I don't see a problem in decoying your own dog if it's in prey... NEVER defense. I have a couple of sleeves here and a leg sleeve that I play with my dog on, n my puppy hangs off my pant legs all day long. The dog is 9 months old.. I would have put the dog on a sleeve months ago as soon as the mouth is big enough to bite on a puppy sleeve. Keep it all play play play, get her used to feeling an arm under the sleeve when she bites, play tug, swing the pup off the ground. Run away with your arm off to the side n let the pup try to bite while you're in motion. Put the pup in a down/stay accross a field 50ft from you then give a "take it" command n get the dog used to running long distances to bite.
I've seen professionals decoy their own dog in prey wearing a bite suit with someone else handling the dog, as long as there's no defense it doesn't matter. Some people don't like the idea of their dog learning to bite the handler... but I don't see a problem, dogs know the difference between real and fake.
Bare in mind, I would never do this with a very defensive dog who associates equipment with defensive behavior since even if you're not using defensive pressure, the dog is still in defense... but for a prey dog, no problem.
I've seen professionals decoy their own dog in prey wearing a bite suit with someone else handling the dog, as long as there's no defense it doesn't matter. Some people don't like the idea of their dog learning to bite the handler... but I don't see a problem, dogs know the difference between real and fake.
Bare in mind, I would never do this with a very defensive dog who associates equipment with defensive behavior since even if you're not using defensive pressure, the dog is still in defense... but for a prey dog, no problem.