Dogs comfortable with guns

[CSG]

When you guys get a puppy, how do you train it to be comfortable around guns going off??

[houndogger]

Fire a 22 off when feeding is a good start. How old is the puppy?

[husky30-06]

I sure got lucky with my dog....she goes hay-wire when I fire off any size gun. She just wants to chase and track what ever I shot at.... not sure what did it though just happened. Good luck with it though!

[CSG]

I dont have a puppy, but my roomate has two beagles. the old one hates guns, runs as soon as she sees the guns in the cases. the puppy has yet to see or hear a gun.

Not gonna train the puppy, I was just curious

[Sasquatch]

Feeding while firing from a distance works well. At about 6 months old, I play with mine and have someone fire a shotgun from a distance. We keep playing as the shotgun firing gets closer. The idea is to associate the sound of the gun with something good.

Once they get the idea that there's a bird at the other end of the loud noise, they love it. Mine sees the shotgun come out and he starts to tremble from excitement.

[shaner338]

Take em for a walk and fire off a shot, see how they react and give them reasurance that they are ok and keep it up. Make it a game for them make them feel that its fun.... 2 of mine where easy..3rd one not so much;-)

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Remember don't shoot close to the dog. their hearing is much more sensitive then ours. I had a hound which I got when she was 2 and just the sight of a gun had her running home. It took 1 full winter and spring of shooting some game out of the trees for her before she started to relax. By the time she was killed by a cat she would put her paw on my gun if she saw me getting my gear together. It took alot of time to get her to that point don't screw up you dog by shooting to close to it.

[Dirty]

There are some good books on training gun dogs, that give multiple explanations of how to condition them to gun shots. I think the starting from a distance and working closer is what the book I read suggested. Another thing you might want to consider, is if it is a bird dog, getting some live pigeons for it to chase. Get it used to the game, then introduce the shooting. It will be so intent on chasing the pigeons that it will associate the gunshots with fun time. I have 3 brothers, so our house was so noisy that we never had to really worry about conditioning our dogs to gun shots:biggrin:

[Clint_S]

Keep the shotguns away and work your way up from 22 CB shorts.
Feeding works, retrieving is great too if your dog has the drive.
Get their fav. retrieve toy toss it out and don't release them until you've fired off a CB (subsonic) in a direction away from the dog.
It's way harder to correct shyness once it's instilled than to not have it be an issue to begin with.

[dutchie]

Some people do it while feeding... I am going to have someone fire it while i am playing with my puppy...

then take the dog to the trap range... they get use to it VERY VERY quick!! and you can start in the parking lot and slowly walk up to the shooters.

same thing with big guns... just start farther away and slowly work up close so the dog is right beside you when the gun reports.

I like playing with the dog when the shot goes off becasue they are close to you for "protection" when they are scared but they will just keep on playing right after thier praise is given.

dutchie

[jessonml]

I too my 5 month (at the time) Duck Toller to the trap range and gradually worked him closer to the shooter. He was pretty scared at first but then after working him closer with some reassurance he didn't even flinch. I have had him with work with me since he was 12 weeks with nail guns and saws and general construction noise so that likely helped the process.
Matt

[Jimbo]

x 2, dutchie.

Make some occasional loud noises around the house. Bang his/her food dish on the floor, knock 2 pots together in the kitchen, etc., etc. PLay with them each time until the noise is not a big deal.

When they are ok with it in the house, go to the local range and park in the farthest corner. Each time they notice the noise, play with them until they are ok with that volume, then move a liitle closer.

Let the dog set the schedule. Have fun with it.

[Kasomor]

When you guys get a puppy, how do you train it to be comfortable around guns going off??

Not intending to be a smart a** but you buy the puppy from a breeder who has been firing a cap gun at feeding time since the pups were old enough to eat solids. Then you keep at it, along with the whistle recall that the pups have learned everytime they are called while at the breeders, when you get pup home.

If your breeder hasn't done this, start with a $ store cap gun at a distance, before moving up to a starter pistol, then 20 gage and finally 12 gage again keeping everything at a distance of at least 30 to 40 yards. Keep everything positive with either a shot and a retreive or a shot and food. Keeping in mind until next hunting season there is probabley no reason to shoot over your dog so you have lots of time to work up to being beside him, so take it slow.

There are a couple of good videos on YouTube of trainers conditioning their dogs to gun fire. Gun-shy dogs are made not born.

Have fun!
Kasomor

[GoatGuy]

Not intending to be a smart a** but you buy the puppy from a breeder who has been firing a cap gun at feeding time since the pups were old enough to eat solids. Then you keep at it, along with the whistle recall that the pups have learned everytime they are called while at the breeders, when you get pup home.

If your breeder hasn't done this, start with a $ store cap gun at a distance, before moving up to a starter pistol, then 20 gage and finally 12 gage again keeping everything at a distance of at least 30 to 40 yards. Keep everything positive with either a shot and a retreive or a shot and food. Keeping in mind until next hunting season there is probabley no reason to shoot over your dog so you have lots of time to work up to being beside him, so take it slow.

There are a couple of good videos on YouTube of trainers conditioning their dogs to gun fire. Gun-shy dogs are made not born.

Have fun!
Kasomor

That's sounds like the way to do it!

