weight pulling good or bad idea??

Hi guys and girls this is my first thread on here as i cant find a site dedicated to the subject i want to talk about

I buoght my dog in the understanding that it was a staffordshire bullterrier.But at only 15 weeks old it was as tall as most fully grown staffs that ive seen. Its now 13 months old and roughly the same size as a border collie
i would your opinions on what breed of dog she is the people i have asked have many differing opinions here are a few

staffie crossed with boxer
american staff
pitbull crossed staff
staffy crossed with mastif
irish staff(imo theye dont exist)

i ask this because she is very strong and i am thinking of taking her along to some weight pulling contests
which is something she allredy does for basic fitness here in my garden

here are some pics thanks for any help guys girls



http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/1183/image014tr.jpg
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/1981/image019b.jpg
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/9942/image023t.jpg


these pics were taken at around 8 months old she is now 13 months old and much broader i will post some pics when i get time to take some

also some of these pics are bad quality sorry about that also if anybody knows of a better image hosting site please feel free to suggest 1

hiya

she is very pretty
I would probably say a staffy/boxer cross going by the pics but as you say they arent the best pics so difficult to say.

To be honest I would stick with staffie cross and leave it at that.

I am very much on the fence about weight pulling, but certainly wouldnt be entertaining it until your dog is fully grown and developed which would be at least 2 years old.

Just enjoy her for the moment and get her obedience and training exactly as you want it until she is fully grown and developed.

thats my opinion anyway.

Oh and welcome to dogsey xx
dani

I'm still on the fence about it too. I'm all for well excercised dogs doing what they enjoy, but I can see dogs being pushed in these contests and I really don't like the macho factor (but that's just me and I'm sure it's not as bad as it appears). Were all the breeds used in these contests previously freighting breeds?

Your girl looks lovely by the way!

i see your point but no in fact ive seen dogs as small as yorkshire terriers in there own class of course also poodles
there are a lot of fighting breeds in the sport but fighting dogs needed to be strong so i think its more a case that that type of dog suits this sport best and ime 100 percent sure that any sport is better than what these dogs were originaly bred for i wont be entering my girl in any compotitions within the next year or so but will continue to train her if i dont she will start crying lol thanks for the replies guys/girls

Im for keeping my dogs pretty fit and active,i do flirt and spring pole and sometimes the a-frame too.
I was going to start going to the athletic events for dogs but after a really good think and disscusion with my other half we decided against it.Only because i think it would stress my dogs out been surrounded by so many other dogs,bullbreeds been the main sort as well as other terriers,lurchers etc.
My two love the springpole in our garden,its got a tyre on at the moment and they can use it when they choose which sometimes they may not touch it for a week or so,then other times its every day.
With the weightpull im still undecided even though im very inpressed with the dogs that do it and was going to start Kia doing it but then whilst we were out walking them i had to go ahead to put the poop in the bin and my other half held the dogs on lead,Kia made such a noise when i started to go,it was only 20meters as well,she was pulling to get to me even though she adores her dad too.
So i thought if i put a harness on her and a pull cart behind she would do the same but not because she enjoyed it,but because i was in front of her calling her whilst going backwards.She would give everything she had to pull if i dod weight pull with her,but only to please and follow me.So that my reason for not doing weight pull,but i wont dish others that choose to do it with their dogs.

The trouble with this event for me is that a dog (or horse) will strain to pull even if it hurts because it doesn`t understand the cause and effect and gets `satisfaction` from completing or finishing an action. So you could be putting a strain on the heart or joints and not find out what damage is being done till much later. I`m referring to pulling ever-increasing weights obviously, not have fun with a tuggy.
Have you thought of trying agility?

I'm totally against weight pulling. From all the evience I have seen the dogs are pulling excessive weights for their size and most do not appear to be enjoying it but simply trying to do what they are told by their owners. I cannot see any benefit for the dogs to pull excessive weights. To me it is akin to the strongman competitions but the participants aren't willing volunteers just simply trying to do what they are told.
Becky

all valued opinions and i after i stumbled across a ubituary page on the uks number 1 weight pulling site i certainly will never considr this sport again i would even go as far as to say this sport should be banned outright !!!!

i will find the page and post it here if u like but ive noticed a very distressing trend on this page all the dogs are dieng at extremly young ages

ive seen things like for example

rex-staffie
2001-2002 champion uk
born 1999 died 2004

and ive seen worse thank god for the internet agility it is then any advice on this would be greatly appreciated

My dogs love weight pulling



This was my boy North in training he loved it as does my bitch - I will also let my Labby boy have a go when he is older.
IME when they don't want to pull they don't - and you can tell when they have had enough .......... most weight pull trainers will not allow treats or toys or any type of baiting to be used. Safety is top priority.

hey each to there own and just last night i was all up for doing the same but have u seen the page ime talking about and is it merely a coincidence there are so many dogs dieng young