**What Schutzhund puppy tug do YOU use 1st?** - Page 1

Jute? Leather? Suede? Firehose? Other? I am will probably buy all of them, but *IF YOU ARE VERY EXPERIENCED IN SCHUTZHUND SPORT TRAINING FROM PUPPY UP, what do you use?

And WHERE do you get them? Otherwise I'm ordering from Germany and it ain't cheap!

I start off with a chamy(sp) or a leather/suede rag on a 4ft rope. I do this with the very young 5 wk pups. Then I will move on to just the rag or jute/leather tug. If this is a good dog, you want have any problem figuring out what to use. He will tell you what to use...most dogs with excellent drive will bite anything that they can get their mouth on. Usually if there isn't a tug or rag around, they will use your leg/pants or your arm. I have never used a hose. I'm not saying that it is bad, I just have not. Most of the time I like to use the ball on a string. It is great for building drive and focus. It is easy to throw and to hide. I use this most of the time in obedience. Some people like the tug. I know Ivan Balabonov does. He has two videos on building drive, communication, and focus. Buy them. Watch them 200 times. Practice. Bernhard Flinks has a good video too. His is building drive and it shows you how to utilize the ball on a string.

I am not sure it matters but the jute will assimilate the taste/feel of a sleeve cover best. I am not "very" experienced in schutzhund but was fairly active some years back and this was pretty much all we used then.

Go to Jim Hill's site. I think it is Kraftwerk.com or something like that. Frabo,Gappay,etc. There are plenty of distributors around the US and A, very nice! The Best place I found for those balls on the rope is Meijer. They are around $3 vs $9-$12 from the dog people. The only difference is that you have to take the bell out of the one from Meijer

At 4 weeks or so, I start them on a piece of rolled up cloth tied with string and try to get them used to a full mouth bite. They seem to understand. At 6 weeks or so, I use a piece of rolled up burlap cloth,again tied into a roll which I attach with a 4 foot long string to a dowl. As soon as they out grow that they are moved onto a roll of burlap of about 2 yards fabric rolled up and duct taped. The whole thing cost me under $10.00 and lasts until they are ready for the sleeve. So far this has worked very well. I like them to be used to the feel of the burlap because they seem to go easily to the jute later on.

Jim Hill's web address is www.hallmarkK9.com

gsdlvr2 Instead of using the dowl. Go to a TSC and get one of those 4' horse whips. You can tie right to the end of the whip. It works a lot better because it is flexible and you can get more action out of it. If you don't have a TSC or a horse/farm supply, I've seen people use fishing poles, but don't use grandpa's fly-fishing rod.

thanks spook101 p.s. the bones are in the ashtray

Thanks. I'll check them out. That's what I was wondering, too - I have heard a lot about using a jute or burlap because the transition to the sleeve is easier than going from nice soft smooth leather. Do you guys agree with that?