How to Use a Flirt Pole With a Puppy
How do you use a flirt pole with a puppy? Keep it short, slow and low. While your puppy is still growing, drag the lure slow along the ground, let them catch it a lot, and stay away from jumping, hard stops and sharp turns, cause those are the moves vets warn about with growing joints. A few minutes is plenty, and you stop while your puppy still wants more. Full-speed sessions wait until your vet says the growth plates are closed.
Why go easy on a puppy? PDSA, the UK vet charity, says a puppy’s “growth plates need to fuse before they are ready for high intensity exercise/high impact activities.” A flirt pole run at full speed is high intensity, so with a puppy you run the same tool a whole lot gentler.
Picking a pole? Go by grown weight. Under 30 lbs grown, the Standard, $55.95. 30 lbs and up, the Rugged XL, from $74.95 with free US shipping. Both have a 30-day money-back guarantee and usually ship within 2 days.
By Christopher Lee Moran, working dog trainer, about 10 years and around 400 client dogs. I’m a trainer, not a vet, and I designed the Whimsy Stick, so I’m not neutral about flirt poles. If your dog is already grown, the flirt pole training guide is the full version.
Who this is for
- You’ve got a high-energy puppy and walks alone aren’t cutting it
- You bought a flirt pole and you’re not sure your puppy is old enough
- Your puppy goes after shoelaces, pant legs and anything that moves
- You’re worried about hurting growing joints
- You want to teach wait and drop it early, while it’s still easy
- You’ve got a herding or working breed puppy that wants a job
If that’s you, the short version is that a flirt pole can work for a puppy if you slow it way down and your vet has no concerns about the joints. Most of the problems people run into come from using it on a puppy the way you’d use it on a grown dog, with the lure flying and the puppy leaping and spinning after it.
Can a puppy use a flirt pole?
Yes, and you don’t have to take my word for it. The AKC’s puppy exercise article quotes trainer Laurie Williams, who tells her students to look past the walk to games like “tugging at a toy with you, playing hide-and-seek, chasing a flirt pole, or playing tag.” VCA Animal Hospitals lists the flirt pole among toys for dogs too.
But that same VCA page tells you to avoid games where a puppy has to “jump down from heights (above elbow height particularly), leap high into the air, run fast and then stop suddenly, or change direction rapidly and repeatedly.” So the question was never really whether a puppy can use one. It’s how you move the lure.
Why the lure stays on the ground
Trainer Kirsten Belinsky put it simply in Whole Dog Journal: “Keep it low, don’t let your dog jump straight up in the air.” She also says “you want to mimic prey with the flirt pole, and prey moves on the ground.” That works out great for puppies, cause a lure sliding through the grass is exactly how you keep all four feet down. The same article points out a flirt pole can help tire out a dog that’s “too young to go for long runs or hikes.”
When can a puppy go full speed?
There’s no one birthday that works for every dog, and small breeds finish growing a lot sooner than big ones. The AKC gives these ages for when you can start jogging or running with a puppy. They’re written about running on a leash, not flirt poles, but I’d treat full-speed chase the same way, since it’s the same kind of hard, sustained effort.
| Breed size | AKC age to start running (not a flirt pole rule) | Before that |
|---|---|---|
| Small breeds | About 6 to 8 months | Slow drags, lots of catches, short sessions |
| Medium breeds | About 12 months | Slow drags, lots of catches, short sessions |
| Large breeds | About 12 to 18 months | Slow drags, lots of catches, short sessions |
| Giant breeds | About 18 to 24 months | Slow drags, lots of catches, short sessions |
The AKC’s reason is that “the soft plates on bones need time to harden,” and it warns that “too much sustained vigorous exercise before this age may lead to musculoskeletal malformations later on.” So use the table as a rough guide and let your vet make the call for your dog. Ask at a regular checkup, it’s a quick question.
How to run a puppy session, step by step
This is how I’d set up a flirt pole session for a puppy that’s still growing. None of it is complicated, but the order matters, and the whole thing should take a few minutes, not ten.
- Pick soft, flat ground. Grass or packed sand, not concrete or a slick floor. The AKC calls grass and packed sand the best surfaces to start a puppy on.
- Start with the lure still. Lay it on the ground and let your puppy sniff it and pick it up. Some puppies go nuts right away and some need a minute.
- Drag it slow, along the ground. Pull it away in a slow line through the grass so it looks like something sneaking off. Never swing it up in the air.
- Let them catch it, a lot. I’d let them win early and often, so the game stays fun and they’re not lunging and leaping at a lure they can never get.
- Use wide, easy curves. No yanking the lure back the other way and no tight circles, so your puppy isn’t slamming on the brakes or cutting hard.
- Add a little wait and drop it. Hold the lure still, wait a second for your puppy to settle, then start it moving again as the reward. Trade a treat for the lure when you want it back.
- Quit while they still want more. End on a catch and a calm moment, then put the pole away where your puppy can’t get to it.
When to stop and call the vet
Stop and check with your vet if your puppy is limping, stiff after play, or favoring a leg. Any puppy with a joint problem, an injury, or a breed your vet is watching for hips or elbows gets cleared by the vet before chase games, no matter what this page says.
