dumbell question

[debbiej]

I need to order a dumbell for hilda's 'spring semester'. I'm wanting to verify what they told me. have her hold a dowel in her mouth, mark where her lips touch and order the size in inches. they also suggested j and j to order from. I may be measuring her wrong, but what I measured, 4 1/2 ". surely other dogs bigger than rotts use these things, but the largest I am finding is 4".
also, since I am ordering one, I will get one for boris, and his mouth is even bigger. is 4" big enough?

[RottiMomCT]

Ben's dumbell is 8x5...I got it at a dog show from the Max200 folks. I'm assuming it's 8 inches long total length and 5 inches long at the bar part that goes iin his mouth - either way he HATES the thing!!!

[debbiej]

strange, hilda really wanted the other dog's dumbells in class. probably because attracting attention was involved. but some of the dogs owners had the hardest time making the dog take the dumbell. must be like young kids watching big sis or bro go to school, they want to do it till they 'have to'.

I've been trying some of the things we did in class with other objects, but I'm supposed to have this dumbell.....

anyway where else can one get these things?

[miccmill]

Originally Posted by debbiej

strange, hilda really wanted the other dog's dumbells in class. probably because attracting attention was involved. but some of the dogs owners had the hardest time making the dog take the dumbell. must be like young kids watching big sis or bro go to school, they want to do it till they 'have to'.

I've been trying some of the things we did in class with other objects, but I'm supposed to have this dumbell.....

anyway where else can one get these things?

Debbie, I don't know if you have time to order online but here is a line to a site in the UK. http://www.petplanet.co.uk/shop_stor..._Aids_d17.html

or just do a google search saying "dog training dumbell" you should get specific returns.

[Judi W]

Everyone uses the same sized dumbell at my house. The bar is 3 3/4 inches and the ends 2 1/2 inches.

[Patty1231]

Rocco's is only 3" at the bit. I had a larger one but I left it at class one night and it didn't show up the next week - only the 3" was left unattended. I've been using that with plans to order a larger one but he has no problems using the 3".

[Miabella]

Ilsa's dumbell has 3" ends and a 3 1/2" bit.

[debbiej]

well, then a 3 or 3 1/2 should be just fine. I know she isn't a huge headed rottie. I must be measuring wrong. thanks!

[Judi W]

Well, mine work for my boys just a well as the bitches.

[hcelsa]

Personally rather than waiting/ordering something special I'd go pick one up at a local pet store (and then by all means feel free to order a special one...but don't feel like you HAVE too to be successful!). But then again, I've never worried about exact sizing or anything like that with dumbells, and think sometimes we humans tend to think we need the "best" when the readily available model is completely fine.

For what it's worth I usually use a cheap generic sized white plastic one that you can pick up at most dog show vendors and/or pet stores (and because they can bounce more erratically than a nice, expensive wood one I teach my dogs that if they go out over the jump they are to come back over the jump even if it means going out of their way to get back to me). My dogs are all extremely into retrieving, so all the variables don't really matter as long as there is a dumbell out there to retrieve (I've borrowed dumbells of multiple sizes, and materials...and it doesn't change the performance).

Oh, and mine also work just as well for all the dogs in my house...I've never felt the need to have a special one for Arnie even though he's male/bigger (though we do have a SchII dumbell that a friend gave me...and he loves to puff his chest out and carry that one around ).

[Judi W]

I agree with Becky. Back in the early 80's it was popular to go through all that measuring and get custom sized dumbells. I did that once! The only difference was you then had a dumbell that costs about 5 times as much as the nice perfectly acceptable "generic" one you can get at the show vendors. I have plastic and wood but prefer the wood ones.

[fbkeays]

Both Duncan and Fizbin use a #7 db from J and J, while Misty uses the #6. The boys will pick up Misty's in a pinch, but they don't hold it firmly. The #7 is 4" long bit x 3/4" diameter. The #6 is 3 1/2" long bit and also 3/4" diameter.
At the 2003 ARC nationals we left with two #7 and one #6 dumbbell in the car. By the time we got to CO, we only had one #6 dumbbell. My husband had agreed to trial Duncan in obedience and then was having second thoughts. He figured if he "lost" Duncan's dumbells that he couldn't compete. WRONG
When it came time to go into the ring, Misty was in open B and Duncan in open A. They would be in the ring at the same. I told my judge that we had a dumbbell conflict, one dumbbell two dogs in two rings at about the same time. The judge shook her head, said that was a first and went outside for a smoke.
Duncan retrieved the smaller dumbbell just fine, much to my husband's disappointment. The next day we also had the same conflict.
Misty is very picky about her dumbbells and prefers the J and J Invince-A-Bells. Duncan will only retrieve a white dumbbell. Fizbin prefers wood, the bigger the better.

[damp]

e.g:
In SchH there are 3 different sizes of dumbells: 650 gram. (1.4 lbs.) 1 kilo ( 2.2lbs) and 2 kilo (4.4lbs) and noone cares about the shape, only the weight.

Also at competitions, you are not always allowed to use your own dumbell(s). All dogs (hopefully) retrive the same dumbells.
If a dog loves to retrieve, it doesen't care (and should not) about the form and shape of the dumbell.

I use a 650 gram dumbell for training and it has outlived a few dogs.

[debbiej]

I have looked at evey pet store in my town and stores when we go out of town, but none have obedience dumbells. not petco, petsmart or several non chain pet stores. the woman who holds the classes has a pet store and she told me to order it from J&J. they all acted like you "don't share dumbells" like you "don't share toothbrushes". when a woman with a boxer was going to let hilda use her dog's dumbell.

competition may be a moot point, since I don't know if hilda can or will be allowed to jump. but I'd like to work with her on it anyway. the instructor said she can do eveything but the proper height jumping, and we can lower the jumps. boris I know can do it. but we are at square one with him. so I'm sure I'll go ahead and order two.

[flyballmom]

Hey Debbie, check out locally owned mom and pop places. I have this (hopefully this link will work)
http://www.jjdog.com/Merchant2/merch...umbbellsMOLWPD
The PetSmarts and PetCo here don't carry them anymore either, but I picked one up at a feed and tack store for 10 bucks. (It's a large.)