Weight Pull Practice

Today was gorgeous out so we took Mason and Kya to the park. It was just us and Kya's first time out at the park. She did pretty well. I'm glad we only took Mason with her.

Mason is toy-crazy:



Kya pretends to fetch:



Then we hooked Mason up to his sled and did a little Work practice:



He pulled with no problems what-so-ever:





He really enjoyed it I think - I'm excited to keep working with him

He looks ready to go!

He looks like he doesn't even know or care that there is somthing chasing him and that he can't get away from it - good start .

That was the first reaction from our girls, but they got over it quickly.

Jim

Looks like fun. I remeber the first time I hooked a horse to s drag sled.......Talk about an animal that has something chasing it. That was interesting. Looks like your dog enjoys it.

Good job, Mason! Looks like everyone is having a lot of fun.

Just got back from pulling practice.
Took all three as Pogo WAS NOT going to be left behind, so I hooked her up to the wagon to see how she would react, and she pulled 420 lbs and had a blast!!!! So now I guess she is going to give it a try also.

Molly is pulling 540 and Rogan is doing 480. I think molly is going to be the best of the three, as she is too dumb to think about it, she just pulls.

Working to get ready for the Premiere - Molly and Rogan are entered.

Jim

Go Team Second Chance!

Hopefully we can make it out for practice again soon.

Dumb question, seriously, not sarcasticly. Why are so many people working on weight pulling. Isn't that something that is traditionally for the working group dogs or sled pulling dogs? I've never heard of retrievers doing it and was curious what the point is??

Not a dumb question.
Actually there are some Italian Greyhounds pulling with the MWWP club.

It gives you another UKC title, but mostly it is something to do over the winter to keep the dogs in shape. It helps build their rear leg muscles, which I think helps them when jumping.
There isn't any proof that this is the reason, but I think that is why the girls have started jumping longer.

Kel, MWWP has a meet next weekend, if you are not going to Cinci.
jim

ShariS wrote:Dumb question, seriously, not sarcasticly. Why are so many people working on weight pulling. Isn't that something that is traditionally for the working group dogs or sled pulling dogs? I've never heard of retrievers doing it and was curious what the point is??

Well, Mason is really enthusiastic but he's still really clumsy and overeager to do some of the finer events - like agility. He's so excited that he can't calm down enough to grasp what I'm trying to show/teach him. We're starting him in Rally hoping that will be able to get him to focus more (he did excellent in his Intermediate Obedience class). So, in the meantime, I wanted something simple that he could do that he would be excited about. Weight pulling is really simple and straightforward and requires little more than willingness and brute strength - both of which Mason has in abundance. He is a pretty submissive dog so I am working on building his confidence also in hopes that it will help to settle him down a tad. If it happens to help his jump distance then that is just an added bonus.

Physiologically does this put any undue stress on dogs, especially the younger ones? Pretty interesting info......

ShariS wrote:Physiologically does this put any undue stress on dogs, especially the younger ones? Pretty interesting info......

It can, especially the younger dogs, if you're not careful. That's why Mason was pulling an empty sled behind him. We're going to build up SLOWLY and over a long amount of time. I've done a lot of research and I found an article about building a pup up to weight pull so I'm following that.

Here's my dumb question...

What's Rally?

TR75 wrote:Here's my dumb question...

What's Rally?

From the AKC website:"Rally is a sport in which the dog and handler complete a course that
has been designed by the rally judge. The judge tells the handler to
begin, and the dog and handler proceed at their own pace through a
course of designated stations (10 - 20, depending on the level). Each
of these stations has a sign providing instructions regarding the next
skill that is to be performed. Scoring is not as rigorous as
traditional obedience.

The team of dog and handler moves continuously at a brisk, but normal,
pace with the dog under control at the handler's left side. There
should be a sense of teamwork between the dog and handler both during
the numbered exercises and between the exercise signs; however, perfect
"heel position" is not required. Any faults in traditional obedience
that would be evaluated and scored as a one-point deduction or more
should be scored the same in Rally, unless otherwise mentioned in the
Rally Regulations. After the judge's "Forward" order, the team is on
its own to complete the entire sequence of numbered signs correctly.

Unlimited communication from the handler to the dog is to be encouraged
and not penalized. Unless otherwise specified in these Regulations,
handlers are permitted to talk, praise, encourage, clap their hands,
pat their legs, or use any verbal means of encouragement. Multiple
commands and/or signals using one or both arms and hands are allowed;
the handler's arms need not be maintained in any particular position at
any time. The handler may not touch the dog or make physical
corrections. At any time during the performance, loud or harsh commands
or intimidating signals will be penalized.

Rally provides a link from the Canine Good Citizen® (CGC) program to
obedience or agility competition, both for dogs and handlers. In
addition, rally promotes fun and enjoyment for dogs at all levels of
competition."

I love it! You can read about our different experiences with Rally training at the Leapin' Labs blog.

That does sound fun. Thanks Falon.

Pretty much everyone else has answered everythin... but I just wanted to second the fact that the sport is, by far, not entirely for (or populated by) Bull or Nordic breeds. In the 10+ yrs we've been involved in drafting sports, I've seen breeds from each and every breed group do wpull.

UAD's own Spanish Water Dog, Fernando, is one of the top ranked wpullers in UKC!

The lady who makes our harnesses (and her husband makes our dogsleds) has a son who used to do dogsledding with a team of Scottish Terriers. I've seen tons of Toy and Terrier breeds do carting as well.

We have the only all-GSD team in MUSH... and there is another team with two GSD members. Lots of sighthounds in sprint racing... along with German Shorthair Pointers.

There is a all-Standard Poodle team that has completed the Iditarod three (maybe four now, after this past year) times.

You don't see many retrievers in the snow sports... but that's mainly because their coat isn't very ice-ball friendly, so to speak. That and most racers tend to prefer sort of a cross between Huskies and Sighthounds when it comes to build. But that most certainly doesn't mean they can't do it!

And, like Falon stated, when done properly, it is just as much fun for the dogs as any other sport can be. Of course, you need to be extra careful when starting a new dog out... particularly if they are young. I would definitely not recommend ANY significant weight be pulled until the dog is at least 1.5 yrs old. It is extra important that the dogs believe they can pull the load, no matter what the weight. If they max out, one of the helpers will help break it out and/or push it along from behind. Building and maintaining confidence with this sport is very important.

Jim... I won't be in Cincy but we have another sport competition we'll be at! Drat! Will there be practice on the 20th? We would be able to make that.

Thanks for the info everyone. I grew up with Malamutes and my parents used to do sled dog races as well as conformation and obedience. I guess the sport has come a long way in the past 30 years or so.