What changes as your puppy grows
I don’t put hard ages on these, since a toy breed and a giant breed grow up on totally different clocks. Go by your vet and by how your puppy handles it.
Young puppy: mostly the still lure
With a young puppy I’d keep it to the lure sitting still or creeping along real slow, with plenty of catches and a trade for a treat. This is where you teach that the pole comes out, you play a little, and it goes away. Honestly the manners you build here are worth more than the exercise.
Older, still growing: slow drags and short bursts
Once your puppy is steady on their feet and knows the game, you can drag it longer and add a short quicker burst now and then, still on the ground and still on wide curves. Keep the sessions short, and watch how your puppy moves the next day. If they’re stiff, back off.
Growth plates closed: the full session
When your vet says the growth plates are closed, you can move to full sessions with the faster direction changes. That’s when the introduction ramp and how often to use a flirt pole are the next things to read.
What not to do with a puppy and a flirt pole
- Don’t lift the lure. A puppy jumping for it and landing wrong is the thing to avoid most.
- Don’t run full-speed laps. Fast loops with hard turns are exactly the “change direction rapidly and repeatedly” VCA warns about.
- Don’t play on slick floors or pavement. Puppies skid and wipe out on hardwood and tile. PDSA says to “discourage them from jumping up and skidding.”
- Don’t go till they drop. A tired puppy gets sloppy, and sloppy is when they hurt themselves.
- Don’t leave the pole lying around. Puppies chew. The writer of that Whole Dog Journal article says her own puppy took to biting the cord and nearly ripped it off the pole, so supervise every session and put it up after.
- Don’t use it to wind your puppy up right before bed. Play earlier and give them time to come down after.
If your puppy is mouthy and nipping hands more than playing, that’s its own problem, and how to stop puppy biting walks through it. For the rest of the day, how to tire out a puppy has walks, brain games and the other stuff a flirt pole doesn’t replace.
Which Whimsy Stick for a puppy
I bought the flirt poles I could find, handed them out to clients and watched what broke, then designed my own and tested it on high-drive client dogs for years before I ever sold one. There are two sizes, and I’d pick by how big your puppy is gonna be when grown, so you’re not buying twice. Under 30 lbs grown, get the Standard, with its 450-lb Kevlar line. 30 lbs and up, get the Rugged XL, one 46-inch piece of reinforced fiberglass with an 800-lb Dyneema line. Whichever one you get, the puppy rules above are what keep it safe.
The Standard
- Dogs under 30 lbs · 450-lb Kevlar line
- $20 flat US shipping, cause it goes in a longer box
Rugged XL
- Dogs 30 lbs and up · 1 lure
- 800-lb Dyneema line · free US shipping
Rugged XL + 3 Lures
- Same pole and line, 3 lures to rotate
- Dogs 30 lbs and up · free US shipping
Rugged XL Pro Kit
- The XL with 5 lures and a spare line
- Spares for a puppy that chews · free US shipping
Every order has a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you pay return shipping unless the pole failed. Orders usually ship within 2 days, and extra lures are $12.95 if your puppy wears one out.
Want more of this in your Google results? Add Whimsy Stick as a preferred source.
Puppies and flirt poles, FAQ
Can puppies use a flirt pole?
Yep. The AKC lists chasing a flirt pole as a good puppy game. You just run it slow, keep it on the ground, and skip the jumping and spinning till they’re grown.
What age can a puppy start using a flirt pole?
Gentle play with a still or slow lure can start young. Full speed is a different story, and that waits on your vet, which for a big breed can mean a year or more.
How long should a puppy flirt pole session be?
A few minutes. I’d rather do two tiny sessions in a day than one long one, and I’d always quit while the puppy’s still into it.
Is a flirt pole bad for a puppy’s joints?
The way most people swing one, it can be rough on them. Kept low and slow with wide turns, you’re cutting out the jumping, hard stops and quick turns that VCA and PDSA say to avoid.
Can I use a flirt pole inside with my puppy?
Only on a rug or something with grip, and only real slow. Hardwood and tile are where puppies skid and wipe out, so outside on grass is better.
My puppy keeps chewing the line. What do I do?
Pretty normal for a puppy. Keep the lure moving so the fun part is the lure, trade a treat for it when you’re done, and never leave the pole out where they can get to it alone.
Does a flirt pole help with puppy biting?
It gives a mouthy puppy something it’s allowed to grab during play, which is handy, but it won’t fix nipping by itself. The puppy biting guide linked above covers the rest.
Should I get the Standard or the Rugged XL for my puppy?
Go by grown weight. Under 30 lbs grown, the Standard. Headed for 30 lbs or more, the Rugged XL, so you don’t have to buy again in a few months.
Small dog now. Big chaser later.
Run it slow and low while they grow, and the same pole carries right into full sessions once your vet says go. The Rugged XL is for dogs 30 lbs and up, ships free in the US, and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Add the Rugged XL, $74.95Under 30 lbs grown? See the Standard, $55.95
Based on my own experience training dogs and the sources linked above. Not veterinary advice; ask your vet before chase games with any growing puppy. Exercise disclaimer.
