HELP WITH DOG THAT IS GUN SHY?

[THE SHARK HUNTER]

I TOOK MY PUP(2 YEARS OLD) OUT ON A BIRD HUNT AND SHE WAS GOOD UNTILL THE SHOOTING BEGAN. SHE FLUSHED OUT THE FIRST TWO CUBBIES AFTER THAT I COULD NOT GET HER TO LOOK ANY MORE. SHE BECAME GUN SHY. HOW CAN I WORK WITH HER TO FIX THE PROBLEM. PLEASE HELP?

[Salty Sob]

That can be a real tough problem to break but not impossible. My brother trains dogs and does alot of gun shy dogs with much success. I will get a hold of him and get some feedback from him. I will give you his cell # if you want to talk to him. Here is his add on gundogbreeders.com
<http://www.gundogbreeders.com/breeders-new-jersey/casey-girl-kennels.html> If you give him the details he should be able to give you some ideas. This isn't a sales pitch or anything, he just likes to help.

Goodluck and happy hunting,

Adam

[austin ensor]

go with less birds!!

[brandon558]

Work your dog while having someone shoot in the backgroud. Have them start lets say 100 yards and eventually gettin closer each shot. If the dog breaks or jumps as gun shy dogs do, have the gunner back up and start over. It takes time but it works, trust me.

[Bert Rodgers]

Gunnshyness is generally problem that is caused by the improper introduction to the gun. The oldschool method of shooting over a pup to see if he is or isn't is bullshit.

We try to teach the dog to associate gunfire with what he loves the most, which is retrieving. Here is a very good article on the subject.



http://www.coonriverkennels.com/pages/tips.asp

Good luck

Bert

[Seaker]

Yeah that's a problem that is going to take some time and patience if it's ever going to get fixed.

Seek professional help for this one

[SAXIS ISLANDER]

I TOOK MY PUP(2 YEARS OLD) OUT ON A BIRD HUNT AND SHE WAS GOOD UNTILL THE SHOOTING BEGAN. SHE FLUSHED OUT THE FIRST TWO CUBBIES AFTER THAT I COULD NOT GET HER TO LOOK ANY MORE. SHE BECAME GUN SHY. HOW CAN I WORK WITH HER TO FIX THE PROBLEM. PLEASE HELP?

First let me say that I know very little about bird dogs. I've had retreivers all my life. But is there two issues here? The first of "breaking" or "creeping" on the birds which can be cured with a leash and training birds. The second of the gun shyness issue. I'd never had this issue until I got this blessed golden.
Not thinking anything of it, I took his training dummy and my 12 pump to the pond. Upof firing it he took off and I was two hours finding him, still shaken and distrubed.

Regrouped. Like Bert said, began to associate the sound of gunfire with what he loves most....retreiving. But this time started with a 22 short. After all was cool with that, moived to a 410, then to a 20, and finally a 12. How did it work? He doens't like to be in the immediate area of gunfire. I can't seem to get past this. He hunts to the left of my blind about twenty oor so yards, on the far left edge of the spread. Brings the birds back to that point and piles them up there.
From this area he doesn't seem to bother the birds, gets a god view of the spread, and does what I'd call a good job. Is he an excellent retreiver? Not by any means. Does he go get the brids (crippled or not) and bring them back with few incidents? You bet your ass he does.

Now he knows that gunfire translates into retreives.....as long as I do my job.

[Talbot29]

I used an approach that seemed to work - I forget where I heard about it but it goes along with what everyone is saying. I started by taking my dog to the local skeet range, parked several hundred yards away from the shooting and began working the dog on standard retrieves (which she loves to do). I slowly worked my way towards the shooting. I eventually stopped working her and we sat on a bench right behind the shooters and took a rest (while I praised and petted her). I did this about 6-8 times and she is not gun shy at all. I will say that this is how she was introduced to gunfire and has never showed signs of being gunshy so you need to take it with a grain of salt...

[Thin Blue Line]

We always started our dogs leaving them in the truck while we shoot...the muffled sound doesnt startle them..after a couple trips we crack the windows...so on and so forth..

[BTH284]

Bang pots and pans near her while she eats and see how that affects her. If she is bothered by that then step back and repeat until it does not bother her. Keep moving farther or closer depending on the dogs reaction.

Same thing with a gun. Leave her in the crate and set up to shoot far away from her. Then keep moving closer til you are right beside him with no bad results. If she freaks, then back up and try again.

Then keep her at heal and try again. This will take some time to break. But with alot of work you can get through it.

A retriever trainer w/ blanks can help with this too while on walks in areas that simulate hunting situations.

The biggest thing here is to make sure the dog is not gunshy while bringing back a bird if she is a bird dog that does that. Try firecracker tossed far away from her while she is bringing back a bird to simulate bird that likes to sit tight after the covey has already risen/busted. I would not try this until she progresses very well with the above steps. Think simple, the dog does too!