At what age is it okay to start a Pup on doing some work for instance on a sleeve, Does it have to go through a different period of Training before the Dog gets to that stage, Fred is 7.5 months old and has a fearsome grip on the Obly Ball He will turn himself inside out to keep it He never Snarls or makes a sound but grips like a leech but will realease it on the command 'UIT',
Plus is there a good DVD which will start this sort of work right from the very beginning for learners to this sport because you will know by reading this letter i do not have any idea but desperatly wants to know and learn
Thank you

Hi Stephen,

I don't think you should worry too much about the sleeve right now as your dog is still quite young.

I'm a Schutzhund beginner/novice/learning from scratch and from all the info I've read and gathered in preparation for my dog, your dog can see a sleeve when it's ready. So in short listen to your trainer and you'll not go far wrong.

I know there are people who advocate getting puppies on sleeves very early but I think this may be more geared towards Personal Protection type training.

Also, there may well be people who start puppies very young in some sports but this could be down to the level of expertise and experience of the trainers and also the temperament of the dog.

There are stages of manwork I believe, and from the training I've seen both in person and on video your dog may or may not be ragged, then progress to bite pillow (which may be on a rope to begin with then in the trainers hands) then a young dog sleeve (not seen much of this yet) then you take it from there.

Don't rush into this training or you could create a problem for your dogs confidence. Your trainer will be the best person to tell you what your dog needs and when.

Cheers

John

The main reasons why most dogs are not on a sleeve that young are...
1. The pup's mouth is not large enough to grip properly, and you do not want to encourage the habit of only a frontal bite.
2. The pup is not big enough to carry the sleeve with his head up and the sleeve not dragging on the ground, and you do not hant to encourage the habit of chewing and tearing with the sleeve on the ground.

From what I've seen most pups at that age are on a bite pillow or tug after starting on a rag. A good helper/trainer will tell you what he should be on and adjust accordingly. That is not to say that there are no pups out there that cannot handle a sleeve at 7 months, but I would leave that decision up to a seasoned helper.

In NVBK bitework begins at the age of 6 weeks. from 8 weeks or so we transfere to a puppysleeve and at 10 weeks, depending on the dog we put them on a legsleeve.

Greetings

Johan

PS untill 9 or 10 weeks i let them bite on my arm trough the sleeve of my sweatshirt. Is smaller and gives better controle over the bite.

Thanks for the information, It all helps to get it right