Gun-Shy (chronically) GSP

utahpredator_7

utahpredator_7

New member
My GSP is a great dog. That is until you start booming. It isn't genetic, and he is only two, but hasn't been out much. I have worked with him, with a cap gun, and he plays fetch and hunts fine with it going off, but is still scared to death of it, and flat out wets himself when it comes to the shotguns. He will lay down and not move, no matter how far away, I have to be right there coaxing him to get him to come along. Have you got any tips, or will getting him more positive exposure to the guns be the best thing? We are going again tomorrow, I'll let you know how he does. Thanks for any help, I really like this dog and want to keep him and have him hunt right!
 
When I started my dogs to the shot I went off in the field with my cap gun and later 22 and later shotgun and threw stuff up in the air and went bang. The dogs were held by my wife 40 yards away. All those dogs wanted was to be by me and ignored the noise. Lots of dog bisquits work for labs too. Make the dog want to join you in the fun despite the noise. Even play catch with someone elses dog while you fire caps and let your dog watch from a safe distance. Take your time. You may also stick a live bird in front of him while you play capgun out in the field. He will eventually get the point.
 
I have trained a few gun and trial dogs hope this helps.
First do not hunt over your dog till the gun shyness is gone.1 I would be to check your dog for any ear infections that might hurt his ears with the louder report of the gun.
2 you might try having a family member play with your dog say 100 yrds away from the shooter pointing away from you. And shoot some clays to see if the dog breaks from the activity.
If he keeps his focus on fetch have the shooter move closer, say 10 yards per shot . If the dog breaks his play then have the shooter wait 10 min then start it over again this time dont come, close to your break line say if your reaction started at 50yds then keep the dog at 75. The next time you go out have some live wing clipped pigions and have him chase them while the shooter gets closer this will help with his excitment and should allow the shooter to move closer. this time dont push it work to 60yrds.If there is no break then you can save him.The next time you go out work from 100yrd again and end at 60yrds dont rush the process or you might lose your dog forever.repeat this till your dog plays at your back while your shooting . and your there.Hope this helps also dont shoot any live birds during the training i had a lab that became gun shy because he figured that gun killed things.
 
Gun shy dogs are born that way or CREATED BY the handler.

Go back to Basics. I start by banging the dogs food bowels together to let them get used to loud noices and that loud noises ment some thing good was to happen. They got fed.

Introduce loud noises gradually into the dogs life. We start this with 12 week old puppy's. Be creative. Un-breaking a gun shy dog takes time. The dog must accociate all loud noises with positive outcomes.

Use loud noises with food bowels. Take the dog to a skeet range and slowly move the dog closer to the shooters. This may take several trips. Throw the dog a dead bird (pigeon or Dove) to demontrate a gunshot to something to retrieve.

Gun shyness and hard mouth are 2 of the hardest problems
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Good stuff, above. My immediate thoughts were, 1.) It's going to take alot of patient work, as covered very nicely above. And, to restate above, 2.) Don't put him under a shotgun until you beat the probelm, or you've lost him forever.

Make sure the noise is accociated with unbelievable, uproriously, overjoyfully positive events. Accompanied by copious praise on the culmination of the hunt series (bird down!) Loud = Positive. Overwhelmingly so.
 
Thanks guys, I will start working with him when we go skeet shooting this week. Great tricks, I'll let you know when I get him straightened out!
 
My pointer was somewhat gun-shy at age 1,5. She also chased birds. I started shooting in the air every time I saw her flush and chase. It did stop her in her tracks for a while. It didn't take long for her to get over the shyness though and after a while I had a dog that was considerably less likely to chase, but starting to try again. Regardless of shots. She has not been one bit gun-shy after that.

This wasn't a severe case though and also I'm not experienced enough to say when and if it would work for anyone else. Maybe a more gun-shy dog would just have become gun- AND bird-shy?
 
I would not take the dog skeet shooting. Keep the dog away from scary noises. I have been skeet shooting and the last thing you want to do is stop and leave because your dog is afraid of all the noise. Worsens the problem. Be patient. You should be able to get the dog going but probably not this season. Any friends with gun dogs?
 
Plenty of friends with good dogs. My best buddy has his brother and my dad's friend has his parents. I took him out with a toy cap gun tonight and he did way better than usual. I also decided not to take him shooting, too much at one time. But I worked on the jealousy thing with another dog, and it worked. It will take some work though. When he graduates from the caps, I will put muzzleloader percussion caps in the capgun (yep, they fit!) and try that, then graduate to shotgun shells without shot, just taking him up in the foothills above my house. If he isn't doing fairly well by the end of November or so, I will send him to my dad's friend(the one who owns his parents) and have him work with him out to his bird club over the winter. Thanks for the tips!
 
