crazycoonhunterNE

Does anybody know how to train a dog to not be gun shy?

Mite

Alot depends upon whether it's gun shy now or not. Much easier if not.

crazycoonhunterNE

She is extremely gun shy now. If she even sees a gun she runs and hides. She was running wild for approx. 6 months and somebody finally caught her and got her calmed down a bit, she was most likely shot at when she was running wild. The people that caught her didn't want her and were gunna have her shot, so my dad went and got her. For now she is just kind of play toy for my other dog, because I cant take her hunting.
She is a german shorthair.

tailcrackin

If the dog tries or does likes birds...its fixable. I f the dog or you are unsure about the birds....its probably fixable....but you gotta get it jacked up on birds first. Thanks Jonesy

crazycoonhunterNE

thanks for the tip

EODLT

Birds are not going to change gun shyness...

If your dog is THAT bad... she may not ever be cured. If she has been shot at and was running wild (stray), thats a tatoo on the personality of the dog unfortunately. I wouldnt worry about having a stray as my hunting dog. Keep her as a pet if she is a good loving dog.

Sorry to burst your bubble so to speak, but you can ask any breeder or trainer out there, we are never sure what kind of personality a purebreed registered pup is going to have when you pick them. You might pay a 1000 bucks for a pup and get a lemon so to speak. It doesnt help if they were running wild and have been shot at. You just cant hunt with a dog that is terrified of guns.

My advice, which may or may not mean anything to you, is to keep the dog as a pet, if you want a hunting dog, buy a started dog... that way you know if the dog is going to be a hunter or not, and has had hundereds of birds shot over it, all it might need is some polishing up before you have a really great field dog.

If your really set on having her hunt, its going to take a LOOOOOOONG time. you have to gradually make a gun a positive experience... Praise her when she is near a gun, do little tricks get a treat, etc..

tailcrackin

Yes, the birds will correct the dog, the birds, and time. When the dog gets jacked up on finding.....chaseing an catching the bird, the prey drive works into overload on the dog. When the dog shows you after x amount of time that its really starting to enjoy the sessions......fire 1 shot the instant the dog is on its way down to mouth an retrieve the bird. If the dog shows no sign of nervousness at that point, thats where we start slowly building. if it shows a sign, that made it nervous....give it a few more sessions, and try again. It is a timing fix. It can be done by birds.....if it likes them. If you cant get it to like the birds.....then you might have a lil bigger problem. But the 2 an 2 together will work it way out. The birds will be the treat. Promise.Sorry for the disagreement. The biggest thing is to not hurry, and again, timing is everything. Thanks Jonesy

tailcrackin

Honestly no one knows the real story, or the whole story but the dog. That is only an assumption that, it was shot at. pm me I will explain more detail, on how to set it up to fix it, and will provide some client numbers that I have fixed. The biggest thing again is patience, and patience. No time set to training, dog will show you when to move forward. Thanks Jonesy

EODLT

Tailcrackin,
You really believe that this dog is just going to "hunt" as soon as you let it out of the truck?? Just because it is a GSP doesnt make it a hunter bud. Putting a wild dog on birds!? Who is to say this dog has ANY OB? Collar Conditioned? That dog could just as likely run off and never be seen again if you pull a gun out of the truck when its "hunting". Thats all it knows how to do at this point is run. It doesnt know "HOW" to hunt yet.

Crazycoon,
If you desperately want to have "this" dog and no other dog as your primary bird dog... Good luck first of all. Second, you are going to have to introduce guns as gradually as possible, dont expect much at first. Coax her to you, sit... Put your hands on her (calms her down), good girl, have someone walk in and put a gun down beside you on the floor... She might try to run off, get her attention on you and off the gun. Keep her focused on what you have for her (food), have her sit (if she knows this command or any...) give a reward, what a good girl.... SO on and so forth. Until you can hold this gun and recall the dog, you are not ready to begin Yard work fundamentally speaking..

You need to analyse her current level of training if any.. OB is the foundation, then in 6 months start working in bird WINGS, work on the point, this dog isnt going to just jump out of the truck and flip a switch and all of the sudden be a bird dog. The dog has to know what its looking for, who to listen to, and what to do when it finds the birds.

This is not something that you can do in a weekend. You have your hands full with this dog. Is it worth that much time and effort to not even be certain that its going to pay off??

tailcrackin

Nope I didint say that at all, am saying the dog can be fixed, possibly. the dog doesnt like birds or the gun...hunting wont be an option. But I dont wash out till I have given a good chance, all dogs are different. You look at training a whole lot different than I do, I dont get in a hurry to throw in a towel. Have only done twice since 1988, guess thats the fun of training, fixing the ones everyone else says is junk. Jonesy