# Utility articles and utility gloves



## lily cd re

I am thrilled to see that you are looking ahead to utility. My articles are dumbbell style articles, although my metals that I was using before I switched to wood were made by myself from mason jar rings. I also made my wood articles. 

You have a choice to use any two of three materials, leather, metal and wood. Many people I know have switched to wood from metal. You will get articles with bars that are a bit longer than the dumbbell bar that is the right size for Babykins. If you can find white gloves in Lowes you can use those. They do have to be real gloves that you could put your hand into. Some people I know use smaller (child size) white fancy dress gloves for smaller dogs.


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## reraven123

The different types of articles are meant for types of dogs that have different muzzle shapes. You would pick the articles you think would be easiest for your dog to pick up. For instance, if you had a flat faced dog like a pug you might get the dumbells with three bars. For a poodle I don't think it matters at all, they can pick up just about anything pretty easily. You don't actually have to buy them, you could use spoons or jar lids or anything that you can get six identical ones of. You can use any old white glove, don't have to get "official" obedience ones.


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## Skylar

Thanks for responding so quickly. I think I'll stick with wood and leather - metal can leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth.

My trainers share that concept of looking ahead to utility. It's fun and breaks up the boring heeling plus I can see where perfecting some of these exercises takes a long time so we might as well be working on them now. One of the dogs in my class is refusing to take the dumbbell - it's so helpful to work on that now rather than wait till you are in the CDX class. Babykins doesn't like to hold the dumbbell at the end in front position - she wants to hand it off right away - we're working on hold and I'll start to raise the panel jump up a few inches to her full height slowly. I love this approach.


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## Skylar

reraven123, thanks for your input. That makes sense to have shapes appropriate for the dog's muzzle to make it easier for them to pick them up. I think then I'll stick to dumbbell she is used to that and have no problems with that shape.

And that's what I figured - any cotton glove should work and will probably be cheaper than buying "special" gloves. I may consider smaller children's gloves - I don't want her having to deal with a glove that is too large.


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## lily cd re

Skylar I have a couple of thoughts related to articles this morning. First, you should see if someone has metals from any of the big suppliers that they can let you try with to see how your girl responds to the aluminum. I am pretty convinced that Lily had a galvanic reaction to aluminum since she acted like I was trying to poison her when I worked on metal articles with my original set with her. I actually had my vet check her teeth one time when I was struggling with what to do and still before you could use wood. When I made the mason jar articles (steel, not aluminum) she got it in a week.

Also here is another source for articles that many people I see at trials have. Mel Stanley and Company Home And one more that makes really nice articles and dumbbells. Dog Training Treasures - Utility Scent Articles


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## Skylar

Catherine, thanks for those additional links. OMG that last one had gorgeous articles and dumbbells - so fancy. I guess if you train with these for years, you might have use something beautiful to work with.


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## lily cd re

Those are beautiful aren't they? I might get a set of leathers for Javelin when he is further along. Have you ever seen pictures of Lily's leathers? I had them made by a person who I see at trials. Unfortunately she has stopped producing them because the person she got the leather articles from to do the art stopped making them. They are really solid. I wish I could get a set for Javelin from her, but I will have to think towards something else.


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## Skylar

No I haven't seen them. Please post a photo here. I think I'll buy something basic because I need them soon.


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## spindledreams

Wry grin something you may not have thought of is you also need a bag for those articles. Those can be as plain or fancy as you want. You do want something you can recognize if it gets mixed up with others during the exercises. Also many of the ones I have handled as steward will have two to four compartments. Gloves go in one, leather/wood articles in the other and they often have a separate compartment for us to put the used scent articles in to keep them separate from the unscented articles.


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## lily cd re

True spindledreams about bags. Even just locally at the placees I train there are two of us who have exactly the same article and gear bags in the same color. I put Vera Bradley luggage tags on mine.

Skylar you should also think about having extra articles for down the road if you do more than one show in a weekend. You will want to be able to "retire" Saturday's articles on Sunday.

I keep my articles in my car so they don't get overscented by household smells like cooking. When I go out later I will take some pictures of Lily's articles.


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## Skylar

spindledreams, I'm so glad you mentioned the bag to carry them. I didn't realized it was important to get a bag that kept them organized. I will look for that.

And haha - I'll stick something memorable on it, like Catherine, so I don't have someone walking off with my bag by mistake.


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## lily cd re

Here are some pictures.

These are a sampling of Lily's leather articles. I have a set of nine and each is unique since the flowers are different and different colors. The patterns of the stars are also different. I am really sorry I won't be able to get a similar set for Javelin, which I think would have had moons and stars since his registered name is Madela's Black Moon Rising.

















I made these wood articles and have a similar set for Javelin only his stars are silver.









Here is the article bag I have.


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## Skylar

Wow, those leather articles are beautiful - clearly made by an artisan. It is too bad that you won't be able to have a similar set made for Javelin. Maybe you'll find someone else doing similar work.

And that bag looks exactly like the one my trainer has to carry her dog's articles.


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