Oregon dogs pull tires on walks as exercise

Beaverton, Ore. (KATU/CNN Newsource) – Meet Jasmine and Sultan. Both are four-year-old Dogo Argentinos.

“We’ve had them since they were puppies,” explained their owner, Denes Balazs. “They’re energetic.”

On walks, they wear a harness with tires attached behind them that way between five and ten pounds.

Balazs was out for a walk with the dogs when a viewer confronted him, worried about the dogs’ safety.

They didn’t think it was right the dogs were pulling tires.

“She thought we were abusing them,” Balazs said.

So KATU asked Balazs what’s going on.

“I get that question asked a lot,” he said.

He went on to say it’s exercise. His dogs are energetic and always on the move. He said it keeps them healthy.

“It’s an awesome way to add some extra benefits to their walk,” Balazs said. “If you take them out for a half-a-mile walk, they’d be rather disappointed.”

He gets why someone may be concerned, but this was a first.

“We’ve had maybe 50 people talk to us over the years about what we’re doing,” Balazs explained. “This is the first time somebody attacked us over it.”

It’s a common way of training dogs for weight-pulling competitions.

Balazs said these dogs have never competed in those and likely won’t.

Beaverton police said it appears no crime was committed here and it appears perfectly legal under Oregon law.

“It’s just an awesome form of exercise,” Balazs said. “As a runner I’ve pulled tires myself during training. It’s sort of like weighted running. That’s all it is, and it helps develop their muscles and maintain it.”

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