The Strongest Dogs in the World: Weight Pull Records and What They Eat

The strongest dogs in the world are measured on a weight pull track, not guessed from a breed list. Under sanctioned rules a dog in a fitted harness pulls a loaded cart 16 feet in under 60 seconds, and the heaviest verified pulls now sit above 20,000 pounds. The dogs doing it are South African Boerboels, Presa Canarios, American Pit Bull Terriers and American Bullies, and most of the recent records were set at Bully Max and Unified Pulling Federation events. This guide covers the record pulls, how the sport measures strength, which breeds dominate, and what the handlers feed.

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How Strength Is Actually Measured in Dogs

Bite-force numbers get repeated online, but almost none of them come from controlled measurements. Pulling is different. Weight pull has written rules, certified judges and a scale. As one handler puts it in Episode 8 of Bully Max Sports, it is "kind of like a strongman competition for dogs": you showcase the training and the breed, and you pull about 16 feet on a track or wheels. Each dog gets 60 seconds per attempt. The competition starts at the weight of the empty cart and adds weight each round; a dog that fails a pull is out, and the last dog standing with the heaviest completed pull wins its class.

The cart at the Bully Max Training Facility is a repurposed railroad cart on real rails, built for a completely level pull, with cart handlers whose job is to make sure it stops. The empty cart weighs about 1,200 pounds. By the end of a national-level event the pit crew is loading it with a forklift.

Two numbers matter on a results sheet: most weight pulled, and most weight pulled per pound of body weight. The first rewards the biggest dogs. The second is where a 19 lb dog or a 38 lb pit bull can beat a mastiff, and it is the number most handlers care about. That is why "strongest dog" has more than one honest answer.

The Record Pulls

These are the heaviest pulls recorded at Bully Max and UPF events, with weights as stated in the event footage and results. Records are kept by sanctioning body and by weight class, so more than one dog can hold a record at the same time.

Weights as stated in the Bully Max Sports footage and event descriptions. Where the event description reports a result that has not been published by the sanctioning body, the table says reported.

Sun Wukong: 16,917 pounds

The pull that reset the sport. At the second UPF-sanctioned event at the Bully Max Training Facility in November 2025, Sun Wukong of ColdRiver Boerboels moved 16,917 pounds, the most weight ever pulled in the history of the sport at that point. The clip has been watched close to 300,000 times. No narration, just the cart, the dog and the crowd.

22,039 pounds, twice in one afternoon

Six months later ColdRiver came back. At the third Bully Max and UPF event on May 9, 2026, Mr. Wednesday and Sun Wukong were each reported to have moved 22,039 pounds under sanctioned UPF rules, a combined 44,078 pounds from one kennel in one day. Eli Carver's program, and what he feeds, is covered in how this elite breeder raises record-shattering dogs.

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JT: 18,329 pounds at 482% of body weight

Absolute weight is one measure. JT's pull is the other. At a Bully Max and UPF event in 2026, Emmanuel Faxio's JT moved 18,329 pounds at 482 percent of his own body weight in 29 seconds, taking both Most Weight Pulled and Most Weight Pulled Per Pound. For a dog that is not a mastiff, that is the number to beat.

Hamilton, Amarillo and Wendy: the Presa Canarios

PresaMania's dogs have put the Presa Canario on the record sheets. Hamilton and Amarillo pulled 19,834 pounds at the Bully Max facility in 2026. Before them, Wendy closed her career with 16,884 pounds, the most ever recorded by a Presa, at the November 2025 event. The kennel's story is in Built to Work: Travis and Kassidy Torrez and PresaMania.

Bully Max Sports Top 10: The Pulls That Stood Out

The Top 10 Weight Pull episode ranks the performances our crew filmed across the 2025 season. The list shows how wide the sport is:

1. Sun Wukong (ColdRiver Boerboels): 16,917 lb, the world record at the time.
2. Drai (Alyssa Duke): the only American Bully to earn a top-ranked weight pull dog title with the ADBA, finishing number two the previous year.
3. Wendy (PresaMania): her retirement pull, the biggest of her career and the most ever recorded by a Presa.
4. Kodyak (James Stevenson): an Olde English Bulldogge, a breed you rarely see on a weight pull track, dominating anyway.
5. Machine Gun Kelly (Funnyman Kennel): 14,740 lb, Most Weight Pulled and Most Weight Pulled Per Pound, top-ranked Ace of Ace 2025.
6. Flex (John Martin): 14,740 lb at the Bully Max facility.
7. Max (Brian Hosfelt): Most Weight Pulled Per Pound in a stacked middleweight division at UPF Nationals.
8. Oreo (Leeann Smith, Maxx Performance): a 19 lb dog putting up serious numbers.
9. Apex (Erica Noseworthy): a personal best of 13,684 lb on the Bully Max track.
10. Heathen (Joanie Albro): 10,880 lb at UPF Nationals, Most Weight Pulled Per Pound in the light heavyweight division.

