dog might be having some slight gun shyness

[theduke]

just wonder how can i solve a slight gun shyness in my dog. heres what happen, took the pup out just for a lil shooting nothing big we've done it a few times with him so he is pretty familar with the gun, even the first time i took him out at 14 weeks he did not care.then took him to shoot birds he did not care he loved it actually. then today he was a lil uneasy. what we did today was throw the bumper shot and he got it. but in the process when he heard the shot he was uneasy. the good thing is he did not run away just came back to me. but when we did it the third time he didnt want to go, but still didnt take off just sat beside me. now a few factors i think to casue this was i didnt make it fun enough, or he was having one of those days(he's a chessie they think there pepole) but tell me what u guys think, nd what can i do, im thinking of buying a cheap cap gun to use temp for my trainings?

[theduke]

o ya he has no problems with power tools, chain saws, lawn mowers, or anything loud, some times at night taking him to the washroom and if he hears something loud or cant see it he gets a lil scared

[270WIN]

I think it is very important to avoid allowing gun shyness to get started in the first place rather than trying to cure it once it is firmly established. The trick is to have the puppy associate the loud sound with something pleasant.
Here's what I've done and I've never had a gun shy dog:

1. Start by introducing the pup to a moderately loud sound at feed time. Just when he starts to eat, rap a couple of scraps of 2x4 together. The advantage of using the 2x4 scraps is that you can gradually increase the loudness as he gets more accustomed to it over several days. Start soft and make it louder each day. The idea is not to scare him. Just get him used to it. Just do it once or twice when you start to feed him- not continuously while he is eating. Pet him and reassure him that it won't hurt him. After the first couple of days he probably won't even look up from his food when you make the noise. How fast you preceed with this process is entirely dependant on how sensitive the dog is.
2. Once he is entirely comfortable with the noise at feed time, you could introduce him to the gun. Show it to him, let him smell it, pet him and let him know that it won't hurt him. Again start soft and gradually make it louder. Don't scare him. Get a helper to do the shooting. Get the helper to move at least 100 yards away from you and the dog. When the helper shoots, give the pup a treat, pet him and reassure him. Gradually move closer with each shot and repeat the process until you are right beside the shooter. I've used a .410 for this because of the softer report. How fast you go with this is dependant on how sensitive the dog is. You may be able to do it in just one session or you may want to do it over several days.
3.Once he is completely comfortable with the sound of the gun combine it with something fun, like retrieving a dummy.

Again, the idea is to make it fun for him and go only as fast with it as you can without scaring him.

This has always worked for me and I've been doing it for over 30 years. Good luck and have fun.

[270WIN]

Oops. Posted twice.

[300WSM]

This all being said, I got a lab we are gonna take to the pond this year, now from a distance she seems fine with any gun report. But I'm a little afraid of how she will do when the gun is right beside her.

This last week end some fireworks were shot off(not by us)(100 yrds away) and she freaked for a second till I sat beside her then she seemed to calm down. Did I do this right or could this one event have wrecked her for good?

How often do you have to shoot around them for the dog to not care anymore?(in general)

300

[Jamie]

I started on "Bear" (Our new lovable lab pup) With a day at the range with her sitting in the car, then tied up outside the car, then tied up at the club house, then behind the 27 yard line... (Of course I was with her most of the time)
Next up will be her staked to the ground a few yards behind me while I shoot.

She doesnt seem to have any issues what so ever.

Good luck with your issues.

Jamie

[theduke]

right now i just smacked to peices of wood with my dog and his liter mate which we also have very loud and they both didnt flinch. they thought i was playing with them, so i dont know whats going on, he does get a lil shy with everything when his brother is not with him

[270WIN]

Originally Posted by 300WSM

This all being said, I got a lab we are gonna take to the pond this year, now from a distance she seems fine with any gun report. But I'm a little afraid of how she will do when the gun is right beside her.

