are chest pulling harness cruel

THOR

My friend just recently got back from Mexico and had pulling/ regular walking harnesses made for his dog and Thor he loved pulling stuff around and didn't want to stop but I just wanted to get yalls feed back thank you

THOR

Which will most definitely keep it as his daily harness if it is wrong to have him pull stuff lol

Leslie

Brutus loves pulling his tire;) keep the weight even but great exercise!!!!

BulliesofNC

Not cruel at all. Great exercise and most Bullies enjoy it.

Boyda

Cookie does weight pulls, it's not an excessive amount of weight, we have slowly worked her up to 40lbs. Amazing exercise and she loves it.

THOR

Ok see thank yall for that because every time I talk about it to people they disagree and try and tell me its cruel but the way I look at it is if they enjoy it and he is wagging his tell in joy then I see nothing wrong with it and from what I know it is great exercise... but thank everyone for clearing that up for me

THOR

And awsome pics I love all of them

Xtracho

Written before on this. For me, no problem with bullies pulling for exercise with weights that are reasonable. When Maya gets a little older we'll probably hook her up to a tire or something like that.

Stoges_mom

I agree, I like the idea for exercise! Stoeger is almost seven months and we are also waiting until he is a little older.

THOR

Well thats great to hear I just wanted to see if he liked it and he did but im going to wait till he gets older to I just wanted to see what yalls input was and see if everyone agreed that is was safe

Quinnofhearts

Sort of on the same topic....What's the point of weight pulling? I don't mean that to be sarcastic, I really want to know. Is it just a muscle building or toning thing? Some breeds were meant to pull or tote things (Bernies [or is it the Greater Swiss...] and the sled dogs) but I didn't think bullies were meant to, other than sport I guess. Just curious as to why you'd have your dogs do it!

BulliesofNC

It's a great form of exercise that builds muscle as well as improves cardio. With this said, a valid "point" behind pulling would be simply for the health benefits that improve their look in regard to muscle tone and weight management, reduce stress and anxiety by burning off built up energy, and provide the dog with an activity that's not only good for him but provides enjoyment. Nope, you can't train a dog to lift weights at a gym to improve their muscular tone, energy, and health but you can allow them to pull weight while at the same time as playing ball with them which they'll enjoy and benefit from. 

I guess you could consider it in the same fashion as asking people what the point of jogging, bicycling, or lifting weights is. I suppose the correct answer would be "Health" and to some it's an important factor for the longevity of their dogs life.

Boyda

For me, it's just a fun activity to do with my dog. She seems to love it cause as soon as I bring out the harness she's all giddy. I would like to take her to competitions eventually, but right now that's just a fuzzy thought. The one thing with weight pulls is that if a dog doesn't want to pull, they won't.

Ps.... By competition I don't mean I'm going to hook my dog up to 300+ and expect her to pull it, I've seen Chihuahua's in weight pulls and it's just a fun outing centered around your dog.

Quinnofhearts

Interesting! They've definitely got the muscle and energy to pull it off. I don't think mine would pull anything unless she was playing fetch, and even then it wouldn't be for the fun of the pull it'd be cause she just wants that ball. Thanks for answering - I didn't know if there were real benefits for it or if it was just something people wanted to do cause they're dogs were beefy. But it definitely makes sense as a beneficial exercise.