Bird Killer

[Smallsgsps]

I have a six month old German Shorthair that i'm having trouble with. This will be my third shorthair that i'm training but i have never had one that killed the birds. I had short flight quail that my dog would point, and upon my flush and shot of my starter pistol the bird would run out of gas and land. my dog would chase and retrieve but as soon as he picks the birds up he crushes them. . . every time. . . he doesn't try to eat the bird, he just bites down hard one time and ruins the birds meat. I don't know how to correct this behavior without turning him off birds.

[ezzy333]

I think that is a product of letting a pup retrieve live birds. Even my older dogs seldom bring back a live bird anymore but except for a couple of teeth maks I have not found it to be a big problem. It is next to impossible to correctif it is just a hard bite on the way back. But if the pup is staanding with the bird rather than retieving quickly you can work on come and see if you can stop it that way. Dogs seldom chew when they are moving.

Ezzy

[ecater2218]

A bit of advice; never play "tug of war" with the pup as this enhances a "hard mouth".