When do you start training?

Just for fun, I hooked Dookie up to the sled the other day and had him pull a little. We pulled a few times since but my husband is worried he's too young. He just turned three months but it doesn't seem to bother him, it's not heavy weight. I was wondering when everyone else starts pulling?

As long as there is no weight and it is for short bits of time it should be fine. You can't start pulling thru a club (for points) until they are a year old. You can pull at 9 months, for practice, but doesn't count for points. You just wanna make sure the pup is having fun and not putting too much stress on their body.

Thanks. I guess if he can't compete with the bigger clubs until he is one, I may as well let him just go play and have fun for now. I guess if he understands already, then I shouldn't worry about him not understanding. The club we pull with actually does not have an age limit, but I don't know how good that is. There's a 6 or 7 month old puppy that competes. He does good and all, like 60 x's his weight, but I was wondering how safe that really is. One guy I talked to said sometimes they burn out real quick when you pull them young.

With the ADBA and APA they have to be 9 months (no points) and 1 yr to actually compete. The thing I would worry about more than burnout would be to hurt them. Puppies grow so much and so fast, there bodies are just not mature enough. I know there are more "technical" reasons, just cant think of them now.

I think you covered it. I was talking to my mom today, she trains racehorses and she pretty much said the same thing you said and was telling me about how its not good to race young because their bones are still growing and its bad on the joints. I'm sure the same thing would apply in pulling.

8 weeks

Jeremy could you clarify please. I do know what you are talking about....
To me the most basic training starts the day you get the dog.

Is a sled too much? Dookie is just over 30 pounds and the sled weighs about that. I've had someone tell me to do their bodyweight, but he also pulls his dogs hard early on. Should I do less than his sled or keep doing what I was doing.

I'll be frank, I wouldn't put any weight on him at that age. We don't start ANY basics (short of teaching them that a harness equals good pull time vs. leash/collar) until a minimum of six months. Too much funky growth spurts to deal with.

Thanks for the advice. What's funny is Dookie lovesand gets excited over the harness because he sees Reagan and Jaws getting to wear it and then getting love when they're done. I think he already figured out harness=love/treats.