Need help with gun-shy dog

[Guest]

My in-law has a 2yr old gun shy GSP. Is there a way to cure this problem or is this dog done? We've tried the gun-shy tapes already and still no cure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest]

I have heard a pretty good way to fix that problem is.

When you feed your dog do it once a day. And keep him on his/her collar, when they are eating shot a cap gun or a blank in the air.
The first few times they will probably run, when they go back to eat shot again. If they wont eat sooner or later they will.
Keep doing that over and over. After a while the dog wont even notice the shots going off.

[Guest]

Gun shy dog? You need to do the following, and keep up with it.

First go out and buy some lunch bags, (The small paper bags that you can put a sandwich and apple in)

the first day or so, just shake the bag in the dogs face and get him/her all excited over the bag letting it rip up and play with it. If you can get the dog all excited over the paper bag your in business. you will know this when you grab the bag the dog will attack it and start to play.

next step is to blow up the bag, pop it, and start to shake it letting the dog play with it. do this for awhile, move to the next step when the dog starts to wait for the pop before attacking the bag. last step with the bag is to pop it in another room, if your dog come running in to attack the bag its ready for the next step.

grab some pots and pans along with your dogs favorite treat. lightly bang the pots and pans then give your dog the treat and really love him/her up when its eating it. do this a few times a day slowly making the banging and clanging louder and louder.

once the dog gets brave you can bang and clang and it will come running to get a treat.

move out side, and using a cap gun, or blank gun start playing with your dog, shoot behind your back and keep playing. then pull out a treat, then play some more. once this is good, only 2 more steps.

get a dummy launcher and a bottle of bird scent. play with the dummy for a few days then making sure your dog is a small distance away launch the dummy. this makes a loud bang, close if not louder than a shotgun. if your dog can handle this step your ready to shoot some birds.

Ive done this years ago with my gun shy (frightened) cocker spaniel who prior to would run at full speed away from the gun as soon as he seen it, to getting all hyper when ever I pulled out the shotgun and took him hunting.

I also used this method on my current dog, a timid english setter with the same results.

the main point is to make loud sharp noises, and having the dog relate this to fun, and play

good luck

[bigdog]

Basshunter,
The other posts sound like good advice to try. While I have never had a gun shy dog the way I have introduced mine to gunfire was to take them to the local trap club. I throw a dummy in the parking lot and we gradually work closer to the shooters. After the first time or two I recruit someone the dog knows to hold the leash and gradually move the dog closer to me while
I am shooting. This has worked on three dogs and may be something to try after you get the dog used to loud noises like the guys above suggested.

[gspman]

basshunter,
If I were you I'd take the dog to a pro. Especially if it is a dog with some good potential. Have the pro go over what he/she is going to do to solve the problem. You may even be able to help in the training to gain some experience. Curing gun-shyness is tricky business and those without experience curing gun-shyness are as likely to make the problem worse as they are to cure it. By the way how did the dog become gun shy? Good luck.
gspman

[setterguy]

Curing a gun shy dog is different for every dog, so each situation will be different. First I would like to know why the dog is gun shy, was it a traumatic experience, or has the dog always been like this. I have a technique but it will only work with a dog that loves birds and can take up to 6 months. There are some other ideas posted here, I just don't think that "making" the dog get used to the noise will solve the problem, if you introduce a loud noise while a dog is eating or playing you may just make a more timid dog. I have seen it before, believe me the best solution there is euthenasia. What we are trying to accomplish is to make the dog not afraid to hunt, not to cure him of his fears of loud noises. There are a lot of dogs that don't even hear a 12 gauge at 10 feet but will run under the bed when they hear fireworks, why? Because of the birds. We want the dog the learn to like birds more than they dislike the noise from the gun. Now this will take some time and you cannnot get frustrated, if you try and move too quickly through the training you may make things worse.

Step 1. Get some pigeons, and a bird carrying bag. Put the pigeons in the bag and carry it behind your back. Go to a training ground or somewhere you can fire a weapon. Every ten minutes take a pigeon out call your dogs name and let the bird go. What we are trying to do here is have the dog focus on you while you call his name and then he sees a bird fly. Hopefully he will chase for a while, as soon as he comes back and starts to hunt again do it again. With the last bird of the day let the dog grab the bird and chase it and play with it and everything else that we usually don't want a pointing dog to do. You should do this stage with no noise maybe once a week for a month. The key is to have the dogs attention when you let that bird go.

Step 2: Do the same thing, except this time get a buddy to go with and have him bring a starting pistol, have him stand approx 70-100 yds away from you and the dog. Repeat step one but the moment that bird is released have him shoot away from you and the dog. Do this for abuot a month, each week getting a little closer to you an the dog. If the dog is responding well keep going, but if the dog is crushing or nervous put out a couple birds with no noise. After the starting pistol, move on to a 20 gauge at 100 yds and slowly move closer, then 12 and so on. This is a very delicate process and can be done with a lot of patience. I went through the same thing with my very first dog, a 4 month old Vizsla. I was up with my buddies grouse hunting and I went to the store while the dog was in his porta kennel outside. I come back to my dumb-*** buddies shooting trap about 6 feet from his kennel, I couldn't even get him out of the kennel let alone get him to hunt that weekend. I went through this very same training and never had a problem after that. If you have any specific questions don't hesitate to give me a call, if you would like to contact a pro I can give you some info on that as well. Good luck, you are in for an adventure, remember take it slllllooooooooowwwwwww.

[email protected]
651-248-0155

[Guest]

Thank you, all.

GSPman,
The dog was advertised "Trained and Ready for hunting" when it was purchased. We took the dog out and it took off into the forest like there was no tomorrow after the first shot was fired. To make a long story short, it appears the dog was either gun shy prior to the purchase or never gun conditioned(judging from the action of one of his other dog during a seller "gun-shy curing hunt with buyer hunting along". The seller's cure for gun shyness is to get the dogs (pups) on bird and start blasting as the birds launch. The seller refuses to correct, exchange, or refund the dog. Some people should never be allowed to breed and/or train hunting dogs: this seller is an excellent example of such people. (just venting here)

[Guest]

I like the setterguy approach, and would be likely to use it given your dogs type of gun shyness