Ive been throwing dove wings out in my yard for my lab to retrieve but the whole time she's bringing it back to me, she's chewing on it and trying to swallow it. What should I do to make her stop chewing?

How old is the dog?
Do you have a check cord on the dog?

Basically, as soon as the dog gets to the wing, you bring the dog back to you using the check cord. You can't control what the dog does if you don't have control of the dog.

You might try using a frozen bird and quit using a wing, or strap the wing to a dummy so he can't get it off. The wing is probably too small. Then use the check cord to make sure you can bring him quickly without giving him too much of a chance to mess with it. Whenever my dog starts to get too mouthy with freshly shot birds, I go back to throwing a couple frozen birds and it really helps. If neither of these work, iI'd just go back to dummys or dokkens for a while.

Thanks for the help guys

Sure, I was writing that post using my phone, so I kept it brief and had lots of errors (like calling the dog "him"). If you get one of the small canvas bumpers and then strap the wing on using string (like an old shoe-lace)she should still be able to pick it up without a problem, but there won't be the temptation to try to chew on the wing.

Tape the wings to a bumper and throw the bumper. She shouldn't be able chew on the wings near as much if she they are taped to a bumper.

There is really 1 answer that will fix this problem:

Force Fetch


Don't let the words fool you - you are not "forcing the dog to do something they are not wanting to do". Instead, it is training to show them how to do what you both want the proper way. Part of this training involves teaching your dog the proper way to hold a bird (or a stick or a bumper or a large bullfrog).

Properly going through a Force Fetch program is not something that the average person can do correctly the first time. While a GOOD video set would put you on the right path, this is one of those areas where getting with an experienced trainer (not necessarily a pro trainer) is a very good idea...

Chris, I hope you didn't do this again....

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/u...ove#Post1651118

X2

Chris, Good advise on force-fetch. I have a ten month old male, that I have been training quite a bit with.btw,my 2nd dog.
And he has been force-fetched, but I am not sure if it is enough. Is there any kind of a "test"or drill, to evaluate it? I can put a bumper in front of him and say fetch,and he grabs it very quickly,I then put a bumper 5 feet to his right,and give him sort of an "over". and he picks it up just as quickly. I then do the same at 10ft and as long as he sees me put the bumper there, he will go pick it up also.I am saying fetch and using the left over hand signal each time. Having said all this, I would say that he is in pretty good shape,as far as force-fetch is concerned but I would like some other comments and suggestions as well.

Jim

JMS, once he has that down, start phasing out verbal commands on hand signals. Move to T and then double T patter. Force on water. Check out Evan Grahams stuff. He has pictures and great discription.

OK, Thanks.