RED LODGE — The race track at Red Lodge Ales was packed with people and their dogs on Sunday for the Monster Dog Pull, which pits the pooches against each other in a race for the fastest time while pulling a sled full of beer.
“Dogs are put in different weight classes and they have to pull a sled with a keg on it with a certain amount of weight, depending on their weight category," said Dana Sckittone, of Red Lodge.
Sckittone and her fiance, Daniel Beach, brought their 85-pound hound mix Waylon to the race for the first time. He marched the sled filled with a 90-pound beer keg down to the finish line. Sckittone said they put in a bit of practice ahead of the race.
“We bought a plastic sled last weekend and just tied it to him and ran him around the yard a few times. Yesterday we threw a 50 pound bag of feed in it and had him pull that around. But not a whole lot. Not enough training," Sckittone said.
All kinds of dogs are welcome at the Monster Dog Pull, both big and small. Little Breezy, a 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier, made it to the finish line pulling a six-pack of 12 Oz beers that weighed probably about as much as her.
“We did a lot of training with her starting at like 9 a.m. this morning. Just talk. A lot of positive reinforcement. We didn’t know if she was going to be able to pull the whole thing but who knew? She had it in her," said Jason Sleep, Breezy's owner.
The entry fee of five dollars per dog went into the pot to buy toys and prizes for the fastest pooches.
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