# Winter Bite work= Broken Teeth?



## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

So I'm not sure if this should be here or in the bite work section, but mods can do their work if need be.

It's been getting colder here as of late with temps heading into the below freezing mark. We train outside, and after a number of dogs have gone through, especially on the cold days, the leg or arm sleeves gets pretty hard.

This will be our second of outside winter bite work, and I'm not sure why I didn't think of this last winter...but with the cold temps has anybody had any experience with teeth breaking either on the sleeve or suits? <Touch Wood> we haven't had any issues... but aside from having a number of sleeves and rotating them in and out, anybody have any recommendations on how to not get your dogs teeth broken by biting a frozen sleeve?

thanks


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## Jami Craig (Jul 5, 2010)

(I AM NO EXPERT ON THIS)

....the sleeve isn't wet or frozen harder...it should just be cold...."frozen" fabric isn't that hard and the dog's teeth shouldn't be to sensitive to it....


are the sleeves wet... cold fabric may feet harder but it shouldn't be...I leave toys and tugs in the unheated mudroom and they aren't any "harder" just cold

if you're thinking wet because of salvia is it really wet enough to freeze solid to make a difference? It may look frosty but a second with a dog's mouth on it should warm it up...


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Jami Craig said:


> (I AM NO EXPERT ON THIS)
> 
> 
> however dog teeth are warm inside their mouths, you seem to be indirectly thinking that they're cold and brittle and will "smash" when hitting the hard sleeve....the sleeve isn't wet or frozen...it should just be cold...."frozen" fabric isn't that hard and the dog's teeth shouldn't be to sensitive to it....
> ...


although I have never had a dogs teeth break on equipment because of the cold..

I HAVE seen plenty "freeze ups" of equipment...have you not?


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## Jami Craig (Jul 5, 2010)

Joby Becker said:


> although I have never had a dogs teeth break on equipment because of the cold..
> 
> I HAVE seen plenty "freeze ups" of equipment...have you not?


I haven't have to much experience with sleeves in the winter in general, but I've only seen them get frosty and a bit crunchy....I've seen toys in various materials (stored under cover in an unheated area) get a little crunchy when played with out in the cold with dog salvia, but never rock hard enough I'd be concerned about tooth breakage.

Only time I've seen something get rock hard was when it was left outside in the snow overnight by mistake. It had been raining then snowing and the thing became a solid ice chunk...but I'm assuming that's not typical of equiptment in dry areas....is it?


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

I think in the instance I'm talking about, is when we were training in SchH, the equipment was left outside, but shielded from the elements. With multiple dogs (15-20 dogs, multiple rounds), I think the sleeve was getting harder... yes from saliva (some of the dogs are pretty gooby haha) Just the sound of the dogs hitting the sleeve was enough to make me wonder just how hard it was getting. We had multiple sleeves and rotated to avoid the dog hitting a block of ice... but I've definitely seen dogs going at frozen equipment... especially when you're training in a -30 windchill

Now that I train in FR, I have purchased my own leg sleeves and bring them w/. I bring them home, put them in the garage when we're done. It's insulated, but I doubt they'll fully dry until the spring. Our decoy will be getting his suit, and I'm just going to safely assume it won't be left outside. 

I've heard of dogs breaking their teeth in various circumstances... it's bound to happen sooner or later depending on various factors... but I was wondering if the cold was one of them.

There is less of a chance of it happening this winter b/c there are only a couple dogs doing FR as opposed to SchH at my club... just looking for experiences, tips, and whatnot... and if the risk of breaking teeth increases in the winter. Kinda jealous of you SoCal ppl right now


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Ryan Venables said:


> I think in the instance I'm talking about, is when we were training in SchH, the equipment was left outside, but shielded from the elements. With multiple dogs (15-20 dogs, multiple rounds), I think the sleeve was getting harder... yes from saliva (some of the dogs are pretty gooby haha) Just the sound of the dogs hitting the sleeve was enough to make me wonder just how hard it was getting. We had multiple sleeves and rotated to avoid the dog hitting a block of ice... but I've definitely seen dogs going at frozen equipment... especially when you're training in a -30 windchill
> 
> Now that I train in FR, I have purchased my own leg sleeves and bring them w/. I bring them home, put them in the garage when we're done. It's insulated, but I doubt they'll fully dry until the spring. Our decoy will be getting his suit, and I'm just going to safely assume it won't be left outside.
> 
> ...


I have had suits and leg and arm sleeves freeze up...bring them INSIDE the heated home...it helps.. I have with the frozen and snow..put stuff in front of a space heater...just like any other winter wear..not too close mind you..


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## Ryan Venables (Sep 15, 2010)

Now that would be good drive... bite the burning jute!

Okie... yeah, I plan on bringing stuff in... since we're not working arm sleeves, I don't think the prob would be much of an issue.

I guess if we keep everything less than solid, there should be no other effects I need to overly concern myself w/ about breaking teeth?


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Ryan Venables said:


> I guess if we keep everything less than solid, there should be no other effects I need to overly concern myself w/ about breaking teeth?


Guess not. Word is that it seems those metal chompers will eventually start cracking teeth. :-\" If you don't have your dog bitting or working with material that hard, then maybe it's not so much of a concern.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

might not apply everywhere, but i often use hot packs to warm up equipment ... over here they are dirt cheap and there are a million different types available all over
- had one dog that took a liking to em and shredded a few so now i'm more careful about leaving em around


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## Gerald Guay (Jun 15, 2010)

I'm getting a little off track here but was wondering.

Would the constant freezing and thawing out of the saliva wet jute eventually affects the fibers of the material itself? Weaken them?

Some clothing materials (natural fibers) will lose their shape if wet, frozen and then thawed out.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Ryan I don't see it as a temp issue, but a decoying one!
They have to eat don't they? And their teeth aren't falling out of their head when that happens? [-(
Broken teeth on cold equipment might happen if it fabric is frozen. Poor timing or driving the very cold sleeve into their skull could give the same result...

The main mouth temps should be about the same if they eat, chew on treats or are biting a sleeve.:-o


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