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Location: Kent, UK
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 315
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Location: Yorkshire, UK
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 877
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15-03-2011, 08:14 PM
Originally Posted by paulandfloyd 
It’s when a dog grips too hard, therefore causes indentations or damage to the carried item, i.e. game, canvas dummies. Some dogs are born with it, and can’t help it- there is no known cure for hard mouth. Sometimes you yourself can bring on hard mouth- by playing tug (rough housing) or letting them play with squeaky toys.
Hard mouth is a term used in the gundog world, and it’s very undesirable as it can devalue the game, and make a mess. Also if you partake in working gundog trails you may be disqualified, or lose points. A gundog that hard mouths will probably be sold to a pet home, or an advanced trainer who may try to elevate the problem, most likely with little success.
Originally Posted by smokeybear
Tuggy does not cause a hard mouth, lots of working gundogs I know play tuggy, but you don't want them to play it with a pheasant!
But squeakers are verboten........
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Location: england
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 3,440
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16-03-2011, 09:05 AM
Originally Posted by smokeybear
Actually whether or not a dog will hold a raw egg in its mouth is not necessarily an indicator of a soft or hard mouth............. IME
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Location: Kent, UK
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 315
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16-03-2011, 09:36 AM
Originally Posted by Julie
OK Mollie will bring a live wild rabbit to me and drop it unharmed, Duncan will bring it back but it will be dead and dripping in blood. Still think the egg was a nicer way to explain it.
yum...
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Location: Derbyshire, UK
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,723
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16-03-2011, 10:45 AM
Originally Posted by Tarimoor
When a dog damages it's retrieve item, it's said to be hard mouthed. Not so important if it's a canvas dummy or tennis ball, but much more important if retrieving game, which may be wounded. Some believe it's genetic, and others believe it's all down to training, with quite a few believing it's a combination of both.
Oh and I like the raw egg analogy too, seems a perfectly logical way of explaining a hard mouth. One of our retrievers would break it and one wouldn't. The one that would break it was a rescue who had had no training and the one that wouldn't break it was taught from a puppy to take things gently and to hold things in his mouth, so were they hard and soft mouthed due to their make up or their training? I have no idea
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Location: Wiltshire UK
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 14,404
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16-03-2011, 12:08 PM
Both can carry raw eggs without a problem.
I think there are several factors in being hard mouthed:
genetics
training (or lack of)
equipment used (sometimes something that is too big, round, slippy, can make dogs bite down, or something that provides a reaction eg squeaky toy or rubber ball)
If a dog has caught live game and killed it to stop it struggling.............
TBF in WT most of us ask the dog to hold teeny items in the front of their mouths eg with their incisors in order to minimise swallowing, dropping and crunching.
You can't really hold a hare/pheasant/woodcock/dummy/ etc like this.......
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