# the makings of a champion



## FOSTER (Nov 14, 2006)

i'm novice when it comes to the breed but i really enjoy wp. what does it take to make a great pull dog. should one stick to the proven lines or would mixing a good game dog in help. one reason i ask is because of a local litter that my friends getting a pup from. would u recommend keeping with the dagger/camelot or throw in some heavy boudreaux/wildside. in my mind, the game dogs would bring the size down some. the dagger dogs can pull no question, why not try and get all that ability into the lower weight classes? 
i may be wrong but i think these pups may be the best of both worlds. adamskennels.com (dont personally know them) have a sister to the mother of the litter we're are choosing from. pink is her name, she had one pup 'champ' and he's going for a grand. while the one we're picking from is considerably less. i'm not sure how to post the pedigrees on here but thier dog 'pink' is the belly mate to the mother of this litter and its listed on that sight. the only other one i can find for the sire is his fathers ped, adams jet on the female page was fathered by him (scarbroughs red rock), the female that was bred with him to produce our pups sire was a wildside and i believe vegas rednose. so one sides about as game as it gets(lenz susie II, boudreaux rocky biter), and the other is hard to beat for pull dogs. it has champs such as mgks ch awesomo and 2 time national iwpa champ landers boogey man. im thinkn 65lb class dogs will be produced, of course probably some larger also. what do u think. if u like, scarbroughs kennels is where the litter is by the way. maybe there could be a pup or two to rival that blue dagger female matrix, 11,000lb puller. question to her owner, howd u get the dagger blood down to 55lbs?


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## jbh38 (Apr 26, 2008)

Any dog can pull. It is the work and time that you put into them. Sometimes the gamer lines are more high strung and it is harder to get them to focus on the task at hand, they will pull and will be good, but maybe never great. I have a little jeep/nigerino that I pull and she does great, until she doesn't want to anymore..lol She just is a true game dog and has an "attitude" to her. The reason you see more of one bloodline pulling is because people see the dog pulling and figure that means theirs will too. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It's more about the attitude and temperament of the dog than anything else. You need one that will listen, be calm enough to concentrate and focus and more than anything have a bond with you and a willingness to please. That will make the best puller. I know Zebo, Redboy, jeep, colby, all kinds of game lines that are National Champions. 

Like I said, if you go with a more known pulling line, you probably have a better chance of getting a good puller, because their personality and temperament is probably going to be similar to the parents, but you can get a dog out of a shelter that may work circles around that proven line. It's all about the individual dog, their personality, and the bond with the dog working it.


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## jbh38 (Apr 26, 2008)

I mean the bond with the person working the dog.


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## FOSTER (Nov 14, 2006)

i see what u mean, the dog i have now is supposed to be jeep/boudreaux, he has near perfect temperment and does ok at shows. hasnt won, but got a 2nd in his class and 2nd in percentage. i competed against ray at randtsamerican bulldogs, and pulled right with his bulldogs, we only were pulling around 2000 that year. his dogs that were there are now well over 3000, i unfortunately had to miss his show earlier this year for school. this is my first year really training oz and i cant get to or find show, makes since hunh? that 'attitude' is what i hope to tone down a little with the pull side. ive seen some so da, they didnt need to be in public, let alone at a show. thanx tho, every lil bit helps


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## OldFortKennels (Mar 10, 2006)

Foster this has been my experience. Most working bred dogs will work. The APBT is a working dog, therefore, most APBT will pull. The extent to which they pull greatly depends on the training they get and how they get it. This is why certain dogs will consistently beat their siblings. Why, because they are getting better training. The hardest thing for me to do when training a young dog is to remember that even at the shows, its still training early on. IM looking for a great dog at 1.5-2.5 years old and everything up to that point is training. Rebel is two now and is finally the dog I wanted him to be. Sure he was great along the way but now everything is right. He no longer quits or looks off, he gives me 110% every time and it took this long to get there but now, Hey he pulls till he just cant move it no more and thats all I can ask of him.

Will adding a game dog help? It may bring the size down some but alot of the pulling is going to be on you.


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## FOSTER (Nov 14, 2006)

our local track was umm.. well we no longer have it available to us. what i'm saying is, whats a normal work out routine for your dogs. i have 3 different deadsleds, and do running, swimming and some water resistance training when the rivers up. my deadsleds are a plastic show sled, a big yellow plastic sled used for some kind of wakeboarding for kids, my other is a desent metal sled(in my pics). i dont have a wheeled cart though, havent been able to find one around either. i tried to go ******* with a grocery store buggy but it couldnt handle the wieght and was top heavy. still looking for something though. in my mind there is a real difference between dead wiegh and wheels. seems like it would help them realize that once u get it moving, the hard parts over.


