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A decent quality slip chain is essential. Rottweilers are known to break choke chains like a you would break a piece of thread.

Make sure that the slip chain is made out of a strong metal and that the links on the choke chain are welded close.

Choosing the correct size:

• There are many different lengths of slip chain. 

• Follow these guidelines to select the correct length for your dog. 

• The slip chain should have at least 8 to 10 cm to spare after slipping the chain around the dog's neck

• DO NOT select a slip chain that is too tight. You don't want your dog to be constantly choked. 

There are many different types of leads. We would suggest that you get yourself a leash that is made out of webbing. They are strong and are easily manageable.

DO NOT get a lead that is made out of chain as this will hurt your hands during training.

It is important to bring your dog's own water bowl and water.

Dogs drinking from the same water bowl is one of the easiest ways to spread disease. Also, the area that you live in might have a different quality of water than at the training grounds. This might upset your dog's stomach.

Our Training is motivational based. In other words, the dog does different actions for a reward.

There are  many different ways to motivate your dog. You will need to find what your dog responds well to.

Motivation is normally divided into two groups: Food and toys.

Food:

• Food is the easiest motivation for your dog. It should however be broken into two groups: High motivation and low motivation.

• Low motivation: This is normally something that the dog is used to and gets on a reasonably regular basis. However, it should not be his normal day to day food. Eg. Dog pellets. Rather use something like a dog treat or biscuit.

• High motivation: This must be something very special. Eg. Small pieces of chicken breast, Liver, Biltong, etc. It is used when your dog needs a lot of motivation to overcome an obstacle.

Toys

• Some dogs are just not driven by food. For them a toy  will most probably do the trick. You will need to find the toy that your dog enjoys the most. Eg. Tennis ball, old shoe, soft toy, squeaky, etc.

A dumbbell is used for retrieval purposes. However, in the beginning of retrieval training it is not necessary to use a dumbbell for retrieval. Any toy that your dog enjoys is acceptable.

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A harness is fitted around the dog's body and is normally used during protection training.

The main reason for using a harness, is not to hurt the dog during protection training. At no stage would you want the dog to jump forward to "arrest" the criminal and in the process have the slip chain pull tight. The dog will think he is doing wrong.