I recently wrote an article on how to prevent your Weimaraner from pulling when you walk, which is what most people want, but have you considered that there are times you might want your Weim TO pull? No? How about to make your walk “worth” more by having them expend more energy in a shorter period of time? What if I told you that your Weim could be trained to walk nicely on a regular collar but understand pulling only in certain circumstances, i.e., when wearing a harness? Do you like that? Well read on!
Pulling
by Meredith Wadsworth
Weims love to pull. At least ours do! As hunting dogs, Weims were intended to sniff, smell, and snorfle through their world. So strolling around the block at a leisurely pace doesn’t usually fit into their agenda. As Weim owners, we learned a long time ago that sometimes it’s best to “compromise” and find something that they love and that suits our purposes. On our walks around the block we encourage our dogs to pull!
All dogs naturally will pull against opposition, it’s actually a reflex, which is why you see so many people being dragged down the street by their clueless canines. The dog feels that pressure on their neck and they can’t help but pull. So instead of fighting nature, we use this to our advantage. Gun dog trainers call it “roading,” but it’s a fancy word for putting your dog in a pulling harness and letting them pull you — with your blessing — down the street. Having your dog pull for 15-20 minutes a day is more exercise than a 30-45 minute off-leash romp. And it’s a GREAT workout for you, too! We live in the city and have to drive nearly an hour to really let our dogs run off leash, so this has always been terrific exercise for them and also lets them work with us instead of fighting us. A “team building exercise” if you will.
Sascha and his owner demonstrate how to road with weights
So how to begin? Start with a well fitting harness. We like the one made by Piney Run Kennels but if you have a larger dog, we really recommend the one sold by Nordkyn Outfitters. We’ve used the fitted tracking/walking harness with the split chest variation, for dogs whose breastbone protrudes. They can be padded with a variety of materials including neoprene. But don’t get too wrapped up in harnesses, as any harness will work in the beginning; you just want to make sure that it fits well and isn’t rubbing your dog anywhere. Make sure that your dog is old enough to be doing strenuous workouts, at least 18 months old.
Attach a six foot leash to your dog, and apply firm continuous pressure. Tell her to “pull” and walk. If she’s used to being told “no pull” then you may have to reverse some of this training but just be patient. Tell her “good girl” when she pulls, and say nothing when she doesn’t. Keep up a brisk pace. Even when she’s next to you, try to keep a firm pressure pulling back on the harness so she gets the idea that this is what you want her to do. If you have two dogs, it’s sometimes beneficial to have one on a longer leash to fuel the competition a bit. You’ll notice that she probably gets worn out after about fifteen minutes of walking, whereas the usual frustrating thirty minute “nice” walk didn’t do much. You can do as much or as little as you want to, but start slow and give your dog some rest days, as this is an actual workout for her.
This roading setup with ATV allows for multiple dogs to road at once. Turning off the engine allows for the group to pull some weight.
for this to eliminate any rubbing issues.] This may sound tough to those who have never seen it done, but believe me, the dogs LOVE it! And nothing gets the dogs in shape like working out with weights attached! If they can run for 45 minutes carrying 15 extra pounds, they can really roll for 30 minutes with just their own body weight!
After our dogs understand a “pull” command, we make sure that they maintain an “easy” command (which is to walk on a loose leash), as well as an obedience “heel” command (which is to walk on our left side with their nose at our knee). But on our walks, we almost always let them pull!
Meredith Wadsworth breeds under the kennel name Southpaw Weimaraners and is located in Virginia.
Do your Weims pull? Have you tried roading your dogs?
About justweims
Very cool article, thank you! I think I will check out the harnesses mentioned for Lincoln.
I am fortunate to live about 10 minutes (drive) from a good location to take Lincoln hiking off leash, so I typically take him there for running/swimming most days. I would like to try roading him to build up his endurance a bit… we are hoping to do Utility with him next year, so he might need it
We picked out a roading harness for Lincoln today. We chose this model from Gun Dog Supply:
http://www.gundogsupply.com/k9-komfort-biothane-roading-harness.html
I really like the TufFlex material (we have some TufFlex collars) and I liked how it was well padded in the front. When we receive it I’ll try and remember to post a review!
This was very interesting! Being new to this, I didn`t understand the concept of roading.But it makes sense for dogs that need the endurance!
The pulling…well being a weim owner for 12 years. I AM very familiar with that!
What do you advise for putting some weight for pulling on leash? I think people use covered chain? Can I just cover it with inner-tubing? What about dragging a tire? I read somewhere about someone having their dog drag a tire – although, perhaps that’s too heavy and cumbersome.
@Leslie, In the photo above, the dog has weights attached to his harness. They were purchased at Lion Country Supply I believe. I’m not sure a tire would really work, even the chains we have kind of get in the way a little to be honest. I will have to ask around as far as how to home make this…..
How tight (or loose) should the under the belly strap be and where should the chest strap fall? My first try with my harness, it seems like the part around the neck kind of rises up above the neck.
I like the strap under the belly to be loose, in fact I like the harness to mostly be loose everywhere but with a snug fit across the chest when they pull into it. This photo show it well.. http://justweimaraners.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Juan-and-Sascha-Roading.jpg.
I don’t think it should rise above the neck.
I’ve heard of people using tires with bungees, too, but never done it myself. Like I said, we live in town and I’m fairly sure we’d be arrested for “making” our dogs drag chains or tires–so they drag us instead. I don’t honestly know how to explain what a correctly-fitting harness looks like, but I’ll give it a try! I think with fitting the harness the belly strap is the least important, also hardest to fit on a weim. I’ve punched extra holes in almost all of them. You want the front strap to sit firmly across their chest and not impede their breathing. If it’s sliding up to their neck, something is not adjusted right. Luckily most of them have lots of adjustment points and you can work something out.
) Make sure nothing is rubbing or sliding. You can always add some padding if you need to. Hopefully someone else can add their input here….I’m no pro I just have weims who think they are sled dogs!