dog wont pull more weight?

Ok, so we have worked Azaira up to about 125lbs over a few months, she pulls it fairly easily, but if there is anymore weight added, she will not pull it, even if i try bribing her with food (i know im not supposed to). At one point I had my fiance our friend and me calling her, telling her to go (we use "go" as the pull command). :confused:

I dont want to give up on her pulling, but its turning into a waste of time if she is refusing to pull. She seemed so happy pulling her 100lbs... Can Anybody offer any suggestions?

 

try putting a bitch in front of her?

 

or a cat in a kennel or a cage and no thats not cruel unless you let her get it

 

she dosnt want to do it

thats just it you dont have a pull dog you have a pet

be happy an dont try to force her

 

Do you plan to compete your dog in weight pull events? If so, then ignore what I am going to say below...





Go to your local animal shelter and adapt a bunny/rabbit. Then put it in its cage. And put the cage in a wagon and have someone move the wagon backwards as the dog pulls toward the rabbit(inside of the cage).

And give the rabbit a good home. Just make sure the rabbit is in the cage... So that the dog cant touch it. Nothing wrong with that IMO. At the shelter the rabbit is all alone and hears barking 24/7 and all that stuff.

This is a win/win situation.

A) Rabbit gets a good home
B) Your dog pulls


cons:If you have bitchy/ignorant neighbors that see you doing this, then they might report you or think less of you.

 

Luring w/food,sleeves, whatever, doesn't make for a good pulling dog. Using an animal,....think before you post.

Weight pull is much more of a mental activity than a physical one. Currently, it sounds like your dog is either overwhelmed, or unmotivated. I would recommend you take a few steps back. I like the training advice on
www.weightpullharness.com

 

I couldn't read anything on that site. You should try giving your dog help getting started. Always make sure they finish the pull so they don't get discouraged.

 

Jelet, Im not really sure if I really want to bring her to events, I would be afraid she would get into trouble if there were loose dogs. She doesnt like female dogs much, and male dogs she is very picky about too.
That is a good idea about the animals, but I dont really want to cage my kitties lol. Rabbits arent my thing either .
Bigu1 - I do help her when she cant/doesnt pull it, Iv read that before and I dont want her to quit completely so I help pull it.

 

my only advice is to drop alot of way and go back to stage one.
give her whatever he favorite reward is but make it so easy that she cant believe she is gettin such a great reward for it. Keep repeating. Add a little weight but keep it really like for awhile. Hopefully she will get excited to pull bc she knows a reward is waiting. I hope it works, some dogs just dont wanna pull, i have one that got spooked that the wagon was following her lol. Took her forever to get it.

 

No loose dogs at weight pull events, plenty of pulling dogs that don't like other dogs.

 

Your dog just needs discipline , Use a ckoke chain , if she doesn't pull , just give it a tug to get her going , once she has learned that she can pull heavier loads you won't need it , also don't over do it or you'll make her scared , and always reward if she has done what you asked of her , when working at home , let her pull till she can't and the drop the weight again and work up , and always finish on a high note

 

There are NEVER loose dogs at events, they have very strict guide lines to keep accidents from happening and people that don't follow the rules are asked to leave.

I would not use a choke chain, that would be counter productive. You don't want to make it seem like a punishment on the track, You can use a regular lead to guide her and give the occasional tug if she needs it. Always ALWAYS make it a fun activity, praise her like its the best thing in the world and of course use your pull command. Even if she needs help when she gets to the end just love on her like no other. I try to avoid treats and baiting since they will expect it all the time. Treats are given when they are all done and back in their crate.

Maybe make the weight incrimant a little lighter. (say add 50lbs instead of 100lbs) try not to get frustrated or mad at her (I know its hard sometimes lol) always make sure she pulls the weight all the way through if she needs help go ahead and push her from behind and still praise her. She will get it....hopefully.

sometimes I also will -start- them off at a higher weight than normal. then they aren't expecting it. Also try not to be too reptative about it. Like 5 reps at one weight then add weight. mix it up, three reps, add weight, then the next day 5 reps add weight, ect ect.

There are those dogs that just won't do it.
Here is a good site to refer to lots of pulling information
weight pull training for your dog, teach dog to pull

Also lots of drag sled training will help out, she might be having an issue breaking the cart, lots of stops and starts with the sled helps out.

 

agreed, no choke chain, make it fun, change it up, start back at a lower weight if needed...every dog is different. some will pull some wont. Be strick but whatever you do dont ruin it for the dog...I almost did on one of mine and took forever to get him to start again....best of luck and that site above is a great read.

 

One thing to make sure you do after any pull is to praise your dog no matter if they had to be helped to finsh the pull... Always make them feel like there are on top of the world and that will build a soild start... Remember They pull for you and they love to do it but you have to work as hard as there are working for you.

 

i dont know how big your dog is and if your drag weighting your dog and 100 lbs that is alot. there is alot of variables size of dog, age, how long it has been pulling. my dogs only go to heavy weight once a week if that, i have a 65lb dog that never pulls over 80 lbs drag on heavy day he might get 160lbs but i am also ready to help when he needs it so he dont quit. i use spare tires though a sled not enough resistance. most of my dogs range in 35-45 lbs and they pull on avg 55lbs drag. sometimes dogs have bad days and i always have a cheat rope to help if needed. i hear of people pulling all these heavy weights or trying and i get a kick out of it, i just do lighter weight and more reps. my drag area is 420' long on 9' incline. most people i know that pull dont do heavy weight. you are trying to build endurance, stamina and strength and can get out of doing lighter weight and more reps. doing heavy weight you are just building mass and strength. like previously posted you have to change routine cause a dog will get in a funk if you keep them guessing it is fun for them cause they dont know what is from day to day. never end workout with heavy weight every workout. one workout start heavy and go down, next workout start light go heavy and come back down, another workout start light and quit heavy, another workout just do light weight alot of reps good for conditioning. when i go heavy i dont always make dogs pull whole distance. good luck. im no expert just telling how i train and what i made mistakes at and learned from mistakes, didnt have people to help me when i first started

 

add weight but only like 5 - 10 lbs at a time or sumthing she wont notice then after a while add a bit more

 

LOL I was just using 50/100 as an example it was a simple number to pick. And at pull events the weight -usually- increases by at least 100 every time Unless the judge is calling weight.

OP-you are just going to have to take the advice given to you and see what works for your dog specificly. Just remember to always make it fun! Good luck.

 

keep in mind, if you push that engine to hard.You will BLOW IT! It takes time BACK off . SO many people want to weight pull, it don't happen over knight.Back off of her and go light, but drag longer distance or more rep.

 

Excellent post! Powwow's got some AWESOME pull dogs - ones that pull in APA and a BIG asset.