New Member

Posts: 6
From:Oklahoma City
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 09-19-2003 08:38 AM         

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how old do you need to make your pit wait until it can start pulling waits?
U have any weight pulling sites that give info.?

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Member

Posts: 353
From:
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 09-21-2003 12:02 AM         

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The general rule is that the dog should be at least a year before you start anything more than harness intros and light (like 5 lbs or less) weight intros. And then they should be at least 18 months (many wait until 2 years before doing anything but light conditioning) before you start pulling any heavy weight, because if you start pulling before their growth plates are closed, you can cause serious damage. You should have them checked out by your vet anyway, and have their knees, elbows, and hips checked before you do any serious pulling as well. X-rays are usually needed to determine what condition the joints are in.

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Member

Posts: 217
From:Los Angeles, Ca.
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-21-2003 02:35 PM         

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GOOB,
Can you tell me how much all those tests would cost? I'm located in California-(L.A.), & i know prices differentiate according to areas, so how about an estimate (of the top of your head)? Not seriously looking into tittles of weight pulling, more like i'm looking for good alternatives of exercise, for muscle MASS. This will be for both my buddies. A Chinese Shar Pei, but more for my American Bulldog "Johnson/Bully-type". Thanks!

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Posts: 217
From:Los Angeles, Ca.
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-21-2003 02:45 PM         

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GOOB,
oOpPsS!---*off*-the top of your head... Both my boys are still too young for any serious weight exercise, so yeah i've been told to wait untill those ages you mentioned. And yes, i'm definatly not going to mess around, i'll wait. Their both in good condition, but like i mentioned, i'm just trying to get a variety of work-outs, specifically for muscle-mass. Something where i could participate in would be even better! We used to go hiking/running, about every-other-day, before my school started. Now, i pretty much just have the weekends. But whenever we go, we stil do anywhere from 2-4 miles... It's a GREAT work-out for us. Thanks for your help!

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Posts: 353
From:
Registered: Mar 2003

posted 09-22-2003 12:01 AM         

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Well, I'm all the way across the country (Maryland), so I don't know how accurate pricing will be... but what you need to do is take the dog(s) in for a physical, have the vet check the patellas (knees, usually they can check those just by manipulating them by hand), hips (usually need an x-ray done for that, they may or may not need to be sedated), and elbows (I'm not sure how they do those, I think by x-ray, but you'd have to ask). Around here, I think the vet my mom works for charges around $60 for simple, run of the mill x-rays (not OFA type or anything), plus office visit, and I'm not even sure how much it is for the general physical anymore, though I'd guess around $50.

When I work my dog with the weights, we do long distances and light weights. I use soda bottles filled with water, because they're easy enough to carry, don't attract a lot of attention (people tend to think the worst when they see someone with a "tough' dog pulling weights along behind it), and can be emptied out after the work to make them easier for me to carry home. Right now, we're just lazing through the hot/humid weather, so we've only done really light work, we walk 3/4 to 1 mile, then come back to the field (6" tall grass, some slope, ruts/bumps here and there; so there's plenty of resistance) and walk another 1/2 mile or so with her pulling a liter (about 2 lbs) bottle behind her. By the time we're done, she's barely panting (in 80 degree weather), and then we walk or sometimes jog the rest of the way home. I'm waiting for the weather to cool off more, so we can start working in the uncut parts of the field (too many bugs in there now), and get in more distance before we move up to a heavier weight. Even with this light of a weight (it's only like 3% of her weight), I've noticed a difference in ther muscle tone. Probably the most I'll use with her for working in the field is one of those 3-liter bottles, that's about 6 lbs, 10% of her weight, plus the resistance of pulling it through the grass/rough ground. I try to keep the total work load (weight + resistance) under 20% of her weight, because she's older, and because I want to keep it fun, and not so much like "work". For a younger dog, I'd probably stick around 25%, maybe 30% once in a while. We do work with higher weights at home, like pulling my nephews around in a wagon (together they're about 100 lbs), but that's more about short bursts of strength than the long pulls. For conditioning purposes, nothing beats light weights pulled over long distances. Here's a pic of her with her two favorite pulling buddies, taken the winter before last...

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Member

Posts: 217
From:Los Angeles, Ca.
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 09-22-2003 10:50 PM         

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hey GOOB,
Thanks for your reply! I'm taking your 'conditioning'-work-out into good consideration. The long distance, jogging/hilking thing i'm liking. Especially pulling that 3-liter soda bottle filled w/ water sounds GREAT! I could actually have him drink from it after his workout.
Even w/ this little amount of weight, do you think i should still take my dog in for a physical, and all the x-rays? The prices you've mentioned sounds about the same as it is over here.
Your dog sounds like it's very healthy. I'm sure it is.
What kind of harness could you recommend, and how much are they?? Where can i pick one up? I guess somthing comfortable, but not overly priced. Something more for the long distance runs 'conditioning', rather than the strengthening 'short' pulls.

Anyhow, THANKS A LOT... I'm looking forward into adding this to our work-outs!

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