developing a soft mouth

Xhipi1 · Post by **Xhipi1** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:26 pm

Hey guys i had a question on how to begin to start teaching a young pup to have a soft mouth. My pup is 5 months old now and im starting to slowly introduce him to the world of hunting. i released a couple of quail for him the other day and he did amazing. he pointed all the birds and was steady as a rock. he didnt move a muscle until the bird was flushed and then started chasing after it. this was what i wanted except for the fact that he was able to catch the bird once it landed and did quite a number on it. he didnt shake his head to tear it up but he did have it deep in its mouth and was difficult to get his jaws open to get the bird out of his mouth. My question to you is how do i go about and slow teach him this isnt acceptable? i did freeze a dead quail for him and let him assosiate a dead bird as a hard object but i dont really know if thats working. Any advice? also here are some photos of him on that day .

Will · Post by **Will** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 8:18 am

He looks good. I find this as being pretty normal. That bird is the object of his desire and he's being possessive of it. Short of force fetch training when he's old enough, perhaps some retrieve games with knobby type bumpers would help? Either way, I wouldn't be too concerned about it at this point. If he's bringing them to you, make a HUGE deal out of that while he's holding the bird....don't take it away from him immediately....let him hold it while you show your approval. This will encourage the retrieve. He's probably not chomping it too hard until he knows you're going to take it. Have patience and remember at his age you don't have to rush anything.

Francois P vd Walt · Post by **Francois P vd Walt** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:18 am

Hey all young dogs will do this ! Relax

What works well is to take a hard dummy strap some bird wing onto is with a cable tie, do not cut the long end off all the way strap four or five. Do retrieve training if he gets better start trimming the ends that stick out shorter this way if he bites on the dummy the tips standing out will push into his mouth and hurt him, force him to be gentle on the object he retrieves. Take away all soft toys he has to play with, replace with hard ones or ones with knobs.
NEVER LET THE DOG CATCH THE BIRD YOU PLACED FOR TRAINING !

This will bring other bad habbits also it will improve as he matures.
Good luck ! Good looking pup over there !

Gooseman07 · Post by **Gooseman07** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 1:50 pm

Once he is old enough, if he is still holding on to the birds, use a double sided, hard-bristle brush. I had to make mine from two one-sided, hard-bristle brush. I also don't know that I would introduce quail to a dog until they are steady to wing and shot. A flushed then caught bird after the flush only allows for unsteadiness in the future. Just my .02

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:37 pm

As others said, this is normal for puppies. Sounds like and looks like a real nice one.

Charlie

4dabirds · Post by **4dabirds** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 8:39 pm

Dogs will have a tendency to bite down hard on any thing they are given or obtain. This is a normal behavior but as a puppy you can work on softening the dogs bite by holding your hand in the dogs mouth and getting the dog to accept your hand there with out trying to spit it out. Get the dog used to your hand in his mouth by first rolling his jowls over his teeth so if he bites down hard he will be biting himself. after a bunch of times the dog will learn to accept the inevitability that you are going to win and will allow you to keep your hand there while he holds it softly. This will help with the birds as well as let you handle the dogs mouth and tongue in case of an emergency. Last year my dog cut his tongue pretty bad on some sourgum and this proved invaluable to me. If the dog gets a hold of some thing and you want to get it out, pull on the flap of skin at the top of his leg, he will let go of what he has to try and stop you from pulling on him. If the dog is truly hard mouthed force fetch will clear it up. With all do respect I would not use anything that allows the dog to associate a bird in its mouth with pain, as this may create an association that is difficult to remedy. Dogs learn by association but the association you plan may not be the on you get, there is no guarantee that the dog will associate the pressure with the pain instead of the bird with the pain.

Xhipi1 · Post by **Xhipi1** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:36 pm

thanks for all the info guys i appreciate it. the pup is doing much better than i expected and i love his style so far. instead of using quail, would you guys use pigeons instead?

Francois P vd Walt · Post by **Francois P vd Walt** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 9:31 am

Xhipi1 wrote:thanks for all the info guys i appreciate it. the pup is doing much better than i expected and i love his style so far. instead of using quail, would you guys use pigeons instead?

Jip and make sure tbey fly away and do not get caught this time !

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