event or training class that has harnesses you can borrow for the duration of the event until they are closer to 18 months old.

If you would like to see some pictures from a Lake Shore Club weight pull from a few years ago, click here.

Otherwise, I’ll leave you with a previously posted picture of Moose from a weight pull in January.

Tags: Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Swissy

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