biting the rope

[marcj33]

my 14 month old keeps biting the rope end when he retrieves bumpers and if he grabs the middle he will sometimes bobble it until he has an end.

He's force fetched. All other aspects of his training and retrieving are solid. He just like to grab and or carry from end of the bumper, usually the rope side.

any ideas on how to fix this or if i leave it as is and he'll grow out of it?

thanks in advnace

Marc

[Leddyman]

There are several threads about putting pvc reducers on the ends of bumpers.
Check out this article.

http://www.northernflight.com/cigaring.htm



I get some of this cigarring, I don't worry about it too much. We are working on bringing back ducks and it doesn't seem to translate into sloppy bird handling. I do not tolerate playing with the bumper or dropping the bumper. If he is holding it sloppy I will knock it out of his mouth and correct him for dropping the bumper. My dog is 18 months and it SEEMS to be going away.

Who knows?

[WaterDogRem]

I had just about the same issue. My boy would only carry the bumper by the rope end. I solved it by doing the following: a couple of my bumpers had longer ropes, so I laid the rope down the length of the bumper to about the center and then took the rope around the bumper and tied it off in the center. This basically made the rope lay flat down the bumper and then wrapped around the center of the bumper, where it was tied tight. I tied it in the center since my boy really liked the rope end the most. If this doesn't make sense, let me know, as I can take a picture when I get home.
Of course you won't be able to hand throw the bumper as far (no rope to hold) but distance isn't what you're trying to achieve.
After two sessions my boy got the idea, and hasn't cared about the rope since.

Hope this can help you too,
Tom

[huntinman]

take the rope off the bumper and wrap a little baling wire around the last 2" on each end. Do this for a while and the dog will carry the bumper correctly.