Weight Pull Questions Please Help

I have taken up the care of a 4 week old pupppy in which I named Mugan. He is a beautiful dog (a husky/amer. staffy) with a fiesty side to him. I have already made him a make shift harness and for a few seconds let him drag an empty milk jug just to see how he took to it and he didn't seem to mind at all. I would love when he is 5 months to start seriously training him for weight pull trails but there is so much I don't know still despite my research. I know he will need a speacial harness but I have no idea where to find a pull trail near me. I live in AR and the closest one I could find was in Hutto Texas which isn't that bad but I wonder where I could find on even closer. I would love some advice not only about searching for locations but for everything about weight trails.

Also I have another dog named Dagger, and he is a basset hound mix that is 2, nearly 3 years old. I was wondering if he would be a proper breed to enter because Basset's are very weak backed, but he is mix so he is taller but still long.

 

I dont know anything much at all about weight pulling but Id take a guess that starting training at only 4 weeks old is just wrong, the puppy shouldnt have even left the mother yet (or did you mean 4 months old?)

Bassets backs are 'weak' because theyre so long, you already know that so why would you want to add even more stress and risk the dog throwing its back out?

 

Oh I'm sorry I'd didn't explain his situation. His mother was stolen and the owners were forced to raise them. They gave me him because they were being over loaded so I am raising him. Also I was not training him. I was seeing if he would freak out with something on him and something dragging behind him(which EMPTY milk jugs are extremely light). I took it right off of him after only a few SECONDS but he didn't seem to mind it anyways(he was playing with a ball while it was on him). I'm not going to put a thing on him again til he is about 5 months.

Also once again I was just asking because I've seen dachshunds compete in these things so despite the fact that I knew this already I wanted to know from some WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT THEIR TALKING ABOUT to tell me whether my hunch was correct and that it would not work for a basset mix to enter. I wouldn't even begin to train him until I had a vet check, but I wanted to know whether I should even take him to the vet to bother with a check to see if it is safe for him to train.

 

:lol: oh...okay....I guess years of working with dogs with their backs thrown out for a lot less exertion than something like weight pull renders as not having a clue what Im talking about. :roll:

From what Ive read about weight pulling they need to have more strength/muscle in the front, chest, neck and shoulder areas, Bassetts just arent 'built' like that, at least none of the few hundred Ive ever worked with.

 

You might want to try the pit-bull forum. I've seen this mentioned over there. :?

 

Heres a pretty good Bassett site, it has a lists of activities that are good for thems, (plus a lot of good general info).

http://www.basset-bhca.org/Activities/Versatile.htm

Have you thought about tracking? Originally they were bred for their excellent scent abilities, the list says agility is good for them and they do need quite a bit of exercise however, based on the problems Ive come across with them I personally wouldnt do anything that required a lot of jumping or pulling, not just with Bassetts, but with a few other breeds also. Their legs and hips are not always up to it either(although you say yours is taller)....some things are just not worth the risk to a dogs health let alone the thousands it can cost in surgery and treatment if the back or legs go out.

 

I've just recently started weight pull training with my girl. She's coming up on two years old in April.

I HIGHLY recommend that you don't start any weight training with them until they are at LEAST 10-12 months old. They are not fully grown and the bones are not fully developed until at least 2 years, so too much weight can compromise their growth, even cause injury to joints and structure.


But at 10 months, its not a bad idea to train them on a harness.
Let they get used to walking with one, Only pulling on command. Get them obedience trained all the way down. You want a well trained dog for this!!! Promise! LOL

Anyhow. I've started conditioning Precious, and have her in a good physical condition before I even harnessed her up.

It took a good 4-5 months of running, doing obedience, exercising, etc.
At the moment. She's just getting used to the fact of something being behind her. She keeps wanting to turn around and look at it. Which is fine at this point. I don't mind her looking and seeing that nothings going to hurt her.

But, we've started very small. At first. I just let her drag a leash. Then moved up to something a bit heavier, and so on. Right now she's dragging around a 55lb chain. I harness it to her and then double up the chain and let her pull it about two laps around the yard. Just to tone up the muscles.

She plays with a F-350 truck tire in her kennel. Literally picks it up and carries it, drags it, rolls it around! Funniest thing I've ever seen.

I also have a weight ball that they play with. You can adjust the weight with water or sand. They roll it around and it really adds muscle to the front end.

The trials are far from me too. Hutto is about a three hour drive for me, and everywhere else is in Co. La. Ms. etc...


Its really fun. But like I said. You need to wait until their at least 10 months. With the Husky/Staffy mix. Should be an interesting weight pulling dog. Don't know about the basset. But from my knowledge of bassets and hounds like, they are weaker dogs. Used for the purpose of hunting and flushing wildlife. I would think maybe finding a hunting trial, or a tracking program would be good!
You can practice by hiding things around your yard and letting him find them!

Do you have a pic? Would like to see what that combo looks like!

 

When starting the first thing is making sure the dog is in the right physical condition. A dog prone to knee, hip problems etc or injuries it is not recommened they do this. The dog needs a proper fitting harness and begin with short increments wearing it until they are used to it. I was taught to have the dog pull only a stuffed animal on leash around for short periods. Building up to an empty basket (like those plastic office ones) and later using weight. Even the placement of the leads makes a difference to what muscles groups are being used. Even weight distribution is important and all equipment including the harness, leads, basket needs to be weighed. For conditioning, which is what I want an adult dog does not pull more than 1/12th of its own body weight and no longer than 6-7 minutes of walking - now, the max applies to an adult dog that is already conditioned not a younger dog. When starting I work up to the appropriate weight and the time. This is over a long period of time. Once the dog is in the right physical condition and fully grown I build up to the max for what I want. I would purchase an inexpensive harness for a puppy to begin training it to wear the gear but no pulling.

One needs to learn this under the guidance of someone experienced. Especially once going beyond just conditioning. One can do serious damage to their dog if they are pulling too much too soon, not in proper physical condition or pulling for too long a period.

Good luck
Jas

 

thanks you all very much

thank you all for all the advice (sorry it took so long to reply too). I have decided that Mugen will begin training this December (so it won't be too hot to work with him outdoors) but I'm going to speacial order him a harness and only get him used to pulling very light things so it won't scare him. You've all been helpful. As for my basset mix he may be nothing more than a 40 pound lap dog, but I am considering tracking work cause he loves to find things. I really do want to say that I appreciate it all because you've taught me alot about weight pulling. I wish to do it now very badly and I think Mugen would be great if he took a liking to it, but If not then I won't force him to do it (I hardly think you could he is so stubborn lol) It has been a very long time since I've been back on here, but here are some pictures of Mugen as someone requested. He looks nothing like his father who is an Amer. Staffy.

him and Dagger: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/34194804/
Mugen: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/33084451/
Dagger: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/29593112/
This gallery has alot of pictures of him growing up actually if you wanted to look

 

what cute dogs! If you didnt know Mugins dad I would have said you were crazy that the had AM staff in him :shock: he looks almost pure husky

 

don't I know it

lol same here actually I see none of it in him or any of his brothers, EXCEPT one hehe he was born solid white (started getting tannish spots like a staffy I guess) but his fur was shorter than the rest and his body was more shaped like a staffy (plus he ear position was more like a staff's) Also his two sisters (one solid white the other red and tan) were a little less husky like (yet the white sister was more so husky and she had beautiful blue eyes and a brown nose)

here is Mugen's daddy: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/29545021/