I have an 8 month old lab and have been training with him 6-7 days a week. He is a retrieving maching, but at heal with the bumper he CANNOT stop rolling the bumper and has a very loose mouth when at heal.
I have been force fetching him for the past 2 months. On the table, although still loose with the bumper, he rolls the bumper very little and when he does I can get him to stop with a tap on the snout.
As soon he is off the table, he rolls the bumper constantly. Whenever he does stop rolling, I praise him and command drop. This mostly happens when at heal on the retrieve.
Throw him a fun bumper and he does not roll the bumper, but as soon as he is next to me he rolls it.
He has always had a very possessive and has a very active mouth, chews constantly(chew toys, etc.)
I believe he has some anxiety going on and I have been very conscious of my body language, being very patient, but cant get him to stop from rolling the bumper.
He is also collar conditioned, but I have not got to the point to using the collar for force fetching yet.
Any thoughts or advise is appreciated.
Rolling the Bumper
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Swampbilly
- Rank: Senior Hunter
- Posts: 127
- Joined: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:58 am
- Location: Gloucester, Virginia
Re: Rolling the Bumper
Don't want to jump in with the implications of "Oh lord, you've got some mouthing issues", dogs early on (and even trained seasoned) will sometimes roll the bumper momentarily with anticipation of delivering to hand. Sounds like you're doing the right thing by tapping under the chin and commanding No; HOLD! when he does it. Sometimes a smaller diameter bumper enables the dog to open up without all the "preparation" prior to opening it's mouth.
Secondly, at 8mos and "2 mos of FF, but not collar Fetched" shouldn't make any difference-
He doesn't need to be collar fetched in order to HOLD an object properly without mouthing it or rolling it.
You've pinched an ear, you've had him on the table, and he should understand HOLD and pressure and what it means after 8weeks of being on the table.
All dogs are different, but 8 weeks is a fair amount of time, particularly 6days a week teaching HOLD every session.
Hmmm..
Secondly, at 8mos and "2 mos of FF, but not collar Fetched" shouldn't make any difference-
He doesn't need to be collar fetched in order to HOLD an object properly without mouthing it or rolling it.
You've pinched an ear, you've had him on the table, and he should understand HOLD and pressure and what it means after 8weeks of being on the table.
All dogs are different, but 8 weeks is a fair amount of time, particularly 6days a week teaching HOLD every session.
Hmmm..