Gun training question?

[fisheyes2002]

I have a new puppy that is 12 weeks old and I was wondering if it is to early to start shooting around her? She has been around noise at home like pots and pans and last weekend she was around popping baloons in the house and she never flinched. I want to start with my 22 this weekend but I would like more info if it is to early or not. Thanks for any info.

[jbdragon17]

What kid of dog?

I would start with a starter pistol even before a .22.

One thing I found is VERY key. Don't shoot around the dog unless you have birds. You want the dog to understand that shooting the bird is his/her reward for doing what they are supposed to. If you only initially shoot at birds (starter pistol to start) the dog will not even be phased. 12 weeks is a little early in my opinion.

[LABS4ME]

Dogs should be exposed to loud noises including guns as early as possible. I begin exposing my pups to starter pistols at around 6 weeks before they even go to their new homes.

I never introduce birds and guns at the same time. I do it over food or if they are playing. That way if they do show timedness towards the loud noises they will not immediatley correlate that towards birds. I bring birds into the fold after they have been well adjusted to gun shots. If the dog has some gun shyness in it and it was intoduced with birds, not only will you have to correct the gun shyness, but you will have to begin to get him confident in birds again too. I also do not expose birds in the beginning with gun fire. They are each introduced seperatley and then brought into the fold together once they have gained confidence in each. Just too much commotion with each introduction to do them at the same time. I like them to concentrate on each phase at a seperate entity then meld them together.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Gissert]

When I got my last pup, (Lab) I took her just about every where to get her socialized and used to noises. Parades, the gas station, the farm yard, all stuff like that. At one parade, there was some black powder club that had a big cannon that was REALLY loud. So loud it would set off car alarms. I was a tad concerned about that, and I quickly walked her away from the main street, and she never flinched when it went off. I also got her in the boat right away, and now she has very good boat manners.

If the neighbor kids were messing with firecrackers, I would leash her and walk to within a couple hundred yards of them. She never seemed to be bothered by any of it. Maybe I was lucky, but by exposing her to a lot of different things in that 7 to 8 week old period seemd to work very well.

[Heidi]

I got my new britt last weekend and I plan on bringing him to metro gun club after work tonight. Just like my last one, I parked in the lot and let her get used to the gun shots from a distance. I'll watch his reactions and go fom there. If I'm lucky, all will go ok and I can bring him to the clubhouse and have all the lovely college girls come up to us. The first dog never had any problems with gun shots.

Good luck

[marine_man]

Quote:

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I plan on bringing him to metro gun club after work tonight.

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This typically is not the best way to introduce a puppy to gunfire... the biggest reason why is because you cannot control with the gunshots will be, and if things go south in a hurry you have no way to have the gunshots stop in a hurry... plus, the dog won't have anything positive to associate with gunfire.. just the new noise...

marine_man

[Blaze]

I'm with jbdragon on this one.

1) intro to birds...lotsa birds

2) intro to guns using birds

I'm on my 3rd dog (GSP/GWP/DD) and have used the same method to introduce all of them to gunfire. In my opinion, the key to success is BIRDS (positive association). I've planted pigeons and worked the dog into the bird, then flush the bird and let 'em chase. I let them get out a bit and then fire (away from the dog!) and watch their reaction. I always start with a .22 then move up to a 20ga then 12ga. The excitement of the bird and the chase has always overridden any question about the noise - no issues with any of the 3. If the dog should stop and look back to figure out what the noise was, just go about your business like nothing ever happened and the dog will key off your calm manner.

Also, after your dog is conditioned to gunfire, I'd encourage you and anyone else training a dog for duck hunting to do a good amount of "blind" practice. Have the dog sit next to you at the edge of a pond/slough and fire as if you were shooting at a duck. This helps you dog get into the routine for opening day so he knows what's expected of him.

As marine_man said, I'd steer clear of the gun club. Better to go slow under controlled circumstances.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

Blaze

[Scott M]

Had to bump this up as I'm taking the dog to the range soon. I will probably bring along some dead pigeons for her. She's been around some shooting and seems okay with it.

Should I use a capgun with dummy retrieves at the lake first, or bring her to the range first? I'm trying to work in the shooting with the retrieves right now, but maybe its still too early? We started up where we left off last fall two weeks ago and she is doing really well with pheasant wings, dummy retrieves, water work, etc.

[LABS4ME]

lots of retrieves up front with the cap pistol before the range. Bringing a dog to the range is a lot of stimulation, more than one shot going off at most moments.

I prefer controlled situations where they can put two and two together and figure out that a gunshot means a bird down and a retrieve. Ultimately you will also be working in gunshots and 'no birds', but that is furter down the road once you solidify the bird and gun intro.

Good Luck!

Ken

[SDbowhunter]

My dog showed no timidness towards loud noise at a young age. His first introduction to guns was at about 8-10 weeks. I had my brother hold him... Someone he knew well. I took the 22 and walked about 50 yards away he didnt flinch. My brother let him go, he came running up to me and a fired a few more rounds. I then went straight to the 12 gauge. He never flinched and its been good ever since. You have to know your dog and work in slowly if need be. Your dog will tell you right away how slowly you have to introduce them.

[Jason Ramsey]

Another technique I used to condition my GSP (now 2.5 years old)is have a dog that has been shot over and used to gun fire around when you shoot near the pup. When the pup hears this foreign, loud noise he will look to the older dog (if no dog, the handler) for how they react. If you are the handler, don't try to console the pup and make a scene, act like you don't even hear anything.

[fishroger]

No need to hurry. Started my lab with gunfire at about 6 months. Buddy and I went out to a clearing 100 yds apart. He fired off a round and I threw the dummy. Did a couple more and dog didnt seem timid or scared and retrieved the dummy. Went bird hunting 2 months later and he did fine and associated the firing with the birds going down. Hes 2 now and just finished gun dog training, hes a retreiving machine. I would probably not take him to the gun range though, too much to quick.