Ever Used a Flirt Pole? (4iC)

 I made one after seeing it on "he that shall not be named's" show the other day and both dogs love it. Gunnar goes after it like crazy, even leaping into the air and doing backflips, Hektor loves to chase it along the ground or a little above eye level but he will not jump high for it, he waits for Gunnar to grab it then tries to take it away.

dgriego

I made one after seeing it on "he that shall not be named's" show the other day

That's where I saw it! I had never seen nor heard of it before.

  Voldemort has his own show now?  LOL

FourIsCompany

dgriego

I made one after seeing it on "he that shall not be named's" show the other day

 

That's where I saw it! I had never seen nor heard of it before.

Come on, don't you people have cats?   I've never heard the term flirt pole but we do use cat toys for the dogs and cats. I used to do a little bit of jump work with Sasha (a rope and a ball) but after she hurt her back leg in an unrelated activity, I stopped encouraging her to jump.  She's a sproingy dog, and loves flirt pole type stuff.

I've been planning on making Eko a lure coursing pole.  Similar to a flirt pole, but with a plastic bag on the end and not used for jumping. Chasing only.

Today's adventures with a flirt pole included on this thread: http://forum.dog.com/forums/p/71181/554037.aspx#554037 

For our first session with it we just did some chasing, no jumping really (except incidentally). I'm on concrete here but we were just giving it a couple minute try, future play will be on the lawn.  

Also if anyone has ever been curious about what Marlowe sounds like when he vocalizes, turn your volume "up to 11" and watch that little movie. 

Dog_ma

Come on, don't you people have cats?

LOL Yes! I do! And I've used it with cats for years. It just never occurred to me that a dog would like it.

Now I feel like an idiot! Thanks, Dog_ma!

I made a new one today with a 6' PVC pipe and a 12' length of rope (6 feet of which is inside the pipe) and a old rag. It works great. I realize I never taught B'asia to "let go". She has never played tug or anything like that, so I never taught her to let go. Now, I have to.  She's SO fast, she catches the rag before I can get it away from her.

Dog_ma

Come on, don't you people have cats?  

 Nope, I am not a cat person and have only ever owned one cat in my entire life and that was really the DH's cat.

In greyhound-land, we just call those lure poles 

yeah, they are fun, but be careful- don't use it for continuous long periods of time, all those tight circles and turns can damage a dog's body, particularly a puppy.

FourIsCompany

Dog_ma

Come on, don't you people have cats?

 

LOL Yes! I do! And I've used it with cats for years. It just never occurred to me that a dog would like it.

Now I feel like an idiot! Thanks, Dog_ma!

Oh, don't worry. I'm no genius. The dogs always wanted in on the cat games. The cats did not approve.

 i also have the cat version (we had 2 cats before we ever owned a dog)

most of the time Zoey will take a cat toy with catnip over a dog toy anyday! lol 

ours is called a "cat charmer" and it doesn't have anything on the end. it's just a long skinny piece of fabric, almost like a piece of material pj pants are made of.

i do like the idea of making a dog-version one tho.... i can only imagine Zoey doing little wishbone flips for it hahaha...
 

Well my husband just made the perfect flirt pole for Kord.

You need:

One broken shock cord tent pole. (Broke in a rain storm our first time out, replaced for free, but not expensive to buy).

One item for bait, for us, a ball. Needs a little "weight" to it.

Use which ever end is tied and 2 additional sections, for a total of 3 sections (more if you want it longer). Remove the rest of the pieces, let shock cord extend out. Securely attach bait. Have fun.

It works really well, the shock cording is elastic so if it gets caught it stretches and gives you time to recover and call for a release, and the poles are made to endure a lot of bend.

I was really please with it, and let me tell you, so was Kord.

Truley, don't suppose you have any pictures or video to share? I would love to see Kord in action!

I used a 6' PVC pole (also somewhat flexible) a 12 foot rope, threaded through the pole, so it sticks out one end 6 feet. It's knotted on the "person" end to prevent it slipping through the hole. And a tug toy on the opposite end.

I will see what I can come up with, my yard is nothing but mud at the moment, I can do video but no sound since it is off the camera.

Will check out some options when I can this week.

My puppies play with the long lunge whip I use for defense against the rams in certain situations.  This provides exercise and a fun outlet for some impulse control exercises.  It also teaches them that the whip is not Evil.