Hopefully Jimmy from this board will chime in, as he has a beautiful Springer that was also noise shy, still is for most noises, but is over it for guns now.

Having a bit of experience with Springers I will tell you that it is probably best to intro your dog to birds and "hunting" without the guns first. Get your dog so excited to be in the field with you that she does not notice anything else. Then, when you have her really excited and happy, have a partner or friend 100 yards away fire a 20 gauge or22 short in the other direction of you,at that point you really need to take the excitement level up a notch and associate that sound with excitement and fun. Your dog should not do much more than notice the shot. If she cowers and cringes even though you were playing and had her excited, you may want to seek a professionals help. If she takes it in stride and trusts you that the sound is ok, slowly workthe "shooter" closer, maybe 75 or 80 yards. Same deal, shot in other direction, you get her even more excited, praise and maybe even give hera treat. If she is still ok,she can acknowledge the shot and maybe jump a little, but if she cowers andcringes for any period of time.... either start over (from farther away)or end it.

The key here is that your Springer needs to build confidence and understand what it is you want from her. Taking here to a dove field is not a good idea right now, she isa flusher by breeding. Finding and flushing game is her thing. A few purchased chukars or quail, placed in such a way that she scents them and flushes them.... then let her know just how happy that makes you andget her excited to do it over and over again. Once she gets that she is a "hunter" a shot fired over her to harvest a bird, will not bother her.It will become part of the entire experience. Right nowto her a shot is just a loud noise. Teach her what her noseis for first,slowly introduce her to the gun, then combine the 2 over her and she'll get it. Take it slow. They are VERY smart dogs(usually!) and if you lay it out for themthey will understand. Think of it as introducing achild to it.... and you'll be on the right track.