i have a 1 year old german short hair that is gun shy!!!!

[Ashes]

[freddogs]

Tell us a bit more. Maybe someone can help. It's a rough thing  to get a dog over and may not be worth the effort. Does the dog like to hunt?

[Ashes]

She loves to hunt.  I've been shooting a 22.cal around her while out in the field with pheasants, she's starting to tolerate that.

[Myk]

Try cap guns while she's eating too. If she notices don't make a big deal of it or even acknowledge she noticed. Just another sound, business as usual.

[Tom H.]

Ashes,
Just hearing that the dog can tolerate the sight of a gun sounds promising.  A fellow I know has a GSP that hides under the bed when the double comes out.  His other pup is fine.
I have an 11mo Wirehair and I have passed on more shots this year because I made the game and he didn't.  If he doesn't see it, I don't shoot. (this has included pheasants and grouse and ducks)
 I made the mistake early to shoot over him when he hadn't seen the birds and I thought that I caused irreperable harm.  A bunch of quail and a few pheasants later and he is fine.  Just confused when I miss  :lol:

Good luck

Tom

[Don Fischer]

Boy does this topic come up in a lot of places. Sir, you likely don't have a gun shy dog. What you likely have is a dog that was not introduced to gun fire properly. If your making progress, keep going. Don't shoot the 22 in the air, use a rifle and point it at the ground, it'll muffle the shot. Don't shoot when your dog is close by or not engrossed in something it likes. It need's to associate gun fire with fun things.

[Steelbanger]

We have a beagle that was afraid of any loud sound when he was a pup; motorcycles, fireworks in the distance, dogs barking at him, almost anything would have him cringing. I was afraid to even try a 22 around him but finally did after about 6 months and boy, was he ever afraid of that. Just shouldering a gun at home would have him scurrying away from me. But I persisted and he gradually came around. Dove hunting, or rather sitting and watching for doves to fly by, with the dog on a leash, and when I'd get one we would make a big deal out of him finding it seemed a turning point.

These days, when I hunt rabbits and fire a shot, he comes running to get in on the action. He has had a 180º turnaround in his attitude toward gunfire. I hope your dog turns out likewise.

[Don Fischer]

You guy's with these,,,,gun shy,,,,,,dog's. Think about this. Why on earth would your dog fear the sight of one OBJECT and not another? It's not the gun they fear, it's the noise the object made! Hide the gun close by, show your pup a bird and immediately fire the gun that the pup can't see. Do it with a young pup and I can guarente that 90% of the pup's will be accussed of being bird shy when in fact they were imporperly introduced to a bird; and if they can't see the gun that fire's, they won't fear it until you show them that that's what scared them. Then your pup will be both bird shy and gun shy, or so the belief goes.

[Don Fischer]

You guy's with these,,,,gun shy,,,,,,dog's. Think about this. Why on earth would your dog fear the sight of one OBJECT and not another? It's not the gun they fear, it's the noise the object made! Hide the gun close by, show your pup a bird and immediately fire the gun that the pup can't see. Do it with a young pup and I can guarente that 90% of the pup's will be accussed of being bird shy when in fact they were imporperly introduced to a bird; and if they can't see the gun that fire's, they won't fear it until you show them that that's what scared them. Then your pup will be both bird shy and gun shy, or so the belief goes. Want to teach your pup not to eat? Hide around the corner with the gun and every time the pup drop's it's head to eat, fire the gun over it's head, that'll cure him of eating!

[victorcharlie]

I would suggest not shooting while feeding...I've tried that in the past and didn't get good results.......but rather wait until the dog is totally engrossed with the bird........start back a good way from the dog and shoot a light shot gun load......something with more of a boom rather than a sharp crack......The single biggest thing is don't shoot until the dog has his mind on the business at hand........he should be so into the game that he won't notice the noise from the gun.......and again......stay back a good way from the dog before you shoot!  

This is the most important thing..........Have fun and don't get frustrated......

[Don Fischer]

NEVER, NOT EVER, ever shoot a gun in the present's of a bird until your dog is properly introduced to the gun AND has no fear of it. If you have a soft dog engrossed in a bird and you fire the gun, you run the risk of the dog associating the gun fire that scare's it with the bird. Now you've not only got a dog that may end up, not only afraid of the gun but also the bird. It's all association. If the dog is bothered by noise, don't complicate thing's by using the noise and making it afraid of something else. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR TRAINING!

