How to cure gun shy Lab.

cookie077

cookie077

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South West Ontario
Hello and happy New Year to all.

I have a problem with my yellow lab. He is 2 years old now and i have just recently taken him out with me for some rabbit hunting. The first time out I just fired off a 2.75 lite load trap shell to see how he would take it. He was a little jumpy but came right back to me. After a couple of mins he forgot all about it and carried on running around in the snow and have a good time. I figured I was going to be good, and called it quits for the day.
Today I went out with him again. No luck kicking up any rabbits all he wanted to do was follow some yote tracks. So before heading back I fired off a shell at a safe backstop with him beside me. My idea was to expose him to gunfire again. Well he shot off 30 feet or so and would not come back to me even with offers of treats. Keep a couple in my pocket. It was about 15 mins to calm him and get him to stay with me. Now every time I unsling the shotgun he takes off and will not come back till I sling up again and start walking back to the car.
I am hoping someone has some ideas I can try. I know I should have had him exposed younger but it didn't happen. I hope it's not too late.

Thanks Cookie
 
Try shooting a blank gun every time before you feed him...works great on pups and knowing lab's stomachs, no reason it won't work on an older dog. Also, next time you are shooting, I'd have him on a leash so he can't run away. Shoot then praise and calm him. Labs are sucks for attention too! Let him keep running away and you are just creating a bad habit! For the next while, never shoot when you don't have him under control.
 
i use to take my lab shooting with me and she did not like it at all now every time their is a thunderstorm or hears fireworks she runs for cover
 
Sorry, but big mistake... Gun training should be a very slow process and you can't start it with blasting a shot gun no matter what load you're using. That's exactly how and why dogs can become gun shy. Especially a 2 year old dog that has not been trained yet. A gun shy dog will never be good as a hunting companion.
Anyway, I hope you will learn the process of gun training before it's too late. If there is no dog trainer in your area, at least please, find informations on the Internet.
And remember, it's not the dog's fault...
 
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Get him in a good state of mind, and give him some love... etc, until he feels confident. Have a friend shoot a 22LR @ 100m distance from your two. Continue the "loving" and reassuring while this happens. Get the friend to come to 50 yards and fre one more shot.
Then go home.
Come back and do the same thing, but have your buddy fire more shots, same 22LR , same distances.
Go home.
Try next with the 22LR being fired at 50 yds then 20, then 10.
Go home
After the dog has been exposed to distant firing, is time for close shooting. Give him a treat every time your friend is about to fire, to get the dog excited before the shot.
You get to "feel" what's happening after a while and is time to go to something more powerful. A 12 ga with long bbl, @100 yds....

You got the idea.
Sorry, there is no "one session" treatment. It would have been a lot easier (fewer steps) if you started gradually, but nothingis lost unless you insist to "desensitize" the dog "boot camp" way.
 
Thank you for the replies. I will try the .22 at a distance a few times and see. There have been a lot of shotgun rounds in the distance when I have had him out and he does not give them any notice. As well as he is just fine with thunder storms. Unlike my last dog before I started hunting. He used to go hide in the bath tub. I hope I have not ruined him by starting with the shotgun too soon. I do not intend for him to be a real hunting dog but he is a good companion outdoors and the walking does us both good. So I hope that he comes around.
Tonight I put his dinner bowl down beside the shotgun, he gave it the evil eye then seemed to forget about it by the time his dinner was done.

Thanks again. Cookie
 
My friends dog is a trained SAR dog, & he goes nuts when we take out the guns for some target shooting. The dog starts jumping around & barking like crazy as soon as we work a bolt or lever. Never seen a dog act like this before. After the shot he runs to the target to look for the bullet ;). Not gun shy at all. The dog is an Australian Kelpie.
 
glang1 said:
...After the shot he runs to the target to look for the bullet ;). Not gun shy at all. The dog is an Australian Kelpie.
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A young Black Lab used to do it up North by my property. He lived at a nearby house but ran out to the rifle range when he heard the shots and he ran to the targets looking for the bullets. First it was funny but he soon became a nuisance because we had to call the owner to take him home. He absolutely loved guns. My .338 didn't bother him at all. :D
 
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Horses are so much easier just take a blank gun walk out into the herd and fire it off and the horses scatter. After about 10 times the horses will just look at you as if to tell you to keep it down while they are trying to eat. My family has been doing this for about 100 years without any problems.

Sadly though dogs are more dependent on their masters whereas most horses just don't care who is riding them as long as they get treated decent and fed.

A leash would be a good thing and keep up with the treats! Lots of petting and reassurances also. Just remember though, some dogs are bomb proof from the very first time, some take time to become bomb proof, and some just never get there. Don't rush things too much!
 
First of all, the dog must have total trust in you, the alfa male pack leader.

The dog must also believe that what ever you do, no harm will ever come to him.

Loud noise, like banging on the bottom of his steel food dish at feeding time is a good place to start, nothing bad ever happened when he ate out of that bowl, right.

The trick is to not startle the dog when firing any 22 or starter pistol, but let it be part of the process of the shot fired.

