This is the first soft arm to use with your puppy and can be done at the same time as tug training or when you are using a Bite Rag. We have used this sleeve on our puppies as young as 6 weeks old. (Of course you need to take into account that pups this young are only babies. We never promote tug or bite work while a pup is teething.) The idea behind using a Puppy Soft Sleeve with your young pup is to do imprint training to build a strong foundation in your dog. It helps to build confidence and to develop a full grip as well as exposing your dog to different surfaces/textures in bite work.

The name for this sleeve can be misleading. This sleeve is made from very durable synthetic material (the same as the material used in body bite suits.) In fact, it is similar in design to a sleeve off of a body bite suit. This sleeve is ambidextrous and can be used on either the right or left arm. This Puppy Soft Sleeve is only designed to cover and protect the forearm. There is no handle inside for grip as there is in the larger soft sleeves.

The foundation to bite training is done is small incremental steps. Young pups start bite work on a soft Leather Bite Rag and then graduate to a short puppy tug or this Puppy Soft Sleeve (shown on this page). From there the dogs are moved on to a Young Dog Soft Sleeve , then to the Intermediate Soft Arm , then to a Body Bite Suit and/or a Hard Arm and finally a Hidden Sleeve or muzzle.

The step from the Puppy Soft Sleeve to the Young Dog Soft Sleeve is made when the young dogs mouth and jaw structure is big enough to grab and hold the sleeve. This is usually around 6 months of age. The transition to the Intermediate Soft Arm is then done between 7-12 months of age, depending on the dogs skill level. If you have any questions about this see my DVD titled The First Steps of Bite Training.

The fact that a soft sleeve allows the dog to feel movement inside the sleeve as the helper vocalizes during the bite is often seen as an advantage to a dog that is being trained for personal protection and police work. Often times, dogs that are only trained on hard sleeves have a problem when they first grip a suspect because they have never bit into something soft that moves. The use of soft sleeves can help get you over this hurdle.

In the photo above it shows the size differnce between
the Puppy Soft Sleeve and the Intermediate Soft Sleeve.

In the photo above you can see the reinforced stitching used on all of the Soft Sleeves
that Leerburg has to offer.

The picture above shows the interior of the sleeve and the padding provided for protection.