How to Break In & Care for a Bite Suit

Like any piece of K9 equipment, bite suits require routine care to ensure they last for years and are as effective as possible. Two of the most important care items are breaking the suit in and properly storing it after each bite training session.

The good news for dog trainers is that both of these steps are fairly straightforward and are made even easier with products from Ray Allen Manufacturing.

Breaking In Your New Bite Suit

The first thing you’ll notice when you purchase a new, handmade bite suit is that it’s flat. The simple explanation for this is that it’s sewn on a flat surface.

As you can imagine, wearing a flat piece of K9 gear on your arms, torso, and legs isn’t all that comfortable. Additionally, a flat bite suit isn’t effective for bite training because K9s are trained to go after round human bodies and not flat inanimate objects.

Like we touched on above, breaking in a bite suit is one of the easiest things you can do. All you need to do is put the suit on and let your K9 go to town on it during training.

The weave will begin to break down as your K9 drives at and chomps down on the suit. The material that was once stiff and flat will conform to your decoy’s body with continuous use. It might take a while, but the suit will eventually be more comfortable to wear and be more effective during bite training.

Keep in mind that this practice applies to all bite suits. But if you’re still deciding which Ray Allen bite suit to buy, be sure to check out our Dog Bite Suit Buyer’s Guide to learn a bit more about our top picks.

Proper Bite Suit Storage

If you’ve ever done any bite training work, you know that it’s a sweaty job. Simply wearing that protective gear is hot enough as it is. And when you pair that with all of the movement required to train a working dog, you climb out of that suit looking like you just hopped out of a swimming pool!

A quick shower can get rid of the sweat from your body, but that moisture will stay on the suit for days (or even weeks) if it’s bunched up and tossed in a random corner after the training session is over.

Not only will a damp, sweaty bite suit start smelling funky, but it’ll also become a breeding ground for mold and mildew. If you’ve ever dealt with mold or mildew growth, you know it’s not an easy problem to take care of. In fact, we find that moldy bite suits are no longer usable and must be replaced.

To eliminate the possibility of mold growth (and a stinky bite suit), you need to keep it well ventilated to ensure air flows through the arms and legs. Two ways to do this are to hang your suit in a closet or keep it in one of our Bite Suit & Gear Bags.

Our Bite Suit and Gear Bags have mesh openings on both ends of the bag, promoting plenty of air circulation while your suit is in storage. Plus, the heavy-duty handles make it easy to bring your gear from point A to B.

As the name suggests, our Bite Suit & Gear Bags are large enough to store an entire bite suit along with any arm sleeves, leg sleeves, dog bite development gear, and any other gear you need to use during your training session.

Using a RAM Bite Suit & Gear Bag

Even though the mesh ends of the bag are designed to keep fresh air moving through the bag, they won’t be very helpful if you simply bunch up your bite suit and throw it in the bag.

Our advice for storing your suit in one of our bags is to fold the jacket in half and then fold the arms downward to make the jacket as slim as possible. After placing the jacket in the bag, fold the pants in half and place them in the bag, making sure that both the jacket and pants run lengthwise to get maximum airflow throughout the bag.

By employing these techniques for breaking in and storing your bite suit, you can trust that your training suit will last for years without needing to be replaced.

Why Ray Allen?

From bite training essentials to harnesses, leashes, and muzzles, we’ve been producing the highest-quality, handmade K9 products right here in Colorado Springs, Colorado for over 70 years.

We’re proud to be the go-to, most trusted brand for police officers, military units, working dog programs, and K9 handlers and trainers worldwide.

For reliable gear for your reliable working dog, trust Ray Allen.