Dog eating birds !*#&!'s

Ok, young dog (16 month lab) has not been around too many dead birds. When he "retrieves", he will, if you don't pull the bird out by the feet/tail (dove), swallow the whole bird. As you pull the bird out, he gets a little teethy. Any ideas on how to correct this? I have been told wrap bird in barbed wire, spike it with nails, freeze it, shot him or just get a new dog. I know, I take full blame in his short comings as this dog did come out of great stock.
 
Hard Mouth

Lots of ways to correct this, none of them easy or immediate.

If he likes to retrieve, have him fetch a bristle brush - he'll soon get the idea about clamping down on the bird. I've used a training dummy wrapped with wire and this works as well.

The barb wire trick can work with some dogs, although the dog may not want to pick up any bird after tasting the barbs et al.

I believe I would work with him only on non-birds. Use treats so he drops the brush/dummy and doesn't focus on eating the bird.

Good Luck,

Jon
 
I don't think force fetch is the issue. Seems like he fetches fine, just has other ideas of possession! I have not seen this in Labs, but sure have seen a lot of old time pointers practice this behavior. Sometimes it's jealousy around other dogs, sometimes they just like to eat birds, hunted with an older gent with a terrific pointer as a boy, only issue the dog ate the first 5 quail shot. Sometimes feeding before a hunt or snacks throughout the day help, I have used the spiked quail harness successfully, but the retrieve drive must be strong or you risk turning the dog off retrieving. This eating the bird thing usually starts with a little bit of a hard mouth, dog busts the guts out of a bird and starts chomping. Proceed carefully with the spike collar or barb wire, but proceed anyway, I sense you have very little to lose, as far as making it worse and much to gain. it's a tough position.
 
No easy short cut..... FF tends to make a dog a bit sticky so I doubt it will help although the pressure on/pressure off of FF improves many aspects beyond the retreive. How are his mouth habits with bumpers? Does this problem occur on both land and water retreives If he is only bad with birds get a bunch of frozen pigeons, put a pinch collar and check cord on pup. Throw the bird a very short distance (no need to amp him up with long retreives), send pup, enforce a stable return and solid heal (this is a must if recall and heal are weak you will struggle). Make sure pup keeps his head up with the cord (harder to chew with head up) pet pups head with free hand till he is nice and calm (petting head will enforce head up and minimize chewing). Now depending on his level of drive you may be able swap a chunk of hot dog for the bird. I hate being a "cookie pusher" but this does work as long as you remain calm thus keeping pup calm. If he won't swap try a mild (or not so mild if necessary) lip pinch followed with a hot dog chuink when he releases bird. He very well may not take a treat so try rewarding him with a thrown mark accompianed with gun fire. This all boils down to controlling pups enthusiam and finding a reward greater than the bird. I have never known bird eating to be hunger driven.

Wow, it is really hard to put pen to paper and make sense! I hope this helps.

Good luck,
 
I don't think force fetch is the issue. Seems like he fetches fine, just has other ideas of possession! I have not seen this in Labs, but sure have seen a lot of old time pointers practice this behavior. Sometimes it's jealousy around other dogs, sometimes they just like to eat birds, hunted with an older gent with a terrific pointer as a boy, only issue the dog ate the first 5 quail shot. Sometimes feeding before a hunt or snacks throughout the day help, I have used the spiked quail harness successfully, but the retrieve drive must be strong or you risk turning the dog off retrieving. This eating the bird thing usually starts with a little bit of a hard mouth, dog busts the guts out of a bird and starts chomping. Proceed carefully with the spike collar or barb wire, but proceed anyway, I sense you have very little to lose, as far as making it worse and much to gain. it's a tough position.


i agree that force fetching probably won't fix this. I was having problems with my current lab of 2.5 years. Although he never swallowed a bird, i had him bring a couple doves that looked like hamburger. With him it was a constant chomping of the bird. He really did not do it with a large bird pheasant, duck or goose. Only seemed to happen with the smaller birds or his retrieving dummy. In addition to the above, my dad used to break his pointers with an old sock covered in scent and full of barbed wire. Seemed to soften his mouth up a lot. If his desire to retrieve is strong it should not be a problem. it certainly helped mine a bunch. good luck.
 
This may just be a dove issue. Especially with a young dog who has not handled a lot of birds, doves can be a problem. Feathers seem to come out really easy, making the dog roll the bird. I would back up a little try some frozen pigeons or pheasants, before going to spiked birds.
BB
 
This may just be a dove issue. Especially with a young dog who has not handled a lot of birds, doves can be a problem. Feathers seem to come out really easy, making the dog roll the bird. I would back up a little try some frozen pigeons or pheasants, before going to spiked birds.
BB

My labs are pretty good about being soft mouthed with pheasants. But they will swallow doves whole if doing water retrieves.
 
Hopefully it is just a dove thing. He did well on the pheasants last year. Not going to have a lot of opportunities this year for the big birds. Finally broke 100 degrees and will start working with Gavin again.
 
Hard mouth is bred in to a dog. It is hard to get it out. It can be made tollerable some times. First off I would like more info on how old etc the dog is. A young dog stands a better chance. First off I would not give the dog more birds.... Force break the dog right off. Then do quick pick up and delivery drills with them after that with collar. The faster that dog gets back the less tempted he is. Have it done right and don't skip steps. Better off done by some one who actualy knows what the heck they are doing.
 
Had same problem with my GSP. Sent her off for a little force fetch training and have not had any hard mouth issues since.
 
Years ago my boss and me put the sneak on a bunch of ducks and geese in a back water off the river. I shot a dandy 16lb Honker and some sweet fat Greenheads. His lab went out picked up my big goose. Then swam to the other shore and proceeded to eat it. I had every intention of shooting the SOB but held off..I needed the job. A few days later, the same dog ate all the ducks that were set up on a wood pile outside the shop just after coming in from hunting. I attribute it to poor training. Not enough time spent teaching the dog not to bite hard, not to chew, not to play tug a war, Etc. Kids are great at wrecking a hunting dog when the master is away at work. They like to play rough with the dog, play tug a war, feed them all kinds of things they shouldn't have, let them chew up things, Etc.

The dog needs physical discipline, along with stern commands. When you raise your voice..the dog should know that you mean business. The physical part in most cases is short term but may need to be revisited from time to time. The dog should be your bud but also listen.
 
Years ago I used to hunt quite a bit of quail with a buddy of mine. He had two Brits and whenever they'd bring a bird back, he'd pop the head off and feed it to them. Well, I get my first bird dog and he's bringing the birds back nicely, so I decide to give him a quail head as a reward. Well, ended up I had a serious problem with my dog being a birdeater from them on out. He didn't do it on pheasants, but he'd swallow every quail he put his lips on. I learned my lesson and will never again make that mistake with a dog.
 
Back
Top