Equipment questions - Page 1

I need a tug for a reward (not for playing with all the time at will). This dog has a very strong bite_no WAY to remove a tennis ball from his mouth at 8 weeks!. I got a firehose one (red from petsmart or one of those) and he frayed it quicker than I would have expected. Maybe this was the normal life span since I've never done tugs before. Do any of you have a preference of what seems to be longest lasting? A squeeker is really good for him but they don't always last so long as I'm sure you know. Or are these found in more of the "pet" type tugs?

Some of the choices I have seen advertised are leather, flax, jute, suede and the firehose. Are there grades of the firehose tugs that may be tighter woven? He does so much better with a tug than a ball on a rope. I'd really like to find the longest lasting.

Also, does ANYONE on the face of the earth know all six of the uses for the police type leashes with the snap on each end and three rings? LOL I can't figure them all out to save my life!

Oh and one more thing. I wonder how feasable this idea is. I was thinking of a tracking harnes with three small clips on each side. Instead of one harness for tracking and a second identification (SAR)  vest I wonder how feasible it would be to clip a patch to the side of the tracking harness using three point to secure it. Hope I've explained the concept clearly.

Here is a harness on ebay that might be the type you want.  You can have the velcro reflective panels say what you want.

http://cgi.ebay.com/DOG-TRAINING-HARNESS-POLICE-K9-SCHUTZHUND-k-9_W0QQitemZ140188729525QQihZ004QQcategoryZ146245QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

we get many of our tugs from here:

http://www.justk9.com/cart/catalog/Tugs-17-1.html

We have both the synthetic and jute.  Both have held up well for training.  The Little Princess did reward herself one day without us knowing and chewed through one, but that is not normal training........ 

If you do need a squeak toy, the Kong Air Kong has worked well.  Our one girl's drive has come waaaaay up since she learned squeak tug play.  They seem pretty darn solid too.

check out this site maybe it will help http://www.haussimpkins.com/equipment_tugs.html

Looks like some nice tugs. would it be possible to put the lengths down? Or can they be any length desired?

http://www.hallmarkk9.com/cgi-bin/plugins/MivaEmpresas/miva?plugins/MivaMerchants/merchant.mvc+Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=D12 I got a leather tug from Jim Hill, and it works great with my hard tugger! I got it almost a year ago and it still is in good shape. Jessica

I got my harness from elite K9 for reasonable price, great quality and had velcro sewn on my team patches. Standard patrol harness. As needed I can remove the patches and reflective things [for low profile stuff]. There is value in having a one buckle harness partuculary when your dog is excited and wants to work. www.elitek9.com - - the harness is all nylon so you can wash it. Also ruffian does make a vest you can have with a cutout to go over a harness but there are so many ID harness options nowadays that it is knod of moot. They also sell some good tugs. Why is he chewing on his tugs? Or is he? Mine latches on and does not budge with his bite until I out him.

gsdsch3 that is kind of the idea but it seems to me like it would chafe after a few hours. And I'm not so sure about nylon webbing because cactus sticks to it and goes through it. Some cactus is almost like a fuzz of small needles and is almost impossible to get it all out. Then it ends up in your fingers everytime you handle the harness. Thanks for looking for one though. I'll definately go through the other sites, plus look for the air kong. Appreciate it, guys. Oh, just out of curiosity, what IS french linen? I know it's silly but all I can think of is pillow cases!

If your dog is working in a tracking harness, does it even need any ID? I can see the need for an offlead dog because you don't want a hunter to shoot them and they can be reflective so cars can see them.

Animules I've heard that the tennis ball material can wear down teeth. I don't know if it's true or not. Even if it was true I'm thinking just during training it wouldn't hurt them like if they had it all the time? Are you talking about the one that is shaped like a stick and has the rope, btw? Haus-sending you a pm with some questions. Still going through the other sites. Kind of in and out this morning. Nancy our group has an ID policy. That is another sticking point for me. I personally don't want the traditional Search/Rescue or Rescue K-9 because we are in a very high traffic area for illegal immigrants. Most, but not all are people who want no trouble. The others have no problem at all with trouble. The big problem with that is that most don't read English. That's why I want an ID with a white cross instead of the normal wording.