Dog Lure Stick

This stick is used to help train your dog with treat based positive reinforcement. I first saw this method used on the television show " Lucky Dog ". The one I made is from a telescopic magnet. It's 8" long retracted and 30" extended.

Basically it's a extension of your hand and you can use it to lure the dog to the treat rather then have him/her pull on the walk. You can also use it to distract the dog from other dogs, animals, cars, bikes, runners, etc if he or she is aggressive or reactive.

Brandon McMillan is the dog trainer and star of the Lucky Dog Show. Here's a video of him explaining and demonstrating it's uses.

Lure Stick

I'm a fan of him and the show.

It's primary use is to pick up metal things that fall to the floor or somewhere you can't reach. I wanted to still be able to use it for that purpose when I wasn't using it to train the dogs. So I decided to attach a clip with a magnet and have it be attracted to the magnet in the wand.

The Magnetic Wand, the Magnets and the clip were materials I had on hand and already purchased.

I tried different clips but couldn't use any I had on hand. All the clips had to much spring pressure and would either "snap" closed and startle the dogs or they would get pulled off the wand. I ended up using a clothes pin.

I had some 2 part epoxy glue left over from a previous project. So I used it to attach the magnet. I also put some on the end of the spring to keep it in place and stabilize any sideways movement. I used a second magnet as a clamp to pull the first one onto the wood until the glue dried.

The pin had just a little to much spring pressure. Using a file to notch the jaws made it easier to load the treat. It also made the treat release easier.

Using the other 2 magnets between the wand and the pin really holds the clothes pin on tight. But I can still pull them off and use the wand for it's original purpose.

The first time I offered Sam my almost 10 year old chocolate lab the treat on the stick she was a little suspicious of it. But she's a foodie and was quickly following it. I give her the Milk Bone mini treats so the clip/pin was sized for that. You could also use something more attractive to the dogs then a dry biscuit. Hot dog pieces, bologna, etc.

I think this tool is useful and could be helpful. It's certainly not my invention, just my version.

There are a lot of methods, techniques and tools to train you dog. This could be another to add to your arsenal.

Thank for looking.