Elbert County News

Middle school student pulls his weight in care of champion dogs

The International Weight Pull Association (IWPA) will be in town Jan. 8 at Big R of Elizabeth, thanks to the efforts of a family with deep roots in the fledgling sport.
The sport began as an offshoot of sled dog racing in the early 1980s, said Mark Landers of Elbert. Mark and his wife Lisa have been competing in weight pulls almost that long, and his son Eli presently holds two world records in the sport.
"Eli, who kind of grew up with it, is the youngest handler in the sports history to acquire multi international medals," Mark said. "He does it because his dogs just love him."
The event consists of two different competitions, he said. The first is a weight pull on snow or ice, the second is a weight pull with wheels on a hard surface, such as dirt, grass, asphalt or carpet.
The Landers, who own more than two dozen dogs, participate in the competition on wheels. Competitors can enter in eight different weight classes, with dogs as small as 20 pounds up to dogs who weigh more than 150 pounds. The strongest dog to pull a wheeled cart 16 feet with the fastest time wins.
The dogs are conditioned and trained to pull on command. A cart containing the weight is attached to the animal by a harness, and handlers are permitted to either call the dog from across the finish line, or remain behind the dog steering the cart, similar to a musher in dog sledding.
"There's no making the dog do this, the dog will do it if it's trained properly and will stop when it's no longer able to pull the weight," Mark said. "No dogs have ever been injured in the IWPA, it's an injury free sport for the animals."
At 12 years old, Eli is the youngest handler in the sport, Mark said. The Landers organized the upcoming event in Elizabeth and timed it in conjunction with the sport's showing at the National Western Stock Show. As a result, Elizabeth can expect to see more than 50 national competitors in town, Mark said.
"Some of the highest obedience trained dogs in the world compete," he said. "It's not just a learned behavior, the dogs have to be conditioned and trained. It takes a lot of work."
The work comes easily to Eli, who grew up surrounded by the sport thanks to his parents' interest. Eli is a straight A student at Elizabeth Middle School who also plays basketball and football. He has been competing since he was about 8 years old and spends up to ten hours a week training his animals.
"It's pretty fun," Eli said. "It's a lot of hard work but it pays off. You have to be out there walking them all the time, clean up after them, change their dog bowls, feed them all the time. It's kind of hard."
Eli has earned a nickname among the circuit because of his dedication to handling his animals. His adult competitors affectionately call him "Boy Who Walks Dogs" in honor of the constant attention he pays to his animals.
Eli is the current IWPA gold medalist on wheels in the 20-pound division with his Patterdale Terrier, Harry. Harry, who weighs 18 pounds, pulled more than 800 pounds of weight to win the gold.
Eli's second gold medal is in the 40-pound division with his Staffordshire Terrier, Lucy. Lucy, who weighs 40 pounds, pulled almost 2,100 pounds to win the gold.
"They just all try real hard and they love doing it," Eli said of his dogs.
The Jan. 8 event will begin with weigh-in at 8:30 a.m. Competition will begin at 10 a.m. The event takes place at Big R, who is sponsoring the competition and will donate prizes to the winners. Animal nutrition experts will be available to answer any nutrition needs and professional weight pull handlers will provide information to those interested in getting their dog started in the sport.
For Eli, it's just another opportunity to enjoy his favorite pastime.
"We'll probably bring about seven or eight or so to the competition," Eli said. "A lot of dogs will show up there so it'll be fun."