gun training

[dtirpak]

I have a question. i just got a 2 year old english springer. He is a great dog. He is interested in birds, but affraid of guns. How do i break his fear of guns. Thanks

[Whispering Hills]

Here are a couple of excerpts from a previous post I submitted. Look it over and let me know if you have any questions directly related to your dog's behavior:
Get a friend out in the field with you to throw birds while your dog is at your side. Your job is to control your dog beside you, so that he can mark the fall. Your helper's job is to get the dog's attention by making lots of noise, then throw the dummy or bird while the dog marks the fall. Start with short marks; 30 - 40 yards, so that the dog learns to watch your helper. Once he learns the game, work your way out to long marks. This is also the best way to condition your dog to shot. Once you get to the longer marks, have your helper fire a blank pistol as he throws the bird. This teaches the dog to associate gun fire with a retrieve, and by having the gun shot at a distance, it won't frighten the dog. After the dog is comfortable with the gun fire, Then you take the gun. You fire when the helper throws, wait for the dog to mark before release.

The kind of gun used to condition a dog to gun fire is not nearly as important as how the dog was introduced to it. It sounds like your dog was poorly exposed to gunfire at the wrong time in an environment where you couldn't control the amount of noise it was being exposed to (i.e. going to a gun range is not a good idea). It also sounds like you've got multiple issues working against you with your Chessie - gun sensitivity as well as some confusion on the retrieve when it comes to bumpers versus birds. Gun sensitivity is a very tricky issue to deal with - especially in older dogs like yours. And honestly, most dogs don't ever recover from it 100% - especially if they're fully gun shy. Certain situations can cause a dog to become sensitive to gunfire for reasons known only to the dog. Thankfully, it doesn't sound like your Chessie is fully gun shy, but just timid & confused about what to do when the gun goes off. In any case, it's probably not an easy fix. That's why it's critically important to properly & gradually introduce your dog to gun fire at a young age. If you really want to turn your older dog into a reliable working retriever, you might have to work with a local pro trainer to help you out. When it comes to curing gun sensitivity, each dog is very different & a seasoned pro is probably your best bet. A pro can read the dog's reactions to gun fire and then determine the best way to "ease" your dog back into a working mode. But if you can't work with a pro, definitelty start by having a partner fire a gun (a blank pistol would be best) at a distance & only while the dog is marking the flight of the bumper or bird. Don't fire unless the dog is happily focused on something it likes - the bumper or bird. And for now, definitely don't fire while the dog is in the water making the retrieve. The key to getting over this is helping the dog understand that the "bang" is harmless & it means it gets to make a retrieve soon.

[tarren]

Most of the dogs are afraid of gun firing sound. I think you should approach to a professional trainer to train the dog regarding gun. Gun training is very essential for you as you went for duck hunting etc, dogs can help in finding them. One of my friend is also searching for a Gun Trainer for his lab.

[jasonvikki]

i dont know how to post on here i just joined but people need to be aware of a man running around claiming he is a world renouned dog trainer here in casper wyoming. his kennel name is prarie wind kennels and he claims to work with big bend ranch in southdakota and claims he knows how to train dogs. i went and picked my dog up after 60 days lkast sunday which i pulled him early and my dog is 35lbs underweight and has had no training what so ever. he knew how to heel sit and retrieve from water when i sent him but this guy took my money every month and did nothing with my dog. my dog has raw scars on his legs from being placed in a concrete kennel day and night. vet said they came from alwyas laying down on concrete. my dog was suppose to be put into a nice kennel at night with a bed off the floor and the neighbors told me that he never put any dogs in there bc he has over 30 dogs at his facilty which isnt very big! he claimed to have references from all over south dakota well once i got my dog back i started calling these names he had mentioned and found out yes these people had dealings with him but they havent had associations with him in over 10 to 15 years. one of them said the only time they ever met the man was when he bought a dog kennel from them, but yet prairiewind kennels.com stats that he works with the people from this ranch. something needs to be done. i am already suing him but heck where do i go to make sure this guys doesnt touch another animal?

[GRIFF MAN]

That is horrible.
I would contact the aspca or your local humane society and see if they have had similar complaints. Also, I would contact the better business beaureu and see if they had complaints. If not then file some on him so others can find out your thoughts.

Just be careful about to much public "blasting" which he deserves, but it could open you up to a law suit !

keep us up to date on this

GriffMan

[kckennel]

We have corrected numerous gun shy dogs and all have had great success. Some may take only a couple of months to fix and others may take longer, it really depends on the temperment of the dog and how bad the gun shyness is. The first dog we trained to correct this issue was a yellow lab that was so bad, when he smelled the bird he ran back to the kennel scratching the door to go back inside. We did fix him to the point where the owner could take him duck hunting and shoot over him. We have fixed griffs, labs, shorthairs, britts, and even hunting cockers with this condition. If anyone wants professional help in this area, they should contact us at kckennel@wi.rr.com to schedule an appointment. If you need a testimonial, we could put you in contact with the guy that owned the yellow lab that we fixed. Always remember gun shyness is a man created problem, most of the time by accident. We even had a young GSP 20 years ago that became gun shy...when we shot birds for him, we always killed the bird on the first shot. The day we had to fire a second shot, the dog ran back to the truck and hid. This is the very first dog that we had to come up with a training solution to fix this problem and we did come up with a solution that worked for him. We were able to hunt over that dog for the next 12 years.

Steve
KCK

www.krystalcreekkennels.com