We have adopted a puppy, looks like possible beagle, hound mix. She is approximately 3 months old. How soon would you start exposing her to shooting, so she doesn't get gun shy?

Here is a pic of her

Start now. Get a blank pistol and everytime you put food down in front of it fire off a round. The dog will associate the gun with food and will not be gun shy. I had a friend who trained pointers for years and when I got my first dog he told me to do this, and it worked for me and all of the dogs he trained. Don't shoot it off right next to it's ear.

I only used a gun when my dog was onto a bird. That kept the dogs mind off the noise. Now when ever a gun goes off he comes running to see what was going on. He loves hunting birds for me and has worked out great for me. One thing is to always make sure you pat him when he does a good job. Some like to give them snacks and it makes it more difficult when you are hunting and forgot to bring the snacks along. Just a good pat and tell him good boy will have done the trick just fine.