Gun Dog Forum

Complete NOVICE....question....

A training book I am currently reading says " never teach fetch/ retrieve  using balls"....use only bumpers.


 I use both....tennis balls in a hook because I can pitch them a greater distance and because dog has more fun running to get them......and bumpers because it seems more formal and dog ....sits and holds better for me with bumpers.

So should I stop using balls?


Dog is 2y/o Brittany.....I am training to hunt.
Thanks





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Hi Dottie,
What book is that?

Mike

MJB64 wrote:Hi Dottie,
What book is that?

Mike

What he said.

I read where some guy's teaching fetch require their dog's to pick up and carry anything they feel like using. How could a tennis ball hurt. I've used them and sticks pretty much what ever I feel like throwing.

DonF wrote:I read where some guy's teaching fetch require their dog's to pick up and carry anything they feel like using. How could a tennis ball hurt. I've used them and sticks pretty much what ever I feel like throwing.

Dobbs advocates forcing dogs on a wide variety of objects. I'm with you. Dogs have been injured eagerly fetching wrong objects, including tennis balls. I believe they need to focus on fetch objects like a paint roller, bumper, and/or bird.

EvanG

There should be some difference between play items and work items. I do not mix play things with bumpers or birds
Though my guys tend to enjoy work more than just play. Risks are greater and so are the rewards!

Don't use tennis balls, the material on the outside is like sandpaper on your dog's teeth, I use rubber balls (chuckit's). My dog fetches balls, bumpers, sticks, etc. doesn't seem to affect his bird fetching.

I've heard people say that tennis balls can lead to hard-mouth. That hasn't personally been my experience.

I use bumpers for training and a variety of things for play time, tennis balls included.

Problem with tennis balls is, the dog can swallow them resulting in a blocked intestine. This is why they are not particularly good ideas. I also believe this happens when they are UNATTENDED with tennis balls, not just when they are thrown. I think regular soft balls are also bad. They're large and round and I BELIEVE can result in hard mouth because of how hard a dog has to grip them on a retrieve. On the other hand, the soft balls could benefit a dog with a very soft mouth. You can throw a plastic bumper with a rope a LONG way, I'd bet about as far as a tennis ball with a thrower. The bumper well promote a significantly better carry.

Everything in context !
The military dogs ,sniffer dogs,search and rescue and even dogs competing in 'Flyball' don't swallow them :roll:
For a puppy they are great fun and amusement as they hold scent (human hand) and they 'move' on landing - chase !
......
I have absolute steady dogs to bumpers and game! ..I can throw a tennis ball and every one of them will definitely 'run in' !..
...
Deeper than that?.... ..If I continued to use them as a 'find' article I perhaps would be encouraging a flushing dog to 'Peg' ..catch the bird ?
...
Overall , they are a cheap and invaluable tool in any dogs development , but like anything else ,I wouldn't leave them lying around

I kind of figure of I am going to throw something, it may as well be a bumper. It takes me longer to find a ball than a bumper anyhow. I subscribe to "working is playing, playing is working". Although I don't think a ball is going to hurt anything. If that were the case they would only retrieve bumpers and not ducks, geese, quail, fox.

singlemalt wrote: It takes me longer to find a ball than a bumper anyhow.

I've never found one in cover yet. I use the 'Ball finding terraspaniel gundog' for this ..It's a very rare breed.There is a ball under her 'Honest' !!

Anything a dog can crunch is a bad idea IMHO. Watch most dogs with a tennis ball and they love to adjust, crunch, adjust, crunch, leads to the same thing in birds. I have always used small paint rollers for puppies, then on to small then large bumpers. Why create an issue you may have to fix later? Same principal as using a hard frozen quail versus softer freshly killed. Soft fresh could lead to chomping in some cases.

However, I do think the argument can be made that if a dog is gonna be hardmouthed he's gonna be hardmouthed no matter what.

trueblu wrote:Anything a dog can crunch is a bad idea IMHO.

Like a bone ? :roll:

I wonder why a mammal such as a fox or a lion or a Tiger ..or even a dog! ...(just a thought) doesn't crunch or roll a puppy when it carries it ?.Or even ?..just throwing this in for the mix?> ...When a mother Cheetah' brings home an injured fawn for the 'pups'/'cubs' to ''practice'' prey-chase-catch ?..She Isn't ''hard mouthed'' with it , yet She can 'Kill' ?