Force Fetch with lip pitching

[oco2530]

I am getting ready to force fetch my puppy in a month or so. My last dog I used the traditional way of ear pinching to create pressure. I was at a seminar this past summer and it was suggested to us to use a lip pitch to create pressure. Their reasoning was that you had a lot more control over the mouth during this period of time then the traditional ear pinch. Thoughts?

[Scott Parker]

I used the lip pinch FFing my dogs and I like it it does give you more control of their head the only problem with it is you block their vision with your hand.

[runnindawgz]

The important thing to remember when lip pitching is that it is most effective when your dog can seat on a duck. To lip pitch before the dog is properly seated may cause confusion.

Sorry - could not resist.

Seriously - I don’t see how that could be effective. To Me - pressure in the mouth would result in the opposite. Occasionally I will need to piNch the lip (to a canine or inside tooth) to encourage release - not hold.

[Carol Cassity]

I love the lip pinch method. You can control the pressure to each dog and you have control of the mouth. I find it doesn't take much pressure to get a response and the dog picks up the concept of keep it in the mouth. A word of caution: I always do a couple of sessions of glove in mouth to develop the dog's understanding of what hold is BEFORE I even introduce the word hold. Then I use easy to hold object - paint roller - before challenging objects.

Best of luck.

[Jay Dufour]

Properly seated is the key to an easier way to do everything !

[Evan]

There are more ways than one to do nearly anything. My preference remains the ear pinch method that involves a three-fingered grasp of the collar strap, which provides efficient stablization of the dog's entire upper torso, neck, head, muzzle and mouth. The lip pinch technique, as I've seen it applied over the years, tends to offer control over only the muzzle and mouth. To each his/her own. But I'll stick with this one:



Evan

[Billie]

I knew someone once who was FFing her dog under guidance of an OB trainer(compettitive). The dog FFd in the end but I remember when she was on the ground with her she would grab the dog's muzzle and then shed pinch the lips to get her to pick it up. It looked terribly awkward - to be honest I cant remember if she followed up with the e collar or not-its been a lot of years. but I do remember the dog didnt have any mouth problems with birds. She was FFd thoroughly..
I prefer the earpinch and then follow it with the collar. Ive FFd a lot of dogs.

[Matthew J. Ries]

I lip pinched my first with the help of my uncle, but did ear pinch on my 2nd via Smartworks. Both dogs personalities are different and the methods used were more appropriate now looking back. However, i found ear pinch easier & more in control once i got the hang of it. Like toe hitch, i think all of the methods have a place (more more suitable than the other) given your dogs disposition & personality.

[steve schreiner]

The important thing to remember when lip pitching is that it is most effective when your dog can seat on a duck. To lip pitch before the dog is properly seated may cause confusion.

Sorry - could not resist.

Seriously - I don’t see how that could be effective. To Me - pressure in the mouth would result in the opposite. Occasionally I will need to piNch the lip (to a canine or inside tooth) to encourage release - not hold.

I use a lip pinch to get the dog to open it's mouth when teaching hold...Once the mouth is open the object is easily inserted...By controlling the mouth there is less head swinging around when you first start using pressure...Then move to the ear once hold is complete...Steve S