Sorry for the ** in title but reddit keeps auto deleting my post and I can't figure out why.
I've been avoiding this for a while now, I focused more on other things but sooner or later I'll have to work on our nemesis.
Our issue is that everything he gets inside his mouth gets chewed. I've made some throwable sticks with a broom I cut and christ they look like swiss cheese. I partially saw some improvements when we did a bunch of water rescue exercises and a 6kg dumbbell was used, that one wasn't fun to chew so he did it way less.
So my question would be: should I start using very heavy dumbbels(compared to competition ones) or is it better to use a more slippery handle, keping the same weight, to 'force' him out of the chewing habit?
Couple workshops I went to had me reward him as soon as he bit the handle, anticipating his getting excited for the piece of wood he could shred, then I could slowly go for a proper retrieve but knowing my dog I doubt that would work, as I've seen the couple times we tried it he'd try eating the treat with the handle still inside his mouth, so he'd still be chewing and I'd rather not reinforce that even more.
Others told me to kinda tug it away from him, rewarding the moment he clamps down real hard but as soon as I stop pulling he starts chewing,
Any tips?
submitted by /u/Sberlife28
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