This last week end some fireworks were shot off(not by us)(100 yrds away) and she freaked for a second till I sat beside her then she seemed to calm down. Did I do this right or could this one event have wrecked her for good?

How often do you have to shoot around them for the dog to not care anymore?(in general)

300

One of my labs (now deceased) who I introduced to gunfire as outlined above and who loved to hunt and who had absolutely no fear of gunfire was completely petrified of both fire works and lightning storms. I think that as far as he was concerned, fireworks and lightning were the same thing. Gunfire was something completely different from both fireworks and lightning in his mind. He loved guns and hunting but was a complete basket case when it came to fire works and lightning.
I don't think your dog is wrecked at all. Just be careful how you work her into accepting gunfire. Do it gently. Start off with relatively low sound volumes, at a distance, and work up. Use a helper as outlined above. Make it pleasant and fun for her and don't increase the loudness until you are confident that she is comfortable with the level you are at. And try to keep her away from fire works and lightning. As for how long this takes, I think it probably varies quite a bit from dog to dog.
It's WAY EASIER to to avoid the problem in the first place than to try to fix it once it becomes a real problem.

[270WIN]

Originally Posted by Jamie

I started on "Bear" (Our new lovable lab pup) With a day at the range with her sitting in the car, then tied up outside the car, then tied up at the club house, then behind the 27 yard line... (Of course I was with her most of the time)
Next up will be her staked to the ground a few yards behind me while I shoot.

She doesnt seem to have any issues what so ever.

Good luck with your issues.

Jamie

This is really using the same principle as what I have done. I also think, and as Jamie points out, being right with your dog while all this is going on is very important.

[Okotokian]

I'm afraid I can't be of much help. Never really broke in my Britt gently. Just took him out and started shooting like an idiot. He likes it. Hell, if I don't hit anything, he cries, looks at me ("god you are a lousy shot") and then retrieves my empty shells in the water and brings them back. Maybe you just need to get a Britt! Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[OutwardBound]

Duke

We went through the same thing with Pocket, but even worse as soon as the gun went off she would run, jump , and pull.

When she was younger we introduced her gently with the cap gun, then 22, then 20ga, then 12ga all with minimal shyness. However, then we stopped the gun training and worked on marking without the sounds and she seemed to forget that the bang was necessary. Our first hunt out was a bit of a disaster with her heading for the hills with shots. So back home to the cap gun while in the backyard in the kiddiepool and retrieving bumpers, and building up gun calibers again in the river. Then out to hunt again and see if we made progress.

If your Chessie like water as much as ours thats the one thing they will do anything for. Ours happened to be during duck hunting season so Dannielle went out in the water with Pocket on a leash and the 2 of them sat in the water, because Pocket loved the water so much, me and a buddy each shot off a box of shells when the ducks flew by. Even though they were far away and we weren't going to hit them, it still resembled duck hunting and Pocket was finally putting it together.

We were cautious at first making sure Pocket would not freak out but she wasn't to bad in the water, so by the time she heard 40+ shots, she was fairly stable.

Once she seen an up close duck get hit right after the bang watched it fall and sent her to get it it was like an instant cure. She also had a huge retriving drive. As soon as she figure out that all the baging was to get that flying thing out of the sky, and she got to go get it. The gun shy issues were fixed.

She'll be three this fall with no further problems what so ever. We actually can't even bring out the guns with her in the house bc she gets soooo pumped and excited.

With Dozer we never had any problems bc he was sleeping in the car during his first weeks at home when we were out hunting and then tied up and sleeping in the duck blind with us as soon as he was a bit bigger. Jealousy was a huge motivator for him bc he saw Pocket getting ducks so we'd let him get close easy birds and he knew what the guns were all about from the start.

Maybe if you let your pup watch an older dog get a retrieve with the shots it will click that they aren't bad and amp him up, then let him get the next one and send him before the bird even hits the ground.

Hope this helps and he'll get through it I'm sure. Chessies take a bit more time to figure things out and need to know why it's being done so stepping back and taking a different approach may be necessary, but he will come around.