[jazzking1971]

speaking of pressure... you can see it in young dogs when you work them with the tug on the end of a line. The dog might chase and bite but when the helper creeps up the line you can see the stress in the eyes, tail and ears...the pup may start to whine or growl with anxiousness and then may get chewy, loosen the grip or drop the tug.

Helpers work help the pups work through this by easing the pressure with prey drive. The dog begins to think..."that's not so bad, I'm not going to get hurt" after enough sessions the helper can get close to the pup while she has a firm and full grip... then you start over with a larger prey item. eventually you'll get to a bite pillow, puppy sleeve and then a puppy sleeve on the arm and then an intermediate sleeve on the arm etc... good helpers are key in progressing a young dog. Just putting on a sleeve doesnt mean you're a helper. You have to be able to read the dog. I don't understand why some people don't understand that. You wouldn't pick up a guitar and go to a recording session if you didn't know how to read music....