Full recaps of each event: UPF Bully Max Weight Pull II, UPF Nationals and the first UPF Bully Max Weight Pull.

Which Breeds Are the Strongest?

Judged by what shows up on the results sheets at sanctioned pulls, the answer splits by category:

• Absolute weight: Boerboel and other mastiff types. A 150 lb South African Boerboel has the frame, the bone and the calm temperament to lean into a 20,000 lb cart. Presa Canarios and Cane Corsos sit in the same group. See best dog food for mastiffs for how these dogs are fed.
• Weight per pound: American Pit Bull Terrier and American Bully. A 40 to 70 lb pit bull pulling 400 to 500 percent of its body weight is the pound-for-pound standard in the sport, and the ADBA's weight pull rankings are built around it. Read which dogs are considered bully breeds for the family tree.
• The surprises: Olde English Bulldogge, Staffordshire types, Belgian Malinois. Kodyak the OEB made the Top 10. The November 2025 event had a Malinois in the harness. Drive counts for as much as mass.

Breed sets the ceiling. What a dog actually pulls comes down to structure, training and feeding, which is the same order Eli Carver gives: "Genetics create potential. Training develops it. Nutrition helps unlock it."

Is Weight Pulling Safe?

Done under sanctioned rules, yes. Organizations like the Unified Pulling Federation and the American Dog Breeders Association enforce rules so that dogs are never forced beyond their ability. Harnesses are fitted so the load spreads across the body, pulls are short and controlled, a handler can stop at any time, and judges apprentice under other judges before they call an event. Oliver Dela Cruz of Dungeon Kennel 5150, one of the sport's longest-standing names, describes the physical side plainly: when a dog works on the track its muscles are being torn down, and the food has to supply what they need to repair and grow. That is why conditioning and recovery are as much a part of the sport as the pull.

What the Strongest Dogs Eat

None of the handlers above feed a maintenance kibble in season. The pattern across the kennels in Bully Max Sports is consistent:

• Meat-based protein at 30% or more. Muscle repair after a pull needs a complete amino acid supply every day. Bully Max 30/20 Chicken and 30/20 Beef are the base diet for most of the pit bull and bully kennels on the circuit; the biggest dogs move up to PRO Series 31/25.
• Calories from fat, not bulk. A 150 lb Boerboel on a 350-calorie food would need 7 to 8 cups a day (estimate). On PRO Series at 600 calories per cup the same dog eats about 4.5. Smaller meals before work matter when the dog is about to lean into a cart. See high fat dog food for the reasoning.
• Two meals a day, fed to body condition. Handlers weigh their dogs and adjust 10% at a time. A weight pull dog is lean and hard, not heavy.
• Recovery support for dogs in heavy training. The handlers in Episode 8 put it simply: "you got to have good food, good supplements." Power Tabs for Muscle Gain and Pro Series Power Chews are built for that window. Our dog muscle building guide covers what helps and what does not.

The breed-by-breed feeding plans are in best dog food for working and sport dogs.

FAQ

What is the strongest dog in the world?

By verified pulling weight, the Boerboels Mr. Wednesday and Sun Wukong of ColdRiver Boerboels, reported at 22,039 pounds each under UPF rules in May 2026. Sun Wukong also holds the UPF-recognised 16,917-pound record from November 2025.

What is the dog weight pull world record?

Sun Wukong's 16,917 lb pull in November 2025 was recognised by the UPF as a world record. The May 2026 pulls of 22,039 lb each by Mr. Wednesday and Sun Wukong were reported as a new record. Records are also kept per weight class and per pound of body weight, where JT's 482 percent pull stands out.

What is the strongest dog breed?

For absolute weight, mastiff types led by the South African Boerboel, with Presa Canarios and Cane Corsos close behind. Pound for pound, the American Pit Bull Terrier and American Bully.

How much weight can a pit bull pull?

Trained APBTs at sanctioned events routinely pull 10,000 to 15,000 pounds on a wheeled cart on rails, which is 300 to 500 percent of body weight. Machine Gun Kelly and Flex both reached 14,740 lb; JT pulled 18,329 lb at 482 percent of his weight.

Is weight pulling cruel?

Not under sanctioned rules. Dogs pull in fitted harnesses for short, controlled efforts, handlers can stop at any time, and the dogs that excel are the ones that want to pull. The sport grew out of working sled and cart dogs that pulled for a living.

What do weight pull dogs eat?

A meat-based, calorie-dense food fed to the work: 30% or more protein and 20 to 25% fat, two meals a day, portion set by body condition. Bully Max 30/20 and PRO Series 31/25 are the two formulas you will see most at Bully Max events.

Feed the Dog That Pulls

Records are set by dogs that are bred for it, trained for it and fed for it. If your dog trains, pulls or just carries the kind of muscle that burns through a maintenance food, PRO Series 31/25 at 600 calories per cup is the food the record kennels reach for, and 30/20 is the everyday base. Feed by calories, weigh every two weeks, and let the body condition tell you when you have it right.