CBR
 

I have a chessie pure breed and he will retieve anything on land or water but for some reason he hates the sound of a gun shot. Even a .22 will set him to hiding. I got him as a pup about 20 weeks old (rescued). He is smart as a whip and i need to info from you guys on how to make the gunshyness go away... Thanks Jim

RE: CBR
 

I would recommend go and get the dog evaluated by a professional. But if you want to try yourself (not recommended) I would still talk to a professional on his opinion on how to do it.

More than likely they will tell you get the dog real birdy then while he's chasing, fire off a cap gun so many feet away. Watch the dog's reaction. That will tell you if you can try it closer or call it a day. Let the dog associate the gun shot with birds.

There is aCD/Tape you can buy at www.icsupply.com that supposely can cure gunshyness but haven't tried it.

It's going to be a relatively long process. And do NOT take the dog to the gun range unless you are damn sure you know what you're doing.

RE: CBR
 

I am not a professional dog trainer so perhaps there is hope. My friend years ago got a chocolate lab from a rescue shelter. I always felt the dog had been beaten because if you raised your voice volume the dog would cower to the ground. It was a beautifuldog. Friendly, and would obey commands right now. It really wanted to please people, especially men. He was also a great retriever. You throw something and he always found it and brought it back. The trouble was you fired a gun of any sorts, and Coco turned into Harry Houdini and disappeared. I've seen gun shy dogs but never one like him. Even the kids just running around playing withtoy gun would set that dog into panic. He would not run from them, but that's because they did not make any noise. He would stand off a long way and watch them though.

My friend tried all sorts of tricks and advice that people offered to try and make the dog not be afraid of sharp noises. This dog once tried to chew out of a kennel on the 4th of July. Even thunderstorms would scare the devil out of him. When there were sharp noises, the dog would run and sit as close to my friend as he could and kind of melt into him where he would stay. Well the dog was a great family pet, but a hunter he was not. What a shame, he sure had nice lines.

RE: CBR
 

true gun shyness is very difficult if not impossable to break. The best situation is to introduce the gun correctly to begin with. Letting the puppy eat while you shot a blank pistol in the distance and each day moving closer and closer untill you are very near the pup as it is eating and the gun fire doesn't affect him. There are other method and this is just one I have heard over and over again. you may want to try this but if the dog is already afraid of the gun fire it may take quite a bit to bring him around provided you are ever able to fix the problem.
Good luck and let us know how you turn out.