[JohnV]

I once had a three year old lab that was sensitive to gunfire given to me as "Gun shy." after lots of socializing and swimming to get a good bond, I released a pigeon while a helper kept the dog on lease at about 40 yds. We never released him to chase, just allowed him to get interested. The helper brought the dog up to the release for scenting. After a few trips to the field, he was very interested in what I was doing as I walked away to flush the bird.

When I felt his excitement was high, I took a 20ga and flushed the bird to kill it. My helper, 60 yds back this time, released the exuberant lab to get the downed bird. He made a perfect retrieve and had the look of fun. Just one shot the first day... BTW I had introduced him to feathers earlier over several weeks. After three more times he was allowed, on lease, to flush the bird himself.

It takes time and thought. Set up a no fail scenario. If the dog still does not accept gunfire, he may be better of as a pet. Remember the patience thingy. Do not train when you are tired or irritable. The dog will sense he has done something wrong before you start. JV.

[dano]

I raise train and sell bird dogs as a hobby and also for teaching my children work ethics. I raise english pointers and guarantee them to hunt.
I tell people when they buy a dog from me to take it home and love it.
Teach it its name and to come to you.Buy some Quail or pigeons teach it to hunt before it learns to run.You get the dog interested in birds. when you have them fired up with birds introduce the blank gun to them while they are concentrating on the bird they will never here the gun. This works for me and on the bloodlines that I have.Every year I have people bring dog to me to fix.Some can be some cant. If the dog isn't completely ruined I tie them up and tether a pigeon infront of ther face have my son shoot a blank gun 50 yards away. we will keep doing this and my son will keep getting closer till he is next to me then we move up to a bigger gun.As long as the dog stays with us.hope this will help.Dano

[commanche]

my dog will take shotgun right out of your hand.he goes nuts when i grab shotgun.he smells the barrel and goes crazy to get out in woods.                      my problem has never been gun shy dog but i have other problems . my dog will bite strangers and runs to truck at end of hunting.bugger leaves me in woods and takes off for truck.he never runs to truck at beginning only end.

[captkev]

  How did the dog turn out...?  I know this is a old topic, but I'd like to hear how it all came together in the end.


  I'm with Don Fischer  on this one. The key is to bring in gun play only after the dog has built a desire so strong for the bird that it would only respond to the masters commands, all other distractions would mean nothing to the dog at that point. creating distractions while training the dog will bring total cocentration to the bird in the long run, just hunt with someone who has a dog that asociates gunfire with the retrive command, not good in my opinion, I hate it when my dog is on point and a foot flushed bird gets up and someone shoots it only to have a dog take off for the retrive and bust out the bird my dog is holding, another example is if I get a bird in the air after a point and shoot only to have someone elses dog make the retrive before my dog gets to it. Bad manners on the trainers part.  A dog should never make the retrive untill the command is given. In the long run the dog will get more respect from other hunters as being a good dog, Now back to the bird desire and creating distractions while training, If your dog is gun shy, have a friend do the shooting from 100 yards away when you give the signal, and slowly bring the bird and the dog closer to the gun fire, in little to no time the dog wont ever think of the shooting, and concentrate totaly on the bird.  I know its a old topic, but I still had to add my .o2 cents worth.

EDIT:dano ... Sorry I skiped right over your post and went to writing, I like your idea LOL

[Don Fischer]

 I'm with Don Fischer  on this one. The key is to bring in gun play only after the dog has built a desire so strong for the bird that it would only respond to the masters commands

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Not really what I do. What I do is to make sure that the gun fire is disassociated with anything I later hope the dog will like. Each stage of training should be it's own part. Now this is not to say no birds until the gun has been introduced, they are just two seperate things and the dog needs to learn to deal with each seperately. It's association of the loud noise and the bird that's the problem. Give me a bird crazy fool thats a bit noise shy and if your not careful, you can break it off birds with the gun. That's why you seperate the two. Learn to work birds and learn to accept the gun fire. Bring everything together in the end.

[dukkillr]

this thread is old.  What were the results on the dog?

[captkev]

  How did the dog turn out...?  I know this is a old topic, but I'd like to hear how it all came together in the end.

 Same here.