Hard Mouth

Hard Mouth.

Hard Mouth

I am often asked if there is any cure for hard mouth, and the answer is obviously that it depends on the circumstances in which hard mouth develops as to whether a cure is possible or worth the trouble. Very often a puppy may mark a " carry ** through inexperience in the correct method of holding or a faulty introduction to game (see earlier para- graph) and such a fault may disappear with experienceSometimes a puppy is accused of being hard-mouthed because it does not like giving up a "carry" to its handler; and when this is the case the handler must be careful never to drag the bird roughly out of the dog's mouth but to coax his pupil right up to him and then insert his hand between the puppy's teeth and thus gently force the mouth open.

Occasionally " hard mouth " is caused by the dog being in an unfit condition; for instance, if a puppy is infested with worms, it often has an irresistible desire to gnaw everything, and this may cause a young retriever to nip a bird it is carrying—when the worms have been banished, this desire to gnaw things will often disappear,

But sometimes "hard mouth" is temperamental and hereditary; and, if this is obvious, there is seldom any cure.

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