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## bahamutt99 (May 14, 2008)

You can get a garden cart from Home Depot or Lowe's. They're rated up to 1000 lbs or something like that, and are under $100 usually. That would suffice for practice.


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## OldFortKennels (Mar 10, 2006)

Trust me on this one, you DONT NEED a wheeled cart or track to make a GREAT pulldog. I sledom use mine at all. The only time I use it is when I have a new pup starting and thats just to get them used to the noise. DRAG WEIGHT, drag weight drag weight!!! This gets the dogs ALOT stronger than pulling on a track and is definitely more fun. IF you have a place you can walk with your dog pulling a sled do it. We used to drag about 2000ft all three dogs and then do it again. When you are going this distance do not load the sled. You want the weight to be just heavy enough that it is hard NEAR THE END! I think with Rebel and Switch at 55lbs we would drag about 40-45lbs, but this is something we built up to. Drag weight hits more slow twitch fibers, Tracks sudden burst hits your fast twitch fibers. It just like weight lifting. Power lifting vs supersets!


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## dennispits (Jul 1, 2008)

unfortunatly i have to agree with old fort on this one. drag weight is the most important thing. go for a long drag in the straightest line that you can go. this will tell him that he has to walk with you. do that over and over and over. and remember when you go to the shows even if you think he pulls one more he will win. it is not worth it if it stops him. never let him quit. that is when you get the head on him. if he thinks he can pull anything he will never stop. even if he cant move the cart he will still be trying. i think weight pull is 90% mental 10 % physical


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## OldFortKennels (Mar 10, 2006)

HOLY CRAP, he acknowledged I was right! Been telling him this for years!!

Seriously though, when draggin its a great time for the dog to associate the commands you will use to practical application, such as pull and work or whatever you use. Then when you get on the track and he hears it, he knows what you want. Also it builds a bond between the two of you and normally your dog wants to please you.


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## bahamutt99 (May 14, 2008)

I do mostly drag work, but I like to include a cart training phase, because it gets the dogs to accept that sometimes they're going to be pulling different things that will sound and feel different. I'd rather we address that before we get into competition.


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## FOSTER (Nov 14, 2006)

thanks a ton guys and gals. thats pretty much what ive been doing for 3-4 days a week, ok maybe more like 2-3. its hot out. on the long drags, i end up running out of ditch, and the pavement wants to tear his feet up, not to mention the loose dogs. had two wanna be cops stop me n try and accuse me off fighting him. slightly uneducated. i used to go to the river for play time (plenty of room)but this gas is killer at 12mpg. i usually do a couple warm up light wieght pulls after fetch for a few mins. some days i keep it light and do distance, but most days i have to do heavy short pulls (while raising and lowering weight) bc i havent cleared but my front acre or so. should i have him work along side me, or call him to work to me? i have been calling him, i mostly do pulls over twenty feet at a time, but i do throw in a 100 yards of say 5 foot pulls. you know, just where he breaks it loose takes a couple steps repeat. i also reward him after hard pulls with a lil fetch, hes ocd with it. im not baiting him tho. he has been pulling at least a year and a half, i want to make him the best he can be, but i think most of this is really practice for me for when i get the next pup


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## MetalGirl30 (Apr 15, 2008)

Question???

What is the best age to start training?
I am new to this, but am really intersted in doing it. I believe my dogs would love it and it would give them something to do work wise.


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## OldFortKennels (Mar 10, 2006)

Depends on what you would consider training. I introduce wp to them at 3 months, I dont really do any strong weight training till 6 -9 months. I want their heads going in the right direction by 9 months. Strength comes 1-2 years but the head can be made strong much sooner.


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## BedlamBully (Jun 6, 2008)

I CANNOT WAIT to get started in weight pull. Sway is 4mo right now I am getting her her training harness next week. It will be fun to finally have something to do with the dogs. Yay!

This has been a great thread though.


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## FOSTER (Nov 14, 2006)

old fort hit it on the head. they cant compete until they are 9 months, i would wait till the pups older for serious heavy wieght tho. u can tie a milk jug w rocks to its collar and work ur way up from there


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