S A L L Y ' S F A N M A I L

By Chris Tredway
Sports editor

KALKASKA — Built like a tank with perhaps more bite than bark, a 60-pound pit bull put tension on the rope tied to his harness Sunday afternoon — spectators stood watching, some pointing at the cords of muscle bulging beneath the skin of this powerful athlete.

The compact beast lowered its head to the snow and pulled a 600-pound sled, inch by inch, toward his enthusiastic owner.

“He was one of my puppies,” said Ken Blackburn, owner of Hoo, a pit bull bred to thrive in International Weight Pull Association (IWPA) competitions. “We bred a litter of pit bulls to be small — his mom is 35 pounds, his dad is 40 — and somehow he ended up 60 pounds.”

Blackburn made the trip from Fremont, Indiana to enter two dogs in the IWPA event, a two-day competition held during Kalkaska Winterfest.

Judging by appearances, Hoo seemed to have a lock on first place Sunday. He possessed all the tools of a winner and trained with a three-time IWPA national champion — a 125-pound American Bulldog named Hawk.

“This particular line was bred strictly to weight pull,” Blackburn said of his pit bull. “He doesn’t show a lot of excitement doing a whole lot of anything, even though he is. A lot of times you’ll see his tail wagging, but he’s pretty laid back.”

Opponents gradually fell away, unable to pull the sled as more weight was added. Hoo moved like a steady machine across the snow, muscling his way through the weights until only one other dog remained.

“Part of the reason pit bulls get so much media attention is because physically they’re a very strong dog,” Blackburn explained. “Very strong. So if a pit bull gets into a bad situation they have the capability to be very damaging. And if you get into a biting situation with any kind of a bulldog, their instinct is not to make multiple bites; their instinct is to make a single bite and hold.”

This unyielding, steady instinct propelled Hoo above 550 pounds on the day.

The pit bull’s last remaining obstacle — a lanky sled dog named Sally — had given a valiant effort but seemed incapable of making the next pull.

“She’s a champion weight puller and lead dog,” said Carey Green of Chicago, Sally’s owner. “She’s an amazing animal.”

Sally employed an entirely different method to pulling weight. She paced from side to side, threw herself against the limits of the rope and somehow kept moving forward.

“Lots of practice and patience and love,” Green said. “That’s all it is. It’s training and desire. I’ve seen dogs like her beat stronger dogs all the time.”

Sally, a sled dog with the heart to endure racing for miles, may have been the underdog in Sunday’s weight pull … but she ran away with the title regardless.

Completing an unlikely pull of 600 pounds, Sally returned to the sidelines to watch Hoo as he strained toward the finish line. The young pit bull stopped short despite Blackburn’s encouragement, giving Sally the first-place purse.

Both dog owners were thrilled to be a part of the competition.

“This is a good event,” Blackburn said. “I usually only go to a couple snow pulls but this is one I try and get to. Mostly because of the spectators, how friendly everyone is. It just makes for a good time.”

Contact ctredway@michgannewspapers.com.