Opinions on training equipment? - Page 2

I love my trial leash, it's a 4' x 1/2" burgundy leather w/ a brass ring in the handle (so I clip it around my hips) from Bridgeport Equipment.

I also LOVE ASAT/biothane/beeta/whatever you want to call it - the rubbery synthetic leather stuff.  This is all I use now besides my short trial leash (above).  I use it for tracking, protection, taking dogs for a walk....you name it!  I have a 6', 8', and 15' (basically bought a long tracking line, cut it in different sizes and added the hardware I want).  Good leather is nice too but it tends to suck even more moisture from my already dry hands.

I love these Gappay balls from HallmarkK9, but they come off the strings WAY to easily.  Since I still love the size and texture of the balls, I buy my own string from Lowes (must be braided, not have a core), then I knot one end around a bit of leather and pull it through.  I like a little longer string that what they come with so this way I add a few inches of length and have a ball my dog can tug on all day long and the string will not come through.




My favorite Fursaver I got from Danny S. "It Bitez" vendor tent at NASS 2008.  It's a regular HS fursaver but the color/metal seems different than my other ones.  They are also HS but one is a real shiny silver color and the other is a gold color....the one I really like is sort of a matted silver color and it has the tiny tag with the bright orange HS on it.  Unfortunately it's really small (18") so it only fits perfectly on my small bitch.  I wish I knew what material it was so I could get another bigger one. 

For dock diving and water games I love the Kong Wubba.  We've also tried the floating Kong on a rope, but it sits lower in the water, often the dog knocks it under the water trying to retrieve it.  Also if the dog tugs at all the rope and foam come right out.  The Kong Wubba sits higher up on the water (good for us since my dog likes to retrieve in big waves) and we can play tug with it.

For UKC conformation I got my leads and collars from a1leash.com.  Very nice products at reasonable prices.  I have a 4' black leather lead (the UKC rings here are very small), a rolled black leather martingale, and a thin black leather slip collar.  The leather is very strong but not too stiff.  Very appropriate for a large, strong breed but looks nice.

For leashes I like the synthetic foam material that the folks I work for sell...it's light and fabulous in the rain.  I've always been a fan of leather, but the MWD material holds up better in bad weather (like biothane) and texture of the material is super easy to grip in the rain (which I like better then biothane.)  I've got a 12 and 3ft leash that I use like that...it also floats, which is spiffy when I go swimming.

I like biothane harnesses for tracking and agitation, though we've got a pretty cool 2" load rated nylon agitation harness with a breastplate that I may end up purchasing for my pups because it's super easy to adjust.

I use Gappay balls...but I really like the bende balls the best...they're hard to find now.

Clearly I'm not unbiased...but I've been buying from www.signaturek9.com for a few years, and well before I even considered working here.  They've got some awsome stuff.

~Cate

Cate:  I get Bende balls from ItBiteZ: http://www.itbitez.net/servlet/the-Tugs-and-Balls/Categories

I get  lots of stuff including Frabo balls from Dog Sport Gear:  http://www.dogsportgear.com/Balls_rubber.htm
 
Hallmark is always great for stuff: http://www.hallmarkk9.com/Balls_on_Rope.aspx

and from Elite K9:  http://www.elitek9.com/Reward_Toys/index.htm

www.fordogtrainers.com