Hard charging dog keeps breaking teeth.

[rumble]

My dog broke another incisor today while retrieving a bumper boy dummy.
Last year he broke the incisor on the other side of his mouth twice and it had to be removed. These are the incisors next to the canines.
He frequently rolls or does sommersaults when reaching the bumper at full tilt. The dog marks well and runs to the bumper without hesitation. It is not just the plastic bumpers but the canvas ones too.

I plan to work him more in water, but good water is scarce. The HT's around here run the dogs through what amounts to several inches of mud or clay covered with 6 inches of water.

How do you keep your dogs from breaking their teeth? Do you make them run marks slow, so they do not hurt themselves? I tried setting the bumper boy out 150 yards, but that does not seem to change the pace.
Should I run marks in waist high grass, where I lose sight of the dog?

[2tall]

This must be some sort of a pink eared poodle sort of issue! My dog, since 4 months has done the somersaults, baseball slides, dirt scooping kinds of things you describe, and has never had more than a temporary mouth bleed from a tongue cut etc. All his teeth are still there. Are you on particularly hard or rocky ground?

[Kristie Wilder]

Are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that's where he's breaking his teeth? The teeth I've seen break are usually from fence fighters or dogs with anxiety that chew on their crate and kennel doors. I've never heard of dogs breaking teeth while retrieving... wow!

[Aussie]

What is this dog like on birds? I would worry that this "snap up" on the retrieve, would transfer from bumpers to birds. Not only loss of pearly whites!!!!

[ASH]

Had a friend's dog break one of his teeth at a test. Dog charged after the bird and dove on it. Unfortunately the bird landed on a peice of flat rock. OUCH!!!

Anne

[rumble]

Birds are not an option around here. The nearest place I can go is a couple of hours away. If I used a dead duck in my winger, the neighbors would call the cops, peta, and the newspapers. You would see me in a line up next to Vick.

Kristie, he ran out and fetched the bumper and came back all bloody.
This has happened before. He runs at full throttle and when he gets to the bumper he puts his head down to retrieve without slowing down. I have seen all kinds of somersaults when he missed picking up the bumper.

Aussie, he is very gentle with birds. I have downed many birds with broken wings and he brings them back without a scratch.

2tall, I have canvas bumpers all bloody from times he cut his tongue.

[W Knight]

Im working on a helmet and face mask for dogs. Should be on the market by 2010.

White Knight

[msdaisey]

I have a dog who is a scooper - does not stop to pick up birds/bumpers, but scoops them up, along with whatever he gets in his mouth. He has broken all four canines off and knocked out all of his bottom front teeth over the years.

Has a very soft mouth with birds, but does this when he scoops - he'll come back with part of the grounds as well as the bird.

[David McLendon]

A friend in Texas had dog a few years back that was a high speed scooper. One day on a land retrieve he tripped and did a flip breaking his neck, dead right there, a very bad scene.

[cwenisch]

Im working on a helmet and face mask for dogs. Should be on the market by 2010.

White Knight

I better get my doggy mouth gaurd on the market by 2009 then! They will come in 4 colors, clear, black, orange, and camo.