Sunday 15th January was round 5 of the weight pull championship. James and I were up at 4am ready to leave by 5am for the 230 mile drive to Allerton Park. We knew we were in for a cold day when driving passed Leicester Forest Services on the M1 our mirrors froze over and our temperature gauge on the car dropped to a chilly -3C. We arrived in good time, everything was frosty and crisp, but dry, perfect pulling conditions.

Mina, Lucien and Selene (Slink) were all entered in competition this time, Mina putting on 3lbs over Christmas, weighed in at 95lbs, Slink at 93lbs and Lucien at 109lbs. From Mina’s attitude when we arrived, I had a feeling she wasn’t up for pulling, taking her time with her first pull of 400lbs, her head wasn’t in the game. On 1500lbs, she walked two steps forward, looked around to see who was watching her and after checking she had an audience, proceeded to pull faces and generally act like a bit of a Diva. In the end she sat, like she always does when she has had enough, faced the other way and completely ignored me. I let the time run out without saying another word to her, there really is no point in calling Mina when she refuses to look at you. As she failed to pull this weight, she dropped down to her previous completed pull of 1300lbs, finishing in 8th place in the 81-100lbs class, and pulling 13.68 x her body weight.

Selene was handled by our good friend Mark Smith (Lewiskimo Alaskan Malamutes). This season has been all about confidence building with her, and once she is happy, we’ll try and get her to gain her Working Weight Pull Dog (WWPD) title. I aksed Mark if he wanted to handle our Slinky One for us and he was very happy to. She pulled well for Mark, she is understanding what she has to do, moving from one side of the chute to the other as if trying to break a sled from the ice. She has the right instincts, we just need to build her confidence to enhance these instincts. She will make a great weight pull dog, one day. Slink only pulled 900lbs and finished 11th in the 81-100lbs class (last place) but we are so happy that someone other than us was able to handle her and see her build confidence in other people. Slink has now gone on holiday with Mark and Allison, to Aviemore where she will be racing with her litter brother, Valentino. Good luck little Slinky One, we know you’ll have loads of fun.

Lucien, after having a restful Christmas, chilling out on the sofa, was back on form. He pulled in his usual consistent style, and at one point whilst in the chute with him, I heard one spectator say “he looks like he is just out for a walk”. Lucien is learning with the lower weights, to conserve energy, he knows he does not need to go full force into getting the weight moving and is learning when he needs to put that extra bit of effort in. So although his times at the lower weights may not be the fastest in the class, it means he has saved energy for when it is needed later on.

There was a nice surprise return to the weight pull, with the return of Polar (3rd place 2010/2011 championship 81-100lbs class) after taking time out to have a litter, returned on top form, and looked as if she had never been away. She had moved up a class from last year into the 101lbs and over class. She finished in 3rd place with an impressive pull of 1700lbs after taking a long time away from competition.

By the end of the competition, once again only two dogs remained. Lucien and Nanook, both on top form and both wanting to pull. On 1900lbs, both boys were level pegging on the time it took them to pull the weight, both pulling it in just 11 seconds. They both skipped 2000lbs and 2100lbs and came back in on 2200lbs. Nanook was up first, he started off well, but then slowed when the trolley hit one of the ridges in the concrete. With just 10 seconds to go, his owner Naomi, got him to dig deep. Nanook pulled hard and got the trolley going just in time to complete the pull in 64 seconds. If the time runs out and the trolley is moving, then the pull is allowed to continue until either the dog completes the pull or he stops. Lucien then went into the chute, he couldn’t wait to get going. I called him, Andy (the handler) let go of his collar, and Lucien dropped to the ground, heaving into his harness and got the trolley moving. Lucien completed the pull in an impressive 16 seconds.

Both Nanook and Lucien skipped 2300lbs, Nanook has already completed the 2300lbs in the past and his owners wanted to see if he could pull the 2400lbs. Unfortunately Nanook couldn’t complete the pull, after putting in an impressive performance. I’m sure he’ll get it before the end of the season, he has made a lot of improvement in his technique so far this season.

Lucien pulled the 2400lbs in 24 seconds, and then skipped the 2500lbs and the 2600lbs as I wanted to see if he could pull the 2700lbs. The organisers had just about enough weight to put on the trolley, and pushed the weight up to 2706lbs. We hooked him up to the trolley and I held his face up to mine, looked him in the eye and got him to focus on me. Again once Andy let him go, Lucien dropped his shoulders and heaved into the pull. His back feet were sliding on the carpet, he just couldn’t get grip. He tried weaving from side to side, but he just slid. Eventually he managed to get purchase on the carpet and the trolley started moving. He got closer and closer. He then hit the first of the ridges and the trolley stopped. He was half way, i knew if he could break it free he would be able to finish, but with just 10 seconds to go, I gave him a countdown, 5-4-3-2-1, he pulled hard, but sadly couldn’t get the trolley going again when “time” was called. He laid down panting from the effort to sounds of “awww” from spectators watching. He tried his heart out and we know he’ll get this weight eventually.

There were some fantastic results at Sunday’s pull, with many dogs gaining legs towards their weight pull titles and some completing them (subject to AMCA approval). Well done to Twisp and Leader Elliott & Campbell, Lucie Blaney, and Valentino Smith for completing their WWPD titles in just their first season of competition. Well done to Nanook Benton-Browne for completing his WWPDX (subject to AMCA approval).

First place in the 61-81lbs class and Highest Percentage Pulled, was Chena Forster (1700lbs – 22.97 x her body weight), 2nd was Indy Horsman-Phoenix (1600lbs), 3rd was Lucie Blaney (1400lbs).

First place in the 81-100lbs class was Womble Sheehan (1900lbs), 2nd was Valentino Smith (1600lbs), 3rd was Kiska Barstow (1600lbs)

First place in the over 101lbs class and Most Weight Pulled was Lucien Taylor (2400lbs), 2nd was Nanook Benton-Browne (2200lbs), 3rd was Polar Botterill (1700lbs)