[K.Wehr]

Just started doing some yard drills with my 7 month old lab pup. He regularly crashes into the bumper, rolls, slides, tumbles, etc. He quickly recovers and hustles back with the retrieve but I'm very worried he is going to hurt himself.

He does this in drills and long marks. I've only thrown a few "happy bumpers" for him but immediately stopped due to the tumbling.

He is getting more drive everyday so is getting worse. What would you do? He is my first field dog..., he'll be competing in obedience and agility as well. Again, I just don't want him to hurt himself.

*title should say tumbling, not rumbling. Dumb tablet....

 

[fishin444]

What a great problem to have, super high drive. I wouldn't worry too much about the pup hurting itself retrieving, personally i think they are made out of rubber at that age. Just be sure there is nothing sharp or hard like rock for pup to collide with in the area of the bumper. The pup should figure it out on his own, if he doesn't go back to a long lead and shorter throw, so you have some control over him. Just check him up when he gets to the fall area. Oh yeah be sure to wear some gloves, a lead can cause some real nice rope burns.

 

[K.Wehr]

Thanks for the feedback. I decide to wait it out a couple weeks, continue yard work/drills and see if the problem fixed itself. It has NOT... he still runs all out to a bumper, slams on the brakes and falls or slides. Every. Single. Time.

Love his drive, but truly worried about his knees watching him slam on the brakes. Any one have luck solving this problem?

 

[K.Wehr]

Oh, also forgot to add that I'm playing with the distance. He runs all out whether it's 10 feet or 50 yards. Wondering if I should get the check cord out like mentioned above.

 

[1tulip]

At 7 months don't you think he has all the youth and enthusiasm and genetic juice in the world, and not much coordination? He's still growing, probably all legs and ears and all of his DNA is telling to go get 'em. Right now he's getting "worse" daily because he's getting bigger and stronger. Perhaps tincture of time will fix a lot of this.

 

[2dc]

Enjoy his drive sounds like he is going to be a very nice dog. Better to have too much drive than none at all.

 

[skube]

My dawg is 26 months and has the same drive and desire. I've was told by a judge on an 80 yard land mark that I had to re-run it because she blinked and didn't see it. She was kidding of course. The point is he flies at mach 2, grabs the bird or bumper on the run, slams on the brakes (slides and spins, sometimes rolls) then flies back. Well, about 4 months ago he grabbed a bumper by the hard rope end going mach 2 and now has 2 less bottom teeth.

 

[Rick S]

My dog still does the same thing at 1.5 years old. I just make sure the dog has a little time to loosen up before allowing him to run hard.