Unfortunately with my dog she was about 5 months old and she saw the bear at about 30 yards, saw the gun and the shot and then tracked it.

After that she was absolutely haywire about guns and hunting. Wherever the gun is pointed she's looking. Just loves it.

Rather lucky than good any day.

[Iron Glove]

Not intending to be a smart a** but you buy the puppy from a breeder who has been firing a cap gun at feeding time since the pups were old enough to eat solids. Then you keep at it, along with the whistle recall that the pups have learned everytime they are called while at the breeders, when you get pup home.

If your breeder hasn't done this, start with a $ store cap gun at a distance, before moving up to a starter pistol, then 20 gage and finally 12 gage again keeping everything at a distance of at least 30 to 40 yards. Keep everything positive with either a shot and a retreive or a shot and food. Keeping in mind until next hunting season there is probabley no reason to shoot over your dog so you have lots of time to work up to being beside him, so take it slow.

There are a couple of good videos on YouTube of trainers conditioning their dogs to gun fire. Gun-shy dogs are made not born.

Have fun!
Kasomor

We were told by our breeder ( a Toller like you !! ) that all the pups were conditioned to a number of loud noises including gun shots. At the time, I was not into hunting and didn't think of taking her out when I just was shooting around.
Big mistake on my part. She's 6 years old now and petrified of gun shots and will even hide when I take a gun out, tho' she sure forgets the fear when I drag a deer home !!
Anyways, we are slowly working with her using 22's and hope to get her to the point that I can take her grouse hunting.

[Kasomor]

We were told by our breeder ( a Toller like you !! ) that all the pups were conditioned to a number of loud noises including gun shots. At the time, I was not into hunting and didn't think of taking her out when I just was shooting around.
Big mistake on my part. She's 6 years old now and petrified of gun shots and will even hide when I take a gun out, tho' she sure forgets the fear when I drag a deer home !!
Anyways, we are slowly working with her using 22's and hope to get her to the point that I can take her grouse hunting.

Hmmmm...that is interesting....did you ever see your breeder actually doing what they told you they were doing? Was your breeder into hunting? Not all breeders are cut from the same cloth :biggrin:. Some puppies are more noise sensitive too but if the breeder doesn't know that the owner is going to be using the dog for hunting they may over look the noise sensitity.

Anywho, your dog is 6 now, scared of gunfire, and has a conditioned fear response to the sight of a long gun. Are you plinking cans with the 22 when out with her or just shooting in the air? Just wondering if the sound of what your hitting is freaking her out also.

I don't know what you have tried beyond the 22 but seriously, go buy a cap gun from the dollar store. You also need at least four bumpers or birds so that your dog doesn't have the opprotunity to worrry about what is going on between marks.
Make the retrieves as long as she is always succesful at on bare ground, no cover, the longer the better. Perhaps 75 yards on a soccer field would be a good distance for her. You have the dog with you, the person throwing the bumper has the cap gun with them. Your gunner needs to be very animated so that your dog believes these retrieves are the best thing that has ever happened in her life! Same with you! They throw the bumper a couple of times with no shot, just a hey-hey. Then they throw a bumper with a hey-hey, shoot, and throw. Do it again in the same manner. That be the end of the session for that day.

Have your gunner move closer by 5 yards each session. If your dog is freaked by the noise at any point stay at that distance till the dog shows no concern and is happily retrieving for a couple of days then inch forward again. If you can get your hands on a starter pistol, start at the distance again. Then move up to a 22.

If you have a dummy gun, you can leave that laying around the house so she can start associating the 22 as an object not to be feared.

When I hear of people taking their pups out to the trap range, I cringe. Yes, all could be fine and the pup not concerned at all. OR pup freaks and owner has created a problem which could have been avoided with a little bit of time, patience and training.

Good luck,
Kasomor

[bopper]

[

When I hear of people taking their pups out to the trap range, I cringe. Yes, all could be fine and the pup not concerned at all. OR pup freaks and owner has created a problem which could have been avoided with a little bit of time, patience and training.

Good luck,
Kasomor[/quote]

What Kasomor says about taking pups to the trap range is right, makes me cringe too. There should be much groundwork done before a pup is exposed to ANY type of gunfire, even cap pistols or starter pistols with BB caps.
And if it should happen later on during the process that your pup shows any apprehension about a noise, just as with thunder storms, be sure to not try to 'reassure' him or comfort him....that is just telling him that he does have something to worry about. If you have a question with this concerning your pup, feel free to PM me and I will do my best to help.
Bopper

[Cedarstrip]

Remember don't shoot close to the dog. their hearing is much more sensitive then ours. I had a hound which I got when she was 2 and just the sight of a gun had her running home. It took 1 full winter and spring of shooting some game out of the trees for her before she started to relax. By the time she was killed by a cat she would put her paw on my gun if she saw me getting my gear together. It took alot of time to get her to that point don't screw up you dog by shooting to close to it.
Too late.
I thought my Lab-X might make a good bird hunting partner, so I took her out to sight my rifle in one day. Literally pissed herself and would not come out of the vehicle no matter what. Now she just cowers at the sight of any gun. Even my BB pistol.
Oh well. Good thing bird hunting isn't my thing.