I was talking with a new comer to weight pull that had recently been to a UKC weight pull event and they mentioned that the handler does NOT have to be behind the finish line to encourage the dog to pull. Does anyone know if this is true (I looked through the rule book but didn't see anything mentioned about this)?
Not that Kayden could enter a UKC weight pull event, but that seems like a big difference in IWPA which requires the handler to be behind the finish line before they can speak to or motion to the dog. Kayden tends to follow me when I walk away towards the finish line after I set him up in the chute (which is ok) but when the weight gets above 1,000 lbs and he actually has to start working, he sometimes reverts to his jumping behavior because he can't catch right up to me. To curb this I have started having him target my hand as I walk away so he has something to focus on and have been spending a LOT of time working on having him pull as relaxed as possible.