My 9 month old sometimes brings the Dokken Mallard back by the head. To discourage this behavior a friend of mine suggested that I run some drywall screws through the head, just exposing the point around an 1/8th of an inch. He employed this method with frozen doves for his dog and said it works fine with no ill affects. What do you think? Candidly, regarding doves, my pup is only good for about 5 retrieves with one bird--before he brings back a bloody mess. Note that he is not chewing but adjusting the bird.
hard-mouth traits
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has the dog been force fetched? from what you describe it doesn't sound like he has. Force fetch training will cure both these problems by teaching the dog how to hold a bird and not to adjust the bird once it has been picked up.
If you find he is still hard on the birds have him retrieve a stiff bristled brush for a few days (plastic bristles, not wire!) also, get a few rubber bumpers with the knobs. they also discourage a hard mouth
If you find he is still hard on the birds have him retrieve a stiff bristled brush for a few days (plastic bristles, not wire!) also, get a few rubber bumpers with the knobs. they also discourage a hard mouth
Afraid I would haft o be a :thumbsdown: vote on the drywall screws.
hvacfowler is working on the problem, not torturing the dog. During FF using a brush, a bumper wrapped tightly with smooth wire, a 2" piece of pipe wrapped in duck tape.
Many times it is just a crushing reflex, from working with birds or soft bumpers. But this can be fixed, but the screws may be the worse Idead I have ever heard. If your dog grabbed the head, and bit down on it right good. I could cause enough pain, to make him never pick up another one.
You never want to fix problems by doing something to the dog while retrieving. Retrieving it the key, and it is ALWAYS a positive time. Problems are singled out and worked on, away from the retrieving part of training. cooter
hvacfowler is working on the problem, not torturing the dog. During FF using a brush, a bumper wrapped tightly with smooth wire, a 2" piece of pipe wrapped in duck tape.
Many times it is just a crushing reflex, from working with birds or soft bumpers. But this can be fixed, but the screws may be the worse Idead I have ever heard. If your dog grabbed the head, and bit down on it right good. I could cause enough pain, to make him never pick up another one.
You never want to fix problems by doing something to the dog while retrieving. Retrieving it the key, and it is ALWAYS a positive time. Problems are singled out and worked on, away from the retrieving part of training. cooter
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younger dogs and or in the early stages of training, we use bumpers with out ropes attached just for this reason... i'd think the head on a dokken would be like a rope?
are you going to FF him?
agreeing with cooter i'd add sometimes its best not to make a huge issue over something that might take care of its self with time... meaning doing something severe like screws and you could cause him other issues with birds in his mouth?
jeff
are you going to FF him?
agreeing with cooter i'd add sometimes its best not to make a huge issue over something that might take care of its self with time... meaning doing something severe like screws and you could cause him other issues with birds in his mouth?
jeff
pup has not been ff yet. i've been dragging my feet on the ff issue for lack of experience and time. with all that i've read on ff i feel that i am pretty well versed on the issue. but being versed and actually doing it are two different things. to be honest, i am intimidated by it. it makes total sense that ff would result in a proper hold. a friend of mine says he will walk me through it, as he has ff several dogs. just a matter of allining schedules. given your responses it seems clear that ff is far better than having my dog bite down on metal screws. thank you for the thoughts.
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I have a lab that developed a hardmouth last summer after she caught chukars that were immature & didn't fly well. After the chukars she started to clamp down on bumpers and puncture them. It was just before the season started and I didn't want to delay her 1st hunting season so I didn't FF her. I did try all the other gimmicks to prevent harmouthing like: driving nails through a frozen pigeon & a studded leather harness you put on live birds. She picked the birds up by the nails or the studs.
I had to live with pierced birds for the season but last spring I purchased the Tri-Tronics FF videos and trained her myself. I was also nervous about FF for the first time but those videos are excellent. We got through it in about 6 weeks and her hardmouth is gone and she focuses much more on her retrieves.
I had to live with pierced birds for the season but last spring I purchased the Tri-Tronics FF videos and trained her myself. I was also nervous about FF for the first time but those videos are excellent. We got through it in about 6 weeks and her hardmouth is gone and she focuses much more on her retrieves.
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