I have taken him out with the .22, and now the shotgun, and he no longer lays down and refuses to move. He really works close after I shoot now, but if I coax him, he will get back to hunting normal in 5 mins or so. I just need to get him on some birds and get him excited about it now, our local chukars have been decimated since opening morning!
 
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Need to know a bit more. When did this stuff start? How did you first introduce the pup? Unless you have a dog that's noise shy, then your looking at a man made problem. You need to figure out where it started and why in order to fix it.

Someone mentioned starting them out as 12 week old pup's. Right on! But just take them for a walk and let them do as they will. When they get intrested in something, NOTHING YOU'D WANT TO SCARE THEM OFF OF hold a 22 rifle muzzle close to the ground and fire it. The ground will muffle the shot. Look for any sign, ANY SIGN, that the noise bothered the pup but, ignor it and go on. Just don't fire the gun again that day. Don't stop the walk! If there is no nervioueness, keep walking and after while do it again. It is important not to pay any attention to the pup's fear's no matter how slight or strong. Just recognize when to quit shooting. In short time the pup should accept the gun fire. Remember no matter what, don't help the pup by feeling sorry for it, don't even praise it if nothing happen's. What you want is to leave the pup to deal with it's deamon, or lack of!

Once the pup is accepting the 22 when it's just fired at target's of opertunity, switch to a shotgun. But, take some MTY cases and drill out the primer pocket's with a 1/4" drill. Then you'll be able to insert live primer's with your finger's and shoot them for awhile. The pup will come to accept the shotgun making a noise. When all is well, use live round's when the pup is off and away but shoot away from him, again, it help's muffel the sound. Take everything in short segment's. Don't be in such a hurry to get it used to the gun fire that YOU make it gun shy.

A very important thing to remember, NEVER FIRE ANYTHING WHEN THE PUP IS ENGAGUED IN DOING SOMETHING INVOLVING BIRD'S!!! Training is a game of association with the dog and if you have a pup that's a bit soft and fire a gun while it's chasing ANY bird, it may well associate the noise with the bird. Then you run the risk of breaking it off bird's; not good!

No dog is ever born gun shy, they are taught that. Some dog's are timid to a fault and you may never get them past the loud sound of the gun. But they NEVER associate the noise with a gun until you introduce it. Take a pup home and lay a gun on the floor, a new pup that has never been shot around. The gun won't bother it! Very very important to remember it's an association game.

Now go back to square one and figure out what you did. Doesn't sound like your dog is afraid of the gun,,,yet. Start over and take your time. You'll have him for 10 or 12 years, you don't need to make him overnight. Pay attention to what your training!
 
Good luck to you Utah. The breeder of my GSP has a [beeep] he kept out of the same litter Ben came from. She is a fantastic retreiver but don't pull a trigger around her. Ace has spent well over 1200.00 on her trying to get her gunshyness broke. She is nearly 3 now and looks like there is no hope for her. It is a shame, Ben is one great hunting dog as were the rest of the litter.
 
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Good luck to you Utah. The breeder of my GSP has a [beeep] he kept out of the same litter Ben came from. She is a fantastic retreiver but don't pull a trigger around her. Ace has spent well over 1200.00 on her trying to get her gunshyness broke. She is nearly 3 now and looks like there is no hope for her. It is a shame, Ben is one great hunting dog as were the rest of the litter.



A word of caution. Once guy shyness has set in, it is almost impossible to cure. But you are going to find a lot of trainers that will tell you they can cure it. The over whelmingly vast majority can't, will take your money and find an excuse for why they failed. Do yourself a favor. Once you've made your dog gun shy, get a new one and start over. You need to change your method of introduction.
 
Well, we took him out on the last day of the chukar hunt, and he did awesome! Didn't hardly care for the guns, but it would have helped had I put a bird down. I thought I had him nearly broke, but then we took him pheasant hunting and he crapped out again. Not as bad as he was, but still not good. When it warms up this spring I may try the ultimate dog-gun shyness cure, a guy with lotsa dogs and a bird club did this with one of his; Take them out to a farm, w/ doghouse, and tie them up with water, no food. Every day, bring a dish of food, set it down, and shot the shotgun twice. If the dog shies, take away the food, and repeat till the dog is hungry enough and gets it through its head. Maybe I just need to get him out more though.
 
We have had good luck with my moms German Sheperd this past couple of months. This dog use to run just when you picked up a gun. This summer we shot chipmunks all summer and fall. After hundereds of .22 mag and .17hmr rounds the dog is now not running away when we shoot. Not sure if it would help with a gun dog but it is working so far.
 


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