dumbbells
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I am glad you are asking...I wanted to know this too!
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I prefer wood for Caleb cause he plays too much with the plastic. I use it in training just so he learns he still has to retrieve whatever is out there.
You want the ends large enough they can pick it up off the floor easily. I prefer a larger dowel in the center so they don't roll and play with it in their mouths. You want it wide enough that they can carry it comfortably that it is not loose and flapping around.
I'm sure someone has a nice scientific way of measuring! ;D
You want the ends large enough they can pick it up off the floor easily. I prefer a larger dowel in the center so they don't roll and play with it in their mouths. You want it wide enough that they can carry it comfortably that it is not loose and flapping around.
I'm sure someone has a nice scientific way of measuring! ;D
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I prefer plastic dumbbells for my kids, 'cause they tend to mouth with the wood ones (comes from a stick chewing tendency in puppyhood I think). Wooden ones tend to bounce less in the ring however. Wood ones though *may* break though. (had that happen to a friend when she was in the Open ring. The dog brought back both pieces!) For the most part, it's whatever works for you and your dog.
This is an *o.k.* fit on Hoss. The bell sides are flared, so it is comfy for him. Dumbbells with straight bell sides are harder to fit for him 'cause he's got a big face. You can't see it very well from this pict, but the bit/dowel is again an *o.k.* fit, as the canines just barely over lap each other.
The other thing to consider is if the bells are large enough. The dogs nose should come just to the edge of the bells, so that he/she does not bump the nose against the floor as they pick up the dumbbell. For labs some of this may be irrelevant, 'cause of their enthusiasm in retrieving.
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This is an *o.k.* fit on Hoss. The bell sides are flared, so it is comfy for him. Dumbbells with straight bell sides are harder to fit for him 'cause he's got a big face. You can't see it very well from this pict, but the bit/dowel is again an *o.k.* fit, as the canines just barely over lap each other.
The other thing to consider is if the bells are large enough. The dogs nose should come just to the edge of the bells, so that he/she does not bump the nose against the floor as they pick up the dumbbell. For labs some of this may be irrelevant, 'cause of their enthusiasm in retrieving.
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Belles mom said:I prefer plastic dumbbells for my kids, 'cause they tend to mouth with the wood ones (comes from a stick chewing tendency in puppyhood I think). Wooden ones tend to bounce less in the ring however. Wood ones though *may* break though. (had that happen to a friend when she was in the Open ring. The dog brought back both pieces!) For the most part, it's whatever works for you and your dog.
This is an *o.k.* fit on Hoss. The bell sides are flared, so it is comfy for him. Dumbbells with straight bell sides are harder to fit for him 'cause he's got a big face. You can't see it very well from this pict, but the bit/dowel is again an *o.k.* fit, as the canines just barely over lap each other.
The other thing to consider is if the bells are large enough. The dogs nose should come just to the edge of the bells, so that he/she does not bump the nose against the floor as they pick up the dumbbell. For labs some of this may be irrelevant, 'cause of their enthusiasm in retrieving.
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Karen, I love the look on his face!!!!! What a hoot! I have a custom made wood dumbbell. He uses the gorilla glue so they don't come apart! I did buy one that was one piece and here a chunk came out of the end. Lew glued it for me. I like that the wood ones don't bounce as much. They still bounce though. As Karen said, you'll find what works best for your dog. One lady I know, each of her dogs has prefered something different so she goes according to what the dog works best with.
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Hehehehehe.....Yellow Boys Mom said:
We were in the midst of the *hold* part of force fetching, and to say he was a tad bored would be an understatement. I think in the lst picture he's saying *GET THIS FREAKING thing out of my mouth!!!!!*
Max 200 has a really good diagram for measuring. It isn't on line though so you'd have to call them and have them send it to you. I may have it at home. I'll try to remember to look for it tonight.
Basically, (I'm trying to do this from memory) get a wooden dowel and place it in the dogs mouth. Measure from each edge of the dog's mouth. That is your bar length. Next measure from the tip of the dog's nose to the dowel. This is 1/2 the bell height. For the bar diameter, you'll have to experiment. Murray mouths his articles which have a smaller diameter than his dumbbell so I will be buying new articles this summer with a wider diameter bar.
Murray prefers the plastic to wood. He mouthed the wooden DB horribly. The other issue with wood is that it shows the teeth marks so if you hand your wooden DB to the judge and he notices lots of teeth marks, he's going to be carefully watching for mouthing on the retrieve. Remember the cardinal rule of obedience...don't make the judge think.
Basically, (I'm trying to do this from memory) get a wooden dowel and place it in the dogs mouth. Measure from each edge of the dog's mouth. That is your bar length. Next measure from the tip of the dog's nose to the dowel. This is 1/2 the bell height. For the bar diameter, you'll have to experiment. Murray mouths his articles which have a smaller diameter than his dumbbell so I will be buying new articles this summer with a wider diameter bar.
Murray prefers the plastic to wood. He mouthed the wooden DB horribly. The other issue with wood is that it shows the teeth marks so if you hand your wooden DB to the judge and he notices lots of teeth marks, he's going to be carefully watching for mouthing on the retrieve. Remember the cardinal rule of obedience...don't make the judge think.
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