Dido that Jeff, if you look at Boone's dog's he's got now they are all scarred up and still don't skip a beat.LOL Some of the best and grittiest dogs I ever hunted with.
The little female I have is bear crazy and get nice and close up.LOL

We have one also and they sure do work great, can sure make some young dogs too. I have also used a stick to hit the tree with and it seems to work but not as good as the pole.LOL