Working Dog Gear

When developing a dog for a working or high end sport role, using the right working dog gear can make the difference between your dog performing at a very average level or worse, not being prepared at all, to a dog that has developed his or her mind, body and behaviour to excel at what he or she has been taught.

Many people own working breeds as pets and this means they need gear that will stand up to their dogs needs, power, speed and strength, so this blog applies to you too!

There are pieces of equipment that we use that can accelerate the dogs learning curve to an unbelievable level and of course there is equipment that will only delay or damage training goals, the difference may be in what equipment you choose from and who you buy from.

Initially, I started with very high quality leather leashes because I simply could not find what I was looking for here and 20 years ago, buying from overseas was super expensive and risky.

Over time I found that the other gear I had was cumbersome, heavy, broke when pushed, could only be used in some weather, didn’t really fit my dog or was hard to use so I started to design my own and or source equipment that I liked using because it worked.

I have bought tens of thousands of pieces of equipment and we only sell may be 10% of that. Why? Well just because something looks like another product, doesn’t mean it will create the result in the dog you’re looking for.

An example when developing a dog to grip a sleeve, sure you can start with an adult sleeve when the dog is 6 months old, but expect to be able to see all the problems with that grip in a mature dog.

Mouthing, shallow grips, poor outs, bad targeting, displacement behaviours and weak grips etc can all come from using the wrong sleeve during development.

We only use sleeves in our work that have the texture, feel, shape and size for the dog we are working. I have used these sleeves on hundreds, maybe thousands of dogs and I can produce the results over and over again.

There are sleeves that are a must to be used in dog sports and there are sleeves that should be used in Police and Military work, the days in which the one sleeve is right for both are gone.

Some people feel that if you buy from the US or Europe, the product will be good, not so. Plenty of junk there too that is simply a cheap copy of a perhaps good product.

Harnesses are the same, we have dozens of different harnesses that we stock because the right harness can help you build your dog, the wrong one may simply cause your dog to lose drive, maybe even be injured.

At our last IPO club bite work training day, we had nearly a different harness on each dog, as the dogs are at different levels of development,

they may be working on different parts of the routine, and different ages, all these things can make a big difference.

We use Bungy cords to restrain dogs to generate  maximum drive, hard but calm grips, passive helper behaviour and they also help the dog build muscle and powerful strikes.

We use ball launchers to reward behaviours remotely, to teach the dogs to make something happen by finding an odour, barking at a helper etc.

Equipment can make or break your training, it would be very worthwhile to take a look at the equipment we supply for working and high end sport dogs.

If you are a dog handler (this article describes what we feel that is) then you have the reponsibility to get it right!

When it comes to our Working Dog Gear, we can guarantee you that: –

• Every piece of equipment we sell has been tested and is used somewhere in the development of our own dogs and training of clients dogs.
• We have culled out more equipment than we stock because we found that we could achieve better results without it or with something

  

  else.

• We supply equipment to many Government Departments including Police, Military, Air Force, AQIS, Customs, Border Patrol, Animal Shelters etc so we are price conscious to make sure that department budgets can be met whilst still receiving the best quality gear.
• We have our own designs and also build custom gear for departments for bigger orders too when they need special features not found on standard products.
• We understand the needs of Handlers who train and work Police, Military, Air Force, Security and high end sport dogs because we train and handle these too and achieve super results.
• We understand that the equipment must be durable and fit for purpose and one problem we have is that the gear we supply will often last many times what other brands do!
• We only buy dog sports gear from suppliers that have tested their gear on the world stage in terms of dog sports and the gear is being used in many countries around the world. Then we test it here!
• We can guide you on the best gear for your training and we can help you learn how to use it if you need to as well.

Many people are not aware that K9Pro are a major supplier of working dog gear in Australia and surrounding countries, if you want the best, we have it!

Get the top level performance from your dog!