Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Gun shy dog?

I'm with TimberRunner, I take my pups to the sporting clay range, and tie them to a bench, back about 25 yrds, the ones that are scared will hide under the bench, the first few times i take them, the ones that aren't sit and watch,people can't pass a puppy and not pet them, don't take the timid ones long to figure out the gun fire won't hurt them, and the more they wag their tail the more attention they get..

Another good place to start pups is a dove hunt with about 10 shooters and other dogs, when pups see birds falling and other dogs getting to go get them it really fires up their desire to fetch birds, i let pups as young as 10-12 weeks go get a bird that's flopping around on the ground, the pup will always bring the bird back to me, i'm their safe place and i praise the hell out of them.

There is no perfect way to train a dog, the dog will show what he needs corrected, it's up to you to be smart enough to know how to correct problems without causing more problems. Rio7

I am convinced that gun shyness is a manifestation of a soft personality. All the pan clagging and skeet range trips do is identify the problem earlier. Listen to WMR and put the money towards another dog. Some sage advice from my bird dog mentor: "Soft heart soft head and A bird dog can be a pet but a pet can't be a bird dog". I also asked him why he liked his vet His answer "Because he is quick with the needle". All sounds callous but after spending way too much money financing the University of Minnesota vet school training under the guise of their clinic. The old guy was right on all three counts.

As a pup it starts in the kitchen while they are eating. Banging pans and ignoring them while they are eating. Bang them together, drop them unexpectedly. Beat on them in the next room. Clap you hands unexpectedly. Make all kinds of noise and act like it is perfectly normal.

When they show a don’t care demeanor, introduce the gun from a distance, while having their mind on something else. Dead Bird they are playing with is a good diversion if they react at all you don’t.

birds and prey drive development then guns in first years. Lots of birds.. Clapping, Banging pans, boards at a distance when your dog is super hungry and eating is ok.

Prey drive, socialization, exposing to different environments, throw in your vehicle every chance you can when young is important too. But as mentioned some dogs just don't have it. That's picking good breeder is important. The better breeders will let return dog if it s not working out at least in the breeders I have dealt with.

Anyone that would put a dog down because he either didn't have strong enough genetics to deal with gunfire, or more likely, that got screwed up by a lazy training regimen is a POS in my book. At the very least, get them fixed and find them a good home. Putting them down just because they're gun-shy would be the canine version of aborting a baby after it was born just because it had a birth defect.

Guns equal fun you have to associate guns with a fun activity don't ever force them

Nebraska: Never intended to suggest that a gun shy dog should be euthanized. My intention was to illustrate that the older generation of dog men took a much more hard nosed approach to their dogs but did not care for them any less. To further clarify I think gun shy dogs have a very poor chance of being trained to an acceptable level because the gun shyness is just one manifestation of other unacceptable traits. In my opinion your time and money are better spent on a dog that does not exhibit any suggestion of gun shyness.

I have had coon hounds, beagles and bird dogs for 45 years now. I have never seen one yet that was "cured" or "got over it". You are wasting your time with this dog. I know you don't want to hear that, but in about 6 months, if you are honest, you will admit it to yourself that this dog was a waste of time. As already posted, these types of dogs have a soft personality. It was born shy and it will always be shy. It just takes the right event to bring it to the surface.
What you choose to do with the dog is your decision, but whatever you choose you will learn it the hard way. When you finally do get over it {you, not the dog} you need to think about if you want to try again and if you decide to have another go at it then you need to harden yourself to the fact that not all dogs make it and life is too short to waste time piddling around with a half dog. Demand perfection or you will never have it. The surest way to know if a man is a liar....he will claim to have cured a gun shy dog. He will probably even show you one that is not gun shy and say, "see". That just means he lied twice!!!!!!!

Always amazed at the number of posters here that have seen it all.

I could mention a friends English Pointer, but I would be lying. 😂

And that boy is far from a soft Bird finder. Oops, another lie. 🤞

Must be fake news....He most likely will let you call him a lier once, the second time that big boy is coming...FYI

Gotcha bobmn. Breeding a good bloodline is definitely serious business.....

I had a female black lab that was thunder shy which extrapolated to gun shy. She never got over the thunder shy but was easily cured of gun shy.