Getting Your Dog Ready for Training

The first thing you want to do is introduce and desensitize your dog to a weight pull harness. Some dogs take the harness very quickly and others do not. If your dog doesn’t immediately take to the harness, don’t fret. Most dogs are scared of the harness when you first try to put it on them. Use high value treats (chicken/hotdogs/your pups favorite treat) to get your dog used to the harness before attaching any sort of weight to the harness. 

Now that your dog is used to wearing the harness, it is a good idea to get him used to noise behind him. This will help when it comes to pulling something behind him since most things he pulls will make noise. You can desensitize him by attaching an old milk jug filled with a few rocks to his harness and going for a short walk.

Once your dog is used to both the harness and noise, it is time to begin training. With no weight attached to your dogs harness, go on a 1 mile walk with your dog. During your walk, you will be introducing a command word such as “work” or “pull”. Just remember to pick a command word and stick with it – consistency is key. Whenever you start walking from a stationary position, pat your leg and say your command word. As your dog moves forward with you, pat your leg repeating the command. Without stopping your walk, praise your dog. Practice this – starting and stopping – for the duration of you walk. Just remember that each time you stop, you start up again with your command.

Dragging Weight

Your dog should now understand their command word and be getting ready to drag weight. People often wonder how much weight their dog should start with. I suggest starting with 10% – 15% of their body weight.