gun shy dog

[gamakatsu]

I have a 1.5 year old male chocolate lab and he is gun shy right now. Does anybody know what i can do to help correct this problem? Last fall he was hunting great but then towards the end he wanted to go back to the truck soon as i shoot. Any advice would be greatful

[LABS4ME]

This comes up all the time... You can do a search in the hunting dog forum under key words "gun shy". I did cut a link to one of the discussions on gun shy last year... that would be a starting point. It takes a lot of consistant work to break dogs of gun shyness.

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=590868&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1

Good Luck!

Ken

[xedge2002]

My first dog we started off with shooting off firecrackers when we threw her retrieving dummy for her. Also would take her with out to an old farm site and have her around when we shot clays or pigeons.

A guy we hunt with has a dog that was really gun shy, we would shoot a gun at a bird and she would be waiting for us back to the truck when we were done hunting. He started her off with a .22 and just shot a lot of rounds around her. I think he ended up having to tie her up so she couldn't run and just gave her a lot of praise and reassuring between .22 shots. Then he just worked his way up from the .22 and now when we go hunting and shoot she is one of the first dogs in the area the bird went down.

I think it is just going to take time and patience on your part to break her of it.

[Old Guide]

gamakatsu, I know what your going thru. I've got a gsp that has some gunshy problems. Some time ago I posted looking for a tape that I heard was on the market to "cure" a dog of this. I finally found the web site.

[link removed]

Talk to one of their reps. they are very helpful. I have talked to two people that say it worked for thier dogs. Pat

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again]

[Old Guide]

gamakatsu, email me at [email protected]. I'll send you the address.

[gspman]

No firecrackers and no trap ranges. You have no control after the firecracker is lit and if for some odd reason the dog does something that hurts or scares it just when the firecracker goes bang then you could be at square one again. Same with the trap range, you have no control over the situation. Guns are firing randomly and you are not in control of the thing the dog is afraid of.

To do this right you have as much control as possible over every variable in the situation. That means using a cap gun or blank pistol for starters. Do this in an open field free of obstructions too. Only fire when the dog is keenly focused on something it finds pleasurable (like chasing a bird). Then over time s-l-o-w-l-y move closer and s-l-o-w-l-y increase the noise of the gun.

[harvey lee]

I agree with gpsman 100%.That has worked on alot friends dogs that I know.Slow and easy.

[gamakatsu]

Thanks for the replies, i guess i'm going to start out slow again. The dog has all the commands down good, hope i can get him over this. I'll let you know how it goes, thanks again

[Old Guide]

gspman, I couldn't agree more with your statement. It does take a lot of slow training. And alot of patience. The conditioning tape thatI mentioned takes over a month, At the least, to help the dog. If you can remember the web site I'd like your opinion on it. pat

[keith99]

my yellow lab also was gun shy from firecrackers I bought a c/d called masters voice gun shy cure it worked great, I also recomended this to a person with a Visla that was gun shy and they called about 6 months later and said it worked great

[Old Guide]

This is the same tape that I was ref. to.

[Huskie]

I have successfully used a tape myself on my black lab. It took some time, but it was well worth it. The dog has been very good in the field since then--its been 7 years of great hunting with her. If you want to give it a try I will send it to you--no cost, let me know.