Training for stick hits in protection work - Page 2

I agree with what people are saying about little  puppies, this is getting them used to the movement of the stick, but here's the thing to remember:  when good dogs are in drive, they don't care about being tapped by the stick,  if anything, it gets them going even more.  If a dog were to come off the sleeve when  in drive,  just because of the stick hit, most likely the dog is more suited  doing something other than grip sports.  Of course as we all know, this is the purpose of the stick,  if the decoy is able to drive them off with the stick, then they are weak and not suitable any way.   Honestly, I have never done much in the way of any formal work when it comes to the padded stick, other than playing with a pup with it as others have described above, maybe a couple of times.  By the time the dog is old enough and at the stage where the stick is used, the dog is in drive and just doesn't care about being hit with it, the stick is no big deal.

Sue is 100% correct. The tools I described earlier are not just for stick conditioning, I find they improve drive and grip as well. Kill several birds with one stone...but she is right, a good dog shouldn't care.

That's a good point, they do help  to bring up drives.  I'm guessing that whether you did those things or not with your pups they would have handled the stick hits with aplomb!!!!