trying to start my pup with weight training

[Mac man]

Hi, so i have recently bought a weight pulling harness from blackicedogsledding.com they seemed to be pretty reputable and it was a very fair price. I got the harness a few weeks ago and ive been putting it on Kona (my 9 mo. old female pit) at first she didnt like the harness at all and was very intimidated by it but after a few play sessions with the harness on she seems to not really even notice it when its on her. Now my issue is that when i put the home made sled behind her she looks back at it and just stands there like shes scared of the sled. I havent even bothered putting any weight on it i just wanted to get her used to pulling something. So i guess what im asking is if there are any steps i can take to get her used to the sled being behind her without baiting her with a toy or food? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

[gunman2376]

what about start with something smaller and lighter?

[WWII]

I started with gallon jugs with some water in them. Or, just get some drag chains and just walk with her while she's pulling them.

[Mac man]

How did you attach the jugs to the harness?

[BoogiemanBlood]

Go here and click on training info. IMO the best harnesses for wp dogs too. A shitty harness can ruin your dogs ability to pull

BDD Harnesses

[babedulce]

Look do not start the dog with jugs or gallons of water just yet. Let's get through step 2 first before you get to step 3. Step 1 acheived, you got her to not notice or to be comfrtable to an extent with the harness. Step 2 is waht you asked about, how to get the dog to pull the sled or something lighter if the sled seems too heavy. Step 3 adding weight will come after you acheive step 2.

So step two is a variable of step one, because all it consists of is your dog wearing the harness but with what seems to your dog like a stationary object, that it cannot move. Your dog is confused, so you have to make it somehow understand that the point of the activity is for her to pull the object. Think of how you got her attention focused on moving with the harness on and apply creatively to the added sled.

For example when I got my pups to learn to walk while leashed all I did was instead of me holding the leash and getting her to walk, which wasnt going anywhere, was for someone to hold the leash while i walked and called the dog to follow me, voila! A few excercises like that and in a couple of days the dog associated the leash with walking and I could walk her myself.

[sadieblues]

You can use a long leash/lead and lope it through the jug arm and clip the leash to the back of the harness there should be a ring and a bar on the back of the wp harness attach the lead to the ring. Put a collar and a leash on the dog as well and walk them around the yard so they get used to pulling something light and so they can get used to the noise. After you have finished and the pup has done what you asked of it remove the harness and walk them inside and give them a treat AFTER not during or before and add lots of praise. Don't get mad or irritated with the pup you need to keep this as positive as possible and always use lots of praise during these sessions. You start slow and work your way up once they are comfortable pulling the empty jugs than add sand or rocks to them that's your weight ... And then you can move to the sled but first you need to get them used to pulling something light and the sound of the harness and jugs as they pull. You need to make it fun and let that pup know they are doing a fantastic job get them exited and hyped up ....

[sadieblues]

I thought they got her used to the harness but if she is not even comfortable with the harness being on you need to walk her with just the harness on until she is not intimated by the harness ...than move to the empty jugs, than add some rocks or sand to the jugs, than you can move to the sled.

[Mac man]

sorry kona chewed my laptop charger cord a while back and i just got a new one. Just to let everyone know i appreciate all the input but all it took was a couple training sessions with just the sled and now she forgets its behind her with weight on it.

[SouthSider]

Sadieblues, I was told years ago that there is a method on how to keep the dogs head down meanwhile pulling heavy weight. True or False ?

[Mac man]

Idk about a method my pup just instinctively did it.