I was wondering what others thought about training a puppy with a puppy sleeve. Does anyone feel that starting them to early with the sleeve will aid in making them equipment oriented, especially slipping it to them, because it seems as they grow up they will not be looking to bite for the sake of the fight but because they want their favorite lifelong toy? For instance my 13week old Malinois when it comes to his Rag, upon command sits patiently waiting to hear FASS then he lunges for his bite. Of Course it was because I wanted to teach him the bite command since I knew my pup had the capacity to learn it, Now what do I do to make sure he doesn't get fixated on lunging just for toys or sleeves? Should his reward not be the sleeve(if I buy one), or rag but the praise he gets from me and maybe an occassional ball throwing?

IMO, throwing the ball has nothing to do with bite work. The reward for the dog is the prey item wheteher it's the sleeve, rag, tug, or whatever. A dog this young needs to be worked in prey. If the dog can be worked in defense later when it matures it will develop more intensity in the bark and will be more focused on the helper. Personally with my dogs, I like to keep them on the rag until after their adult teeth come in. I feel it's easier to set the grip with the rag, teaching the dog that the only way to win it is when he has it all the back in his molars. Plus I can teach the dog to counter the bite as some puppies like to bite with frontal bites. I don't see any problem teaching the dog a bite command but I'm unclear as to whether you are making the dog sit still and not try to get a bite until you give it the command. At this age it's all about building the drive. I would worry less about control. When I bring my dog out I want him to be ballistic and beside himself trying everything to get a bite. I don't want to suppress all that drive with too much control, there is plenty of time for that later. In addition, I personally wouldn't use a puppy bite sleeve until the adult teeth come in around 6 to 7 months old. Hope this helps, it is just what has worked for me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Hey thanks alot for your response. Currently I do have him sit, and wait for the command. Do you think it maybe better since I already have that control over when he bites, To play with him without having to sit but to just chase the rag and get the bite out of intensity, with an occassional wait for the command to keep the control in mind?
---Chris D

Absolutely, leave control out. You want to work on building your dog's drive first.