Freeman Y-Pole

The Y-Pole is one of the most versatile, mis-understood, and under-utilized tools in our industry. This pole was originally designed to work with captive wolves, and it still works perfectly for this application. With other species, its use is a bit more varied.

Think of the Y-Pole as primarily a "distance maintaining" tool. Safe handling is fundamentally maintaining an appropriate distance from an animal. We don't have to solve all animal problems and resolve all scenarios instantly by controlling an animal. Oftentimes we can do better by moving an animal to a neutral, safe, capture-friendly or otherwise better location (e.g. into another room, into a fenced area, away from a cliff or pool, etc). 

This tool can be used for assessing bite threshold, breaking up fights, defensively to prevent bites, and to keep a dog's mouth busy while applying a control or leash pole. 

This tool is not meant to be used as a pinning tool, though there are a couple of applications where that may be appropriate, such as in conjunction with chemical immobilization or if an animal is badly injured and still partly mobile (e.g. animal hit by car). 

Y-Poles can be used indoors and outdoors, in the field and in the shelter. They can be used to encourage an animal to enter or exit a crate, building, vehicle, or other space, and it's one of the best tools you can have to protect yourself in case of a dangerous dog encounter (keep that mouth busy with something other than your body!). 

With so many applications, this is one tool you don't want to be without! We recommend at least one per vehicle, one per clinic space, and at least one per kennel section as part of a fight/attack response kit.