BUTTE – The international Weight Pulling Association (IWPA) is holding its second annual event in Butte behind Mackenzie River Pizza on Saturday. The event gives dogs a chance to show off how much total weight they can pull on a sled.
The IWPA holds events like this all over the country. Butte event organizer Darwin Lumbattis brings it here to the mining city with hopes that people know this event is for all breeds of dogs.
“There’s a variety of dogs: there’s no breed, they’re mixed, to actually breed also. I’ve got an English mastiff, he’s scared of the cart. He can’t pull. But there’s Chihuahuas that pull four, five hundred pounds on the wheels,” said Lumbattis.
He also explains how this unique sport works.
“So one dog is hooked to a cart, and it pulls it 16 feet, the dog has one minute to do it. There’s no forcing the dog, the dog’s going to do it or dogs not going to do it.”
Don’t worry, this event is extremely humane and the safety of the dog is the main priority at all the events.
Scout makes it look easy, but maybe that’s because he’s the world record holder in this event.
“He weighs 79 pounds and he pulled 2,140 pounds, and busted the world record in Grand Rapids Michigan last year,” said Lumbattis about his dog Scout.
To put that in perspective, that’s a 79-pound dog pulling something the size of a car. The weekend event starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday behind MacKenzie River Pub and Grill.
