ive been training Gunner for hunting and when he was small i introduced a shotgun. i would shoot it around him and he loved it, he would even run to the edge of the lake to see what fell.

today my nephews wanted to shoot skeet.. so my dogs follows us all happy.. and when they first cocked the shotgun, Gunner took off running, freaked out as all hell. so i got him to me and kneeled near him and held his colar. i even talked in his ear giving him praises, and when they fired he jumped and almost broke my arm trying to get away. i held him sitting near me again, telling him in his ear it was ok. well they shot and he jumped but stayed sitting, but u can tell he wanted to leave badly. we did they for a couple more shots and then he layed down and refused to get up unless id let him run away.

why all of a sudden hes gun shy? he wasnt like that before, he really enjoyed beiing around guns.. now he runs.. is my dog ruined?

Hey Natalie I sent you an e-mail, thanks Jonesy

Yet another dog that's gone gunshy. Don't be too anxious and don't let him anywhere near a gun range. The sound of one gun going off compared to multiple guns is like a sundaypicnic vs. a war. It's like lighting firecrackers near the dog. I've seen them. If you clap, they'll shy away.

Before anything you do, listen to Jonsey. Do not try to solve this yourself without expert help and don't listen to guy next door who 'know al'bout dem dogs'.

Good luck. You'll have alittle more work but with a little patience it will work out.

Go to www.coonriverkennels.com Then click on "Mark's Tips" (or something similar).
Nice article on Gunshyness.



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Why woud you keep shooting over a dog that that was obviously in distress over the sound of gunfire? Wouldn't it have been better to immedialtely remove him from that environment?

I sure ain't an expert on gunshyness, but I would have gotten my dog away from there ASAP and delt with it later in a morepeaceful setting. Would I have been doing the wrong thing?

Jimmy, no you wouldn't be wrong. That's the problem with any gun range, you can't control the environment. Too many guns going off for any dog. Also, there is no way about getting the dog out of there soon enough. By the time you get the dog in the car, the dog is already gunshy.

I don't know of a way to fix a dog that's become gunshy. I'm also not an expert, so take my advice for what it's worth. I raise beagles and hounds. I have always been careful about how I introduce a pup to gunfire. For my type of dog, I simply take them hunting. I only take them with my dad or my brother in law, who basically owns the other half of our pack. We have a rule when a pup accompanies us and that is, nobody shoots unless that pup is in the chase. If he's not barking, the rabbit won't be in danger.
I've used this technique for every pup I have ever raised and it's been probably 98% effective. Now,I think the dog you have may be some type of retriever, and since he won't get as excited and be making noise himself, this probably wouldn't have worked.

There's also the factor of the pup's demeanor and personality. I have a year old male beagle that got shot around when he was about 4 months old. He was far away and in the pen when it happened, but after the shot, I heard him bark. I turned around and walked back there and he was jumping around all curious about the sound and such. It helped because he was in a pen with his momma who knew what a gun was and would quiver with excitement whenever she heard a shot. I watched him while my dad continued to shoot. He loved it. So, I leashed him and took him closer to the shooting. The closer we got, the more excited he became....dancing around and tugging at the leash. I eventually let him go right up beside dad and the silly pup would try and catch the spent shells when Dad ejected them. He's the only dog I've ever owned that reacted like this. Most times, if the shooting is far away, it won't bother them much. Shooting over their heads before they've ever heard it is a no no though.

I wonder if your dog ws put off because of new people. Could it be possible that new folks making lots of noise was just too much for him?


GH