Introducing a young dog to gunfire

[Ought Six Ai]

I have a 7 month old catahoula and 4 month old lab i want to start introducing them to gun fire but i've never trainned a dog for hunting before. whats the best way to start them out?

Cheers
Dan

[Big Lew]

I used to begin with a starter pistol, moving up from a 22 to the big guns. I don't have the place for that now so I brought mine to our local gun range, walking and playing with him well away from the shooting at first. As the visits increased I would walk him closer, always keeping his attention on something he enjoyed like playing or chasing a ball etc. I just returned from shotgunning ducks with him for the first time and he did very well. So well in fact that he became very excited with the anticipation of retrieving birds every time I raised the gun.

[adriaticum]

I brought mine to our local gun range

This is an brilliant idea.
I wish I had thought of that.
I suppose I can still do it with my dogs.
One of my dogs was ok but the second one was fearful and he influenced the good dog to become fearful as well.
I almost lost one of them because of gun fire last winter.

[xfactor]

Gun range is not a good idea at all. one of the hardest things to correct is a dog that is gun-shy.

look here for some helpful hints… http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/search.php?searchid=2449967

[Spy]

Start with banging something loud when you feed him & slowly progress to louder things from there. A dummy launcher is a great tool and lots of fun for him to practice retrieve's. Good luck.

[levind]

I used loud objects around the house and i did the same i took him to the gun range which i dont think its a bad idea unless you get to close to soon. We started on the road leading to the range very low gun sounds and worked are way up he did very well with it and he never had a problem with gun fire.

[Samsquantch]

I took my mutt out snowshoeing when she was a few months old. Took the shotty along and blasted a few rounds every now and then. Made sure to give here treats after each shot. She isn't gun shy at all.

[Big Lew]

I used loud objects around the house and i did the same i took him to the gun range which i dont think its a bad idea unless you get to close to soon. We started on the road leading to the range very low gun sounds and worked are way up he did very well with it and he never had a problem with gun fire.

Of course you do what you or I did....start well away from the loud shots and work your way closer as the visits progress. I actually started at the Mission gun club's archery range which is a long way from the rifle range. After bow practice I would play with him as we gradually worked our way closer over several days. The main thing is to keep him interested in something other than the shooting. Different strokes for different types of dogs though. Border collies are extremely sensitive to loud noises as an example. Even a sharp loud voice can make them nervous when they are young.

[adriaticum]

Gun range is not a good idea at all. one of the hardest things to correct is a dog that is gun-shy.

look here for some helpful hints… http://www.retrievertraining.net/for...archid=2449967 (http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums/search.php?searchid=2449967)




Of course you are not going to throw a fearful dog into the fire right away but slowly from a distance work your way in.
I did this with skateboards and one of my dogs and it worked wonders.
Unfortunately some places might not allow dogs

[yamadirt 426]

Like others said. Bang pots and pans about around his supper time. You want loud associated with good or fun. I hunted ducks and left the dog sleeping in the truck a few hundred yds away. Throw birds in the yard and pretend to shoot them with a gun yelling bang or what ever loud so he associates a gun with fun/birds/good times. I don't recommend the shooting range thing but I did it after a certain point because it's right down the road. I went to a 22 and fired a few rounds. Do this very very casually while your walking around. Start with shorts then longs but again dont prep the dog just shoot at the ground while he is looking the other way. He probably won't bat an eye but praise him after . Keep some treats or feathers on hand to give him. Again associated with fun. I then went to a 20ga. Had him sit about 40yds away. By now he was bird crazy. Throw bird shoot the ground away from dog and then send the dog to get the bird. He will be chomping at the bit. Do that a few times. Then do the casual shooting into the ground with the 20ga as your walking and again praise the dog after but be very casual. Once that has gone well. Have your dog sit beside you, throw your bird. Shoot your bird and have him retrieve it. Next go hunting. Fun fun fun.

And if at anytime he seems off don't move on to the next step until he is happy happy happy

[Foxton Gundogs]

First I never mind giving advice on dogs, but really this has to be the 6 or 7the thread I know of dedicated to the subject at least that my search uncovered. Here we go 1 more time maybe it should be stickied.

I always start my pups as soon as they are born. I leave the hunting channel on quite loud in the whelping room, from there when they start getting excited about food I have my wife discharge the blank gun at an ever decreasing distance as they start to eat. Then I move up to a 20 ga and finally a 12. by thhe time the pups are 8 weeks old they are looking for food whne they hear a gun, works very well, then I transfer the procedure to retrieving done right and slowly you have a gun broke dog in 3-4 weeks.

[Spy]

First I never mind giving advice on dogs, but really this has to be the 6 or 7the thread I know of dedicated to the subject at least that my search uncovered. Here we go 1 more time maybe it should be stickied.

I always start my pups as soon as they are born. I leave the hunting channel on quite loud in the whelping room, from there when they start getting excited about food I have my wife discharge the blank gun at an ever decreasing distance as they start to eat. Then I move up to a 20 ga and finally a 12. by thhe time the pups are 8 weeks old they are looking for food whne they hear a gun, works very well, then I transfer the procedure to retrieving done right and slowly you have a gun broke dog in 3-4 weeks.
X7 Agreee sticky it please :-)

[kinderdoggin]

First I never mind giving advice on dogs, but really this has to be the 6 or 7the thread I know of dedicated to the subject at least that my search uncovered. Here we go 1 more time maybe it should be stickied.

I always start my pups as soon as they are born. I leave the hunting channel on quite loud in the whelping room, from there when they start getting excited about food I have my wife discharge the blank gun at an ever decreasing distance as they start to eat. Then I move up to a 20 ga and finally a 12. by thhe time the pups are 8 weeks old they are looking for food whne they hear a gun, works very well, then I transfer the procedure to retrieving done right and slowly you have a gun broke dog in 3-4 weeks.

This is also exactly how we start our puppies.

There is no rush to get through this process, the goal is not to gunproof your dog in record time, it's to build up a large history of positive experience so that you remove the possibility of gun shot noises surprising or startling your dog at any point. When introducing gunfire we use a positive distraction like feeding time because they are already having a super time eating, and over time the association allows a chemical reaction to develop in their brain that releases happy hormones when the sound is heard. (If you've heard about Pavlov's dogs and the dinner bell, this is the exact same idea). This happens after many, many positive associations, so build up that 'sound history' slowly and gradually and while you are giving your puppy the most fun it can handle. For older dogs that love to retrieve, a game of fetch is a great distraction during introductions, but the little guys tend to value food more.

[Big Lew]

I should maybe clarify.....I used the gun range solely because I didn't have this dog until it was a year old so I couldn't begin introducing him to load noises at an early age. I also now live on a city lot so don't have the facilities I used to have to enable me to use starter pistols and light guns like 22s etc. My best option was the Mission gun club range because the archery area is a long way from the rifle range. Consequently, I would bring him along when I practiced archery. I then gradually brought him closer to the noise while keeping him distracted by playing fetch etc.
By the time we got to the actual gun range he was so used to the loud reports that he paid no attention to them. This worked well for him and was the fastest, easiest, and most practicable method for our situation.

[Spy]

http://i794.photobucket.com/albums/yy226/Hunterspy/img059-1.jpg (http://s794.photobucket.com/user/Hunterspy/media/img059-1.jpg.html)
My one in a million dog Spy at a clay shoot :-) RIP buddy :-(