I have been weight pulling my Dobermans for the past 7 years. I have also run my 4 dog s from 3 to 14 miles at a time, depending endurance of each dog, will take up to 4 hours, 3 to 4 times a week. On top of this we average 170 tracking days per year. A lot of time is spent on training. This summer I have been weight pulling the dogs over our 100 foot outside track in the early morning. We have not been doing the running. So far I cannot tell any difference in the dog s physical condition although their feet are in better shape now they are off the blacktop. My new 1-year-old Doberman is starting to have the massive look of my Panda who has pulled 1,650 pounds on the weight pulling cart.
Pulling, like tracking, is an obedience exercise; so pulling is more satisfying to me than trying to add miles on to running distance. The AD endurance test is worked with the handler on a bike and the dog trotting along side. When my 9-year-old Panda passed for an AD endurance title at the UDC Nationals, I tried to keep her speed down to a slow trot. Panda would have none of the slow stuff. She insisted on towing me at about 12 MHP for the 12.5 mile AD test distance. She was moving at what would have been a fast run if she did not have me attached to her.
The combination of running and pulling gave her a stamina I could not hold back. I was lucky enough not to have fallen off of the bike. When she came across wild game on the track my staying on the bike was in serious question. Panda gave up the chance for a run through the woods. She was obedient to the task at hand. I believe she is the oldest dog to have ever earned the AD title.