It's gonna be a bit more of a challenge for you to try and reintroduce an older dog to gun fire after its been living a quiet, sheltered life, then suddenly.... BANG,... sure it's gonna get scared and run.:(

If you do it with some thought put into the noise introduction method, the dog should turn out all right.
Be patient and remember, a dog is a product of what it's exposed to, gunfire should be the most sweetest sound to a dog, cause it means theres a retrieve out there, and food on the table, and even a bit left over for the dog dish.:)
 
sell him and buy another one
gun shy dogs dont work they may sort of deal with it but you screwed up BIG
there was another thread on this awhile ago
gun shy is mostly a character flaw in my opinion
sorry buddy but you should have thought about what you where doing
 
jonesjimbo said:
Consider using a drum at home, as you can easily regulate how loud the bang is. Start low and slowly over time increase the volume. He will be fine with patience. Good Luck
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My son would play drums in your home for a couple of hours a day for a small fee. :D
Hopefully, you would have a good hunting dog in a year or so and my neighbours would stop complaining about the noise. :D
 
As already mentioned fire a 22 from far and work closer, but while this is happening I would not re-assure by touch - act normal and just keep walking instead of touching him, speak soft using "good boy" or use what he knows. If he likes to fetch use his ball or what he likes to fetch for him to play with while this is going on.

The idea is that you want to get him to think this is normal. He will feed off you, if you act casual about the situation and you are not confirming his fears by petting him and telling him "it's ok" it would be better. In time and you should take your time with this - it will be second nature to hiim and a very normal process. watch him - his body language will tell the story...
 
doo said:
As already mentioned fire a 22 from far and work closer, but while this is happening I would not re-assure by touch - act normal and just keep walking instead of touching him, speak soft using "good boy" or use what he knows. If he likes to fetch use his ball or what he likes to fetch for him to play with while this is going on.

The idea is that you want to get him to think this is normal. He will feed off you, if you act casual about the situation and you are not confirming his fears by petting him and telling him "it's ok" it would be better. In time and you should take your time with this - it will be second nature to hiim and a very normal process. watch him - his body language will tell the story...
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I agree with this. My parents used to drive me insane by constantly petting the dog while we were in the vet's office, doing the whole 'it's ok' thing. I just sat there just watching the dog getting all worked up, panting, constantly coming for attention and just basically making a total pest of himself.

When I bring the dog to the vet now, there's no cooing, no cuddling, no 'it's ok's', I just plain ignore him. Tell him to lie down, maybe give him a pat, that's it. Guess what, he just lies there, and sometimes even sleeps, or just surveys the room with his eyes while he lies perfectly still and well behaved. If you're calm, the dog stays calm. If you're all worked up, the dog will follow suit.

As far as gun shyness goes, my dog is not, and never will be a hunting dog. He's useless for swimming (he does, but reluctantly), and as for gun shy... I had a CO2 air pistol in the woods, and I started to do some random plinking, just a couple of shots. Next thing I know, the dog is nowhere to be found, and due to the sound from a fast-flowing creek nearby, he couldn't hear me calling him either. On a hunch, I backtracked down the path I had come up, and sure enough, there he was, 150m down the path, just standing there with his tail between his legs, looking at me. :rolleyes:
 
cookie077 said:
Hello and happy New Year to all.

I have a problem with my yellow lab. He is 2 years old now and i have just recently taken him out with me for some rabbit hunting. The first time out I just fired off a 2.75 lite load trap shell to see how he would take it. He was a little jumpy but came right back to me. After a couple of mins he forgot all about it and carried on running around in the snow and have a good time. I figured I was going to be good, and called it quits for the day.
Today I went out with him again. No luck kicking up any rabbits all he wanted to do was follow some yote tracks. So before heading back I fired off a shell at a safe backstop with him beside me. My idea was to expose him to gunfire again. Well he shot off 30 feet or so and would not come back to me even with offers of treats. Keep a couple in my pocket. It was about 15 mins to calm him and get him to stay with me. Now every time I unsling the shotgun he takes off and will not come back till I sling up again and start walking back to the car.
I am hoping someone has some ideas I can try. I know I should have had him exposed younger but it didn't happen. I hope it's not too late.

Thanks Cookie
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Easy does it. nothing for two years then a twelve bore. Thats quite the shock. 22 rf at a distance, gradually working closer while he eats. It can usually be done faster but since you went to two extremes your going to have to go WAY back now
 
IMHO, exposing a dog to gunfire starts VERY early. Banging pots and pans, kicking the metal food dish for them to chase as puppies etc etc etc...

You really need to work up to firing shotguns around them. A cap gun, then a starter pistol, then a 22 rifle, then get them interested in birds and even then, use a shotgun with light loads... You need to be aware of their reaction and work slowly as each dog is different.

Our pointer Bamma LOVES guns, gunfire etc... BUT, her sister Brownie, well... Brownie's first exposure to guns was a 12 gauge... And she's ruined... Brownie is now a pet, not a hunter...

Taking ANY shortcuts on exposing dogs to gunfire is a surefire way (IMHO) to wreck a dog. It is WAY harder to "cure" a dog of gunshyness than it is to do it right.

In my situation, "our" first hunting dog was "ours", i.e. my wife's and mine... Ever since, the dogs are in my name only... WHY? Because I know that my wife would NEVER let a dog go if it didn't "work out" for hunting... To her, they are pets and companions, to me, they are a hunting tool, pet and companion. They have a job to do, and if they can't do it, then they will go to someone who wants a pet... (Fingers crossed, we have not had this situation, yet...)

Cheers
Jay
 
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