Webber savors competing at Winterfest dog weight pulling contest

By: 
Hannah Lantzer, Contributing Writer

Courtesy photo

Canine weight pulling athletes come in all different sizes. Pictured is Shirley Webber’s dog, Roady, at the 2013 Kalkaska Winterfest. The IWPA-sanctioned competition includes nine canine weight classes, which range from small dogs of less than 10 pounds in the lightest class, to 151-plus pounds in the heaviest class.

 

Courtesy photo

Shirley Webber encourages one of her dogs, Knuck Knuck, before a Fall Fling dog weight pulling competition in 2014. 

KALKASKA – While Kalkaska Winterfest will attract approximately 150 sled dog teams for the annual races on Feb. 23-24, the festival will also feature another specialized canine athletic event for community spectators to enjoy.

Sanctioned by the International Weight Pull Association (IWPA), the dog weight pulling competition at Winterfest will take place Feb. 23 from 9 a.m. until about 3 p.m.

The objective of the competition is for dogs to safely pull more weight than fellow competitors over a distance of 16 feet in less than 60 seconds. The highly trained canines compete within nine dog weight classes, which range from small dogs of less than 10 pounds in the lightest class, to 151-plus pounds in the heaviest class.

“The dog has to do it all by themselves,” explained Kalkaska resident Shirley Webber, an experienced IWPA competitor. “You hook the dog up with their harness and can encourage them. I praise my dogs when they’re done, but there are no treats allowed during events, and you can’t touch them until the pull is done.”

Webber has been involved with competitive canine weight pulling for 25 years. She originally got into the sport at Winterfest the year that her mother passed away when, Webber said, she needed something new to do. After competing for a couple years, she took over as director of Winterfest for a time.

Over the years, Webber has trained more dogs than she can count – most of which have been rescues. She stated that individual canine breed doesn’t matter for pulling sports. The most successful pulling dog Webber ever competed with was a beagle/basset hound-mix named Bear, who pulled over 2,000 pounds in wheeled events during his prime.

Webber says that success in the sport is founded on the attitude of the dog and handler. She stated that she tries to make it fun for her dogs and stressed that the primary focus of the IWPA is to organize safe competitions. According to the IWPA website, there has never been a canine injured during a sanctioned competition.

“(To get ready for competitions) they have to train just like a human athlete or a sled dog,” said Webber. “You have to build up their stamina, so they don’t get hurt. We don’t just expect a dog to go in there and do it.”

Training involves a series of progressions. Webber trains her dogs with a tire or window weights, which she can hook to the back of their harnesses.

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