Feel like I dodged a bullet today.

[daniel77]

We went and got a bit of supper as a family, with the newest member, Jelly Bean (nearly 9 wk old male ES) and visited PETCO on the way home for some rawhide chew toys and such and of course to let my son peruse the animals inside. My wife made her way onto the sqeaky toy isle and before I could scream NO!!!!!!! had my new hunting pardner clinging for dear life to a rubber squeaky ball and playing it like a musical instrument designed to torture men. That puppy WOULD NOT let go of that sqeaky toy. He is intended to be a versatile hunting dog, and I've been playing hallway fetch with him just like I would a lab, and he's been doing pretty well and really enjoys it. It is my opinion that these squeaky toys are the highway to heck when it comes to bad mouth habits for retrieving. What say you?

[ecater2218]

No Tug of War with anything. It causes hard mouth.

[twofeathers]

No Tug of War with anything. It causes hard mouth.

Having two kids I can tell you if that dog is an inside dog "no tug of war" is impossible.

[Neil]

Some of the most tender mouthed retrievers I have ever seen loved to play tug of war, another myth.

It is at the top, right there with, Never shoot any unpointed bird, Never teach a pointing dog to sit, Never run a Derby that you want to win as an adult, Never run a steady dog with one that isn't, Never hunt your trial dogs, etc. In fact, when I read "Never", I know it is a myth.

Lighten up on yourself, your dog, and most importantly, your wife. Everything is going to be fine, there is not much that does not do them physical harm that you should worry about if they only do it a few hundred times.

Oh, pick the dog up by the inside flank and they will drop whatever is in their mouth, no pain involved, it is reflex.

One minute we argue about how smart a dog is, the next that it can't tell a squeaky toy from a live bird.

Relax and enjoy the best time of a young dog's life, there are few mistakes you can make that will do lasting harm short of serious injury,

Neil

[jlp8cornell]

I do competition obedience with my dog and lots of playing is involved including TUG when we train. People tell me not to do it b/c "he will develop a hard mouth". No issues so far. He has a very soft mouth with birds (or eggs that he steals from the carton!).

[AzDoggin]

One minute we argue about how smart a dog is, the next that it can't tell a squeaky toy from a live bird.

Relax and enjoy the best time of a young dog's life, there are few mistakes you can make that will do lasting harm short of serious injury,

Neil

Well put and so true, Neil. Any so-called "bad habits" are far outweighed by the advantages of socializing a dog with the family (and the family with the dog ).

That said, there are some dog toys that are just plain annoying. My in-laws mutt has a couple of furred creatures that make animal noises - a duck that goes "quack, quack, quack" and a cow that goes moo. That little dog LOVES to make those critters make noise. :roll:

[BellaDad]

I've found that if your dog knows the meaning of give or drop then it isn't an issue. I can play tug of war with my dog for 10 minutes, but as soon as I say give the game is over. She retreives birds without a problem.

[Fireside]

That said, there are some dog toys that are just plain annoying. My in-laws mutt has a couple of furred creatures that make animal noises - a duck that goes "quack, quack, quack" and a cow that goes moo. That little dog LOVES to make those critters make noise. :roll:

Meg has a screaming monkey that she just adores... she runs down the hall at my mother's house triggering the noise repeatedly just for the sheer joy of it!

[TAK]

It is at the top, right there with, Never shoot any unpointed bird, Never teach a pointing dog to sit, Never run a Derby that you want to win as an adult, Never run a steady dog with one that isn't, Never hunt your trial dogs, etc. In fact, when I read "Never", I know it is a myth.
Neil

"Never" judge a dog by it's trial format!!!!