Gunshy Springer

[Ranger81 4]

This is my beautiful 6 year old male springer Merlin. He's a cracking example of the breed from good working stock but he himself has never worked and is a great companion when I'm out walking or biking. When he was 4 some idiot let off a firework on a public green very close to him and he bolted. Ever since then fireworks thunder and even my .177 really scares him to the point that he will go off and hide if I even get it out. He never batted an eyelid before. Other loud noises can bother him too but strangely some, like a backfiring car, have no effect. He is exceptionally well trained and although I don't plan on training him to flush it would be nice if I didn't have to leave him at home whenever I plan to go shooting. Anyone have experience with gun shy dogs. Would be amazing if I could fix this.

 

[camokev64 36]

Ranger81,A sensitive situation,I am a bit confused as why the dog is having a negative reaction to the gun being taken out ?.

 

From my own experiences you will have to replicate the situation to solve it, with the dogs total attention being concentrated on an immensely positive task for the dog while in the background the negative replication is going on ( say start with an air rifle bang,hopefully achieving a shotgun / car back fire type sound ).

 

As it has probably been covered in previous posts the stoking/comforting of the dog in a negative atmosphere will probably have the wrong effect.

 

Stick in there.

Edited January 4, 2013 by camokev64

[wuyang 513]

Lovely looking dog and cracking pic.

[Bradford Lad 74]

Hi mate,

 

You might need to go back to the beggining with this one, by that i mean almost treating him as you would a pup before it hears gunshot for the first time. For me i normally start by clapping loudly outside the kennel just before feeding,give plenty of praise and the dog will then associate loud noises with something pleasant ie food. keep this up until he's completely comfortable with the noise and actually comes to the gate tail wagging. Then get your hands on a starter pistol and get someone to let it off a fair distance away while you again praise and feed him, then when he's comfortable with that, let the starter pistol of closer and closer until you stand next to him and let it off. its the same again with shotguns.

I normally park my car near, but not too near the local clay pigeon shoot and open the back and let them hear it, i then give plenty of praise and reassurance, once comfortable with the noise i'l let them out and do a little bit of retrieving with plenty of fussing, again get closer to the guns each visit and repeat until you can stand next to someone shooting.

 

i've never had a gun shy dog but i have been told it can be a long and frustrating road to recovery, so stick with it mate and good luck.

 

If your not entirely confident of doing it yourself, get online and find a local gundog trainer who no doubt know the best way to sort it.

[3175darren 1,101]

Hi mate I have just taken a hungarian wirehaired visla back,who I did managed to sort once for gun shy,his problems started with fireworks, and a couple of week ago he had one go off above him again, and set him right back to square 1, after a week of settling in I have put gun oil on his bed for scent association,and last night I had him settled in with the air rifle going off around him,I have allso ordered the fireworks sound cd so I can desenatise him to them and some 410 shells to get tomorrow,one thing I find with things like this,is whats going off in your own head the dog picks up on,if your feeling anxious the dog will become anxious,and as camokev64 says praise at the wrong time is bad and only enforces the fear,he is a good looking dog mate and I hope you sort him don't give in,back to basic's and perscevere,

[Ranger81 4]

Great advice guys thank you. I have been using firework tracks on YouTube gradually increasing the volume but whenever the 'mine' type booms go off he begins to shiver. It almost seems like its certain frequencies or waves of sound that set him off but I'm no expert on sound. The starter pistol sounds like a good idea especially if he is at play when it goes off. Will put a plan of action together.

[Nik_B 3,790]

You can also fire the starter pistol into a bag to mute the sound it gives off. Maybe combine it with something the dog likes, like hunting? You could fire it and then tell it to hunt so it makes the connection of bang = good.

 

I have a sensitive/nervous dog myself and it can be hell on earth trying to get him over some of his problems...he's more scared of new environments or places where there are lots of people rather than bangs.

 

Just be careful of making any fuss over the whole exercise, I find that with my dog he senses some thing isn't right when I make a fuss or try to get him to do something. I have to be totally calm and not react to his behaviour if it isn't what I want.

[ftm 3,357]

i would get a pcp air rifle [borrow one ] or get someone to fire it and throw a dummy for dog to retrieve and try and get the gun conection with a retrieve "fun thing to register in dogs head then if that works try using a spring loading rifle after about a week which will produce a slightly louder noise and slowly progress from there hope you get it sorted pal -billy -------- ps cammo kev this is what i would do so please no snide remarks please im only trying to help

[GEOFF.223 83]

my wee dog was never gun shy and i didn't have her out for 6+ months and when i took her out again she was terrified.

 

so for a few days in the garden i would slap two pieces of good together and then play fetch with her of course she was scared at the first bit after a couple of days she got used to it. gradually made it louder of course.

 

after that took her clay shooting but kepted her in the car with the windows up then the not time windows down and next day she was out with the clays going over her head whilst wee were shooting.

 

1 week it took to get sorted