Hard mouth when hunting with other dogs

Rbkelley · Post by **Rbkelley** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:34 am

Just a little background... I have a now 2.5 year old Labrador which I have trained myself for upland game (primarily pheasant). He has been out to South Dakota the past 2 years hunting pheasant with us. There are only 4 of "us" and 1 other Labrador. My issue is, when I am hunting by myself or with others and we only use my dog, I don't have any problems. The problem comes when you add in another hunting dog. All of a sudden, my dog's nice soft mouth just got a little harder and he will put some nice teeth marks in the bird. We have other house dogs at the house and there are no aggression issues at home. Any recommendations on how to correct the hard-mouth when hunting with other dogs?

Post by **Sharon** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 3:07 pm

"Want to witness a spirited exercise in developing hard mouth? Send two retrievers after a single downed bird. When hunting with multiple dogs, be smart and have them take turns."

I know little about retrievers , but from what I've read, when the dog knows it will get its turn and the others dogs will be at heel , the hard mouth in that situation ends. I could be totally wrong.

http://www.ducks.org/hunting/retriever- ... hard-mouth

Elkhunter · Post by **Elkhunter** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 6:40 pm

My GSP is a great little retriever, put her on the ground with another dog and she is hard mouthed.

Swampbilly · Post by **Swampbilly** » Mon Apr 21, 2014 10:01 pm

Sharon-->"Want to witness a spirited exercise in developing hard mouth? Send two retrievers after a single downed bird. When hunting with multiple dogs, be smart and have them take turns."

I know little about retrievers , but from what I've read, when the dog knows it will get its turn and the others dogs will be at heel , the hard mouth in that situation ends.

NOTHING beats a good honoring dog ! A lot can be achieved, and more than one issue.

Does depend though, on what mouthing issues prior, (if any) the dawg brings to the table outside of other dogs being a "threat " and the "all birds belong to me" mentality

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:27 am

My old Hannah had a habit with other dogs down. She wouldn't hard mouth but if they got to close while she was retrieving, she'd finish the retrieve then go beat the cr*p out of the offending dog!

gundogguy · Post by **gundogguy** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:01 pm

I have never understood this "pack' mentality for birddogs or gundogs. It is hound thing, treat your birddogs and gundogs with the respect they deserve. Let them get the job done on their own merits. If they come up short of your standards then the handler needs to change and expose the dog to better training.

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:11 pm

Rbkelley wrote:Just a little background... I have a now 2.5 year old Labrador which I have trained myself for upland game (primarily pheasant). He has been out to South Dakota the past 2 years hunting pheasant with us. There are only 4 of "us" and 1 other Labrador. My issue is, when I am hunting by myself or with others and we only use my dog, I don't have any problems. The problem comes when you add in another hunting dog. All of a sudden, my dog's nice soft mouth just got a little harder and he will put some nice teeth marks in the bird. We have other house dogs at the house and there are no aggression issues at home. Any recommendations on how to correct the hard-mouth when hunting with other dogs?

Some would say it makes holes for the gravy ?

Swampbilly · Post by **Swampbilly** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:14 pm

polmaise wrote:
Rbkelley wrote:Just a little background... I have a now 2.5 year old Labrador which I have trained myself for upland game (primarily pheasant). He has been out to South Dakota the past 2 years hunting pheasant with us. There are only 4 of "us" and 1 other Labrador. My issue is, when I am hunting by myself or with others and we only use my dog, I don't have any problems. The problem comes when you add in another hunting dog. All of a sudden, my dog's nice soft mouth just got a little harder and he will put some nice teeth marks in the bird. We have other house dogs at the house and there are no aggression issues at home. Any recommendations on how to correct the hard-mouth when hunting with other dogs?
Some would say it makes holes for the gravy ?

Ok that was funny, don't care who'ya are

But what's not funny is when those holes eventually get big enough that you can read The Sun newspaper through 'em. And even worse you wind up with Potted Meat complete with all the broken bones.
Nuthin' beats a good honoring dog, and the time the handler gets to work steadying his dog. Dogs that want to" hardmouth" around other dogs might could use a little more socialization...AND some proper mouthing habits long before pup gets exposed to the likes of other retrievers.
Not to mention that not all birds "belong" to the dog, and not all birds will you pick up-

A concept that should become engrained prior to depending on honoring as an Rx.

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