Scared of the NOISES!

[Simpson123 0]

Hey everyone im new to the Gundogs and Retrievers section. Because i have 2 ferrets and normally chat on there but recently this has caught my eye!

I have a 4 year old english springer spaniel bitch, Heres a pic of her,

 

 

But when ever i try to take her out shooting she gets scared of the loud gun noises! She would be SUCH a good retriever if i could get her to relax. I guess i need to really train her! But do u have any ideas of how i could get her working and how to get her to be ok with loud (gun) noises?.

 

Thanks very much,

 

Simpson123.

Edited October 26, 2007 by Simpson123

[Clancy 1]

Take her out on a walk near where others are shooting. Start from far off working your way towards them. Have some treats on hand. Let her know things are OK give her some treats as you work your way forward. Try and keep her mind on you and view the guns as background noise. Make her experience around loud noises pleasant. ie Loud noises mean treats, nothing to be scared of.

[rogern 0]

assuming she is not already gunshy you have got to start very carefully.

 

Take her out with a friend with say a 410 or unmoderated rimfire, get him to fire the gun when you are 2-300 yds away while you are making a big fuss of her.

 

If thats ok then gradually reduce the distance until she is comfortable, gradually work up to 12 bore, remember though, we humans are deaf compared to a dog so slowly slowly is the way.

 

Another way is to take her to a clay shoot, sit in the car with her on your lap, again a couple of hundred yards away with the window closed to start with, then start dropping the window gradually until it right open if thats ok then slowly go closer to the noise.

 

The secret is to do it very gradually, if she is gunshy, or you make her gunshy you have got yourself a housedog, not a gundog.

 

watch out for Nov 5th, get her well away from any fireworks.

 

Any decent gundog training book will tell you how to introduce a dog to gunfire.

[landrover 6]

use a steel bowl dropping it ever now and then,then move on to a blank firer short blanks to start with, while she is eating or playing, when your training her give her small treats just don't expect her to go straight to the gun, hope this helps

[Geoff.C 0]

There is some good advice in these posts Simpson. You are going to have to be very patient though. You have said she gets scared whenever you try to take her out shooting. This makes me think she has had too much too soon regarding gunfire. It is not a good test for gunshyness,to loose off a 12 bore over a novice/puppy's head. Our girls start by hearing a 6mm blank from the next field,then gradually getting closer. Each shot is followed by treats and fuss.

Please take your time,read the good advice and put it into practice,all may not be lost yet. Good luck.

[Simpson123 0]

Yeah i will and thanks very much for the advice, and i may now start doing gundog rather than ferreting......

 

Simpson123

[shotup 9]

id try starving her for a day then when she,s ravenous take her out and feed her but let a friend fire a blank a distance or so away she will not even register the noise if she,s hungry, graduly over a period of a week or so bring the noise to her. ive seen a few gun shy dogs cured this way.good luck