Introduction to gun fire

[Star1pup]

At what age should I introduce my puppy to gunfire and how should I go about it?

[PA-Joe]

You can start at almost any age. The trick is to use two people one to play with the dog and the other to stand about 100 yards away with a cap gun. As the one person plays with the dog the other one shoots the cap gun. The one playing acts as if nothing at all happened and just keeps playing with the dog. After a while the dog and player should jsut act as if nothing is strange about the cap gun bang. After you are certain that the dog is not reacting then the shoot can move closer and then start the process all over again. Letting the dog have fun and going slow are the keys.

[Don Fischer]

I don't think you can start to soon. It's not really the gun that scares a gun shy dog, it's the noise the gun makes. Once the dog associates the noise with the gun, people call it gun shy. Dee had a very good idea he uses and after he explained the theory to me in a PM, I have to admit it'll very likely work. What I do is also back in these threds. I use a 22 rifle and never never fire when the pup is doing something I want it to do that the sound might break it of. I also start with the pup, pup's work better, off from me a ways and the barrel just a cople inches off the ground. I never help the pup in any way, comfort it or anything while I'm doing it. I do watch the pup for signs of excess nerviousness and that tells me when to stop. This happens while I'm walking the pup. I mentioned pup's above as when I had litters of pup's I took them for walks very young. By the time they were 8 weeks old, they could go in the field but wouldn't run off to much. That's when I'd start with the whole mob. Always carry something resembling a shotgun with you, 22 rifle is fine. If there is a shy pup in the bunch, the litter mates will usually give it confidence and help break it. Keep in mind, you usually MAKE a dog gun shy; none are born that way. You are the one that shows them what a gun is and what it sounds like.

[Star1pup]

Sounds like I'm getting good advice.  One thing to clarify is that I have just the one dog.  She is a mountain cur and will be trained (I hope) for squirrels.

[Don Fischer]

Don't concern yourself with what beed you have. For most things, it's still a dog. And don't worry about it being alone, it's not, it's with you and will key off of you. That is why I said do not help it when you fire BUT do watch for excessive shyness. If I jumps away from something and comes running back to you and you get down to comfort it, you'll convince it something bad really has happened. On the other hand if you just keep walking like nothing happened, it will maybe be nervious but not gain any more by you justifing it for the pup. This is a very easy process that most breeds take to very easy. Where the problem comes in is to much to fast and the source it related to the gun. If you put it in a crate and cover the crate with a blanket then fire some heavy 12 ga shells next to the crate, you will not make it gun shy. But the first time it see you shoot the gun and it makes the same noise, it will then associate the gun with the noise that scared hell out of it. We call that gun shy when in fact it's the noise that scares it and the dog associates the noise with the gun AFTER it see's the gun make it, not befor.

Give it some though. If you wanted to teach four 5 yr old to shoot and he never saw a gun befor, would you let him use a BB gun or a 44 mag?

[swampthing]

I would wait till he is after 6mos. The tympic membrane is not quite fully developed and could cause nervousness.
I sit my dog in front of me and step back 40 paces in an open area away from objects that can cause an echo.
I fire one shot with the .22 blank. Thats it. If the dog responded by cowering, running away with tail between legs or just looked overly stressed thats not good at this distance and will probably mean the dog was introduced to early or it's bred in.
Typically the dog will just sit there and look at you with a "huh" look or a "whats that" look. Thats good.
I fire 1 shot a day at this distance for a week if all is going well.
Then I reduce the distance by 2-4 steps per day until I can fire the blank with the dog sitting next to me.
Once this is achieved you can incorperate the 20ga with low brass loads. Start just like with the blank pistol at 40 paces shoot 1 per day for a week then so on and so forth.
You could also start hunting him with the use of a pellet rifle to fire him up if thats what your after.

 

[cottonpicker]

one thing that has always worked for me is to drop a firecracker on the ground at some point when the dog is in the pen or just running around the yard and not paying much attention to what i am doing.i always make sure im not too close to the dog when i do this and it usually only takes a few time before the dog stops patying any attention at all to the sound

[beemanbeme]

I try to relate a lot of my training to the food bowl.  When I would come out of the house with the dog's food, I would clash two wooden stats together and blow a large whistle I had.  Then I would take the food to the dogs (pups).  I would progress until I could stand over the dogs while they ate and smack the slats together.  Then you can progress to firecrackers or .22 shorts.  Ideally, I would end up with the dogs coming to the sound of a shotgun or my large whistle.  Take your time and take it slow.  If the dogs flinch or stop eating and look at you, back off and start over.  A gun shy dog is really, really hard to break so your best bet is to do it right the first time.

[moxgrove]

I agree you can't start too young or move too slow. I am a big fan of the cap gun from a distance and moving up. I also have been known to put a piece of liver or other treat out when the noise sounds. My dogs have always loved the progression. and using noise even while playing fetch iss big. You just really don't want any negative experiences for the pup

[Star1pup]

I call her and clap my hands really  loud at the same time.  I reward her with a small treat.

I don't have any caps, but I do have some of those .22 shells with just a primer in them.  They are no louder than a cap.  So far, noise doesn't seem to bother her much other than looking around to see where it's coming from.

[Don Fischer]

I call her and clap my hands really  loud at the same time.  I reward her with a small treat.

I don't have any caps, but I do have some of those .22 shells with just a primer in them.  They are no louder than a cap.  So far, noise doesn't seem to bother her much other than looking around to see where it's coming from.

You can take a 1/4" drill bit and drill out the pockets of shotgun shells. Then you can insert new primers by hand and with just the primer, the noise level is low and the gun is present. Sooner or later you'll have to shoot a live round tho.

[prairiedog555]

I believe in training a dog, or any animal, (human) when it is hungry.  Get it's attention.  If it is already gun shy, real hungry.  In the case of breaking to the gun, shoot at a distance and gradually get closer while eating.  At some point that animal will associate that loud noise with pleasure, and figure out that it is not that bad.  It always works,  with the choice between starvation and the loud noise they will figure it out. 
I was a falconer, and to break a wild bird you keep it on your fist, with a piece of meat in your fist at its feet.  When it is hungry enough, it will bend its head and eat, thus making the choice to trust you.  Then you own them.  You may say that starveing is cruel, but I never have to beat an animal, just give them a choice, they know what happens when they don't eat, you, or the loud noise are an unknown.

[Star1pup]

I think I was too worried.  Shooting doesn't seem to bother Scooter at all.  She mostly comes over to see what I'm shooting at.