Hard Mouth On A Dog.

[Ideation 8,216]

Whilst I do agree that a soft mouthed dog is a good thing . . . . . . I wouldn't say that it was the worst trait a dog can have after stock worrying. . . . . . .

 

I'd say yapping, being dog aggressive, lacking drive, having a crap nose etc etc etc are all waaaaaay worse faults in a hunting dog!

 

My bitch has a very very soft mouth on rabbits, to the point that when she went through her 'burying' rabbits phase, they would promptly get up and run into the hedge (as some members on here saw!) but when working with the gun and dealing with wounded (shot) quarry, she has a mouth like a vice and absolutely destroys her quarry.

 

The whippet however used to be very soft mouthed, and now is totally hit and miss. . . . . it seems to relate to how excited he is! I.e the other night I took him out to see if he could still catch after his illness / accident - first rabbit, lovely, alive to hand, second one shaken and killed and third alive but a bit sore. . . . . usually its the first rabbit alive, then a few dead, then he gets bored and they start coming back alive

 

The hound just mullers everything

[Guest Navek]

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest...I don't sell rabbits so no mither too me.. If I want one for the pot I'd shoot/ferret/or snare a nice soft tender young rabbit..see acouple dogs hard as bell iron on teeth bring back a rabbit to hand with out a mark on it....also seen dogs retrieving the rabbit to within 5 foot of owner and then dropping them on the floor only got them to run off again frustrating owner and the dog...

 

 

Yapping on the run

Hunting up while on lamp

Whining /barking while on leash while another dog runs

Shitting in motor

Dog aggression

People aggression

Bad recall

 

These would bother me more than been hard mouthed

[Red Center 165]

I've always sorted a hard mouth dog by getting em to do a couple retrieves with a hard bristle brush, they usually have a soft mouth after that! My grandad used that on all his duck dogs, he said it's a bad habit that they do that but it means they have good prey drive so you shouldn't hold it against em and just try to break the habit. I agree with him, its a bad habit but nothing to fault the dog over. I hate dog aggression and people aggression most, certainly won't breed from a dog with these habits and people snappers get shot. I also hate dogs that are very anxious, don't mind a bit of timidness with people but I usually won't bother with a dog with a high level of anxiety. Male dogs pissing on things in the yard and on cars is a pet peeve of mine too and is a short cut to getting a boot up the arse regardless of who owns the dog

[nans pat 2,575]

any hare my dog gets is usualy killed right away he drives in that hard..drivtng in hard different from picking up.

[Stud dog 632]

my old bitch is hard mouthed i dont mind shes caught a few in same field being hard mouthed gone out in field got her bunny killed an as she was coming back knocked another up an caught that as well if she was soft mouthed one gets away not saying i like this in a dog but just depends if there for ferret food our table as already said air rifle our ferret a few for the table and as for selling a dog for being hard mouthed thats just a shitty thing to do if thats the only reason.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Stud dog

[nothernlite 18,028]

Couldnt give a feck some are brought back live sone dead but wouldnt compare to stock breaking would rather they were broght back dead saves you alot of hassle lmao as some one said had a big dog before he just crushed the heads

Edited November 2, 2015 by nothernlite

[Maximus Ferret 2,057]

I prefer rabbits unmarked as I sell a few, skinned and "oven ready". Most from my own two bitches are unmarked but sometimes when they have to strike hard or catch by the leg they can be a bit bruised. I mark those ones and use myself or feed to dogs or ferrets.

My youngest son has a bitch that's reverse bred (less greyhound, more base breed) with wheaton and airedale. She has a good strike but whenever she catches a rabbit you can hear the crunching from 50 yards away. That's useless to me, for rabbiting at least anyway.

[nans pat 2,575]

dog lifting them live here fetch far more money when they are for sale,lot of greyhound men buy them,

[stealthy1 3,964]

I like my bitch to kill what she catches, because on those days when it's just you and the dog, there is no point in being passed a live rabbit while your chinning another, just as another rabbit bolts across the field.

[Somewhereyournot 1,117]

Some interesting replies on here to say the least lol

[Blueboybilly 164]

My dogs will do everything and retrieve rabbits live to hand ... I have to have dogs that retrieve live to hand as when you are working in people's gardens and in public areas the majority of people want to see mr rabbit fetched back to you unharmed so that it can be dispatched humanely rather than the big nasty dog killing it .......

It's nice to see that some people maintaining high standards. Personally I like to have the option to use the rabbit for the table rather than a poorly trained dog who will bruise the catch or even worse not retrieve it to hand. It beggars believe that people are willing to accept anything less than their lurcher retrieving live to hand and it is no wonder why gun dog people regard us lurchermen with such low esteem.

[terryd 8,101]

cobblers if your and the dog are happy who cares

[Bosun11 537]

Live to hand is a nice touch and for some folk it's essential and i've been fortunate to own very good dogs that do this.

Me, i'm far more interested in the catch and as long as the dog don't feck off the other way with it, then that'll do!

 

On some spots an immaculate live to hand retrieve can cost you a bigger bag.

[nothernlite 18,028]

Blueboynilly pmsl

[Tiercel 6,986]

 

 

My dogs will do everything and retrieve rabbits live to hand ... I have to have dogs that retrieve live to hand as when you are working in people's gardens and in public areas the majority of people want to see mr rabbit fetched back to you unharmed so that it can be dispatched humanely rather than the big nasty dog killing it .......

It's nice to see that some people maintaining high standards. Personally I like to have the option to use the rabbit for the table rather than a poorly trained dog who will bruise the catch or even worse not retrieve it to hand. It beggars believe that people are willing to accept anything less than their lurcher retrieving live to hand and it is no wonder why gun dog people regard us lurchermen with such low esteem.

 

So what your saying is that a rabbit that is bruised, is caught by an untrained lurcher. I have gundogs and lurchers, I won't tolerate a gundog with a hard mouth but I'm not to worried about a lurcher as they have to catch there prey flat out most of the time and hang on.

 

There in that last sentence lies a lot of the problems with lurchers. They have to catch their prey on the move, and while all my dogs have been soft mouthed and retrieved to hand, it would be very rare that the rabbit would be without a bruise of some kind. But there is a hell of a difference between small bruises and a crunched rabbit.

 

TC