New Dumbbell

I received Red's very first dumbbell today. And what fast service! I just ordered it on Monday the 19th, and its Thursday the 22nd! And they said they had to specially make mine because they didn't have one in stock in this size with the knurled bar.

It's from Max200, and its a plastic, high angle, 6cm bar x 8cm high, with a knurled (textured) bar. I went for plastic instead of wood, but the less "chewable" it is, the better. When I originally measured him using the technique they list on their site, I was coming up with a bite width of 8cm. But I called and spoke to a guy and he thought a 6cm bar would be a good fit. Taking his word for it, I went ahead and ordered it. I got it and thought it was going to be too small. But I took pics and posted them for the DT people to assess, and they think it fits great.





Red still doesn't really "get" what he's supposed to do with it. At first, I could barely force him to keep it in his mouth long enough for me to take some pics. Then he would take it, but would drop it and start trying to chew on the edges. I think he thinks its a toy he is supposed to be allowed to chew. There are already some good teeth gouges in it...



I tried click/treat for him touching it, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it when he knows I have treats and a clicker in my hand. He kept trying to "shake" to earn treats...lol. So I stopped doing that and started having him take it and then I would bust out and act like a complete retard - laughing and praising at the top of my voice, jumping around and playing with him. Allt he while he pranced around with it in his mouth. Then he got a good jackpot of treats. After a couple rounds, he started to seek out the dumbbell because it equals fun/good things =)

Here's where we are right now - Red understands how to grip it now and that it is not a chew toy.



So a loooong way to go, but it should be fun to start learning something new =)