hunting dog

[erik]

doe's anyone know if you can break a dog from being gun shy, and if you do how do you break it. my dog was fine around guns until I bought her with me trap shooting. I think too much shooting to soon ruined her.

[Cody Gruchow]

how old? it can be fixed just takes time and lots of work. we throw a chukar for the dog to retrieve a couple of times then we have someone 60 yards or so away and as they throw the chukar the other person shoots into the air in the opposite direction with a normal shotgun or a 22 blank gun. and slowly work the shooter closer if it isn't bothering the dog. if it is bothering the dog to much then don't push the envelope and pack up for the day and try again another day. don't forget lots of praises, you want the dog to have fun and associate the shot to fun

obviously you can use a pigeon or chukar if you prefer live birds. or just use a retrieving dummy

[beeker]

if I can add another step... have another dog around that is a rock solid bird dog.. the gun shy dog will see the other dogs reaction and learn from it.

[snow1]

Man,thats the worst thing a guy can do is bring a young dog to a gun range,I see often and always take time to talk with the owner,some guyz walk right up to the firing line,most ofen the pups body language tells the story,shaking,tail between the legs etc,its all bad for a young pup.

It'll take time and work and you might need to get a trainer involved.

Start from the beginning with your pup,when your pup eats clap your hands for starters and see how it reacts,if it seems fine bang some pans together from across the room,then ease into a pellet gun and throwing a dummy,ease into a cap gun/dummy combo,baby steps from the beginning goes a long way,jumping into a gun range with 12ga shotguns fireing is bad news.

[Bobby Bass]

A couple of questions, Why take a dog to a trap club, he is never going to be in that kind of an environment when he is hunting.. How old is the dog? Beeker has the right idea try and get the young dog with a experienced dog and the pup will learn from the old guy. If you can also match up the pup with another dog close to his age they will rub off on each other and follow the older dogs lead. Stay away from bring the pup to the trap club or putting him in a position that will reinforce his bad experience.  Are you training him for ducks or upland hunting?A lot love of luv and slowly reintroduce him to the sound of loud noises, caps guns work good as they make a sharp report but not as loud as a shotgun. I wish you good luck, going to take some patience. Don't want to come across as harsh but sometimes we forget that they are still young pups. I am no expert by any means but I have been hunting over dogs for more then 40 years and I have had a few that were not good hunting dogs and just became good family pets. Lets us know how it turns out..