Training a dog around guns.

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ABout a year ago, we got a terrier- poodle type dog from the humane society. He's a about 6 years old.
He's pretty smart, ive been able to teach him some stupid pet tricks and he's very obedient for me.

Ive been taking him for walks off leash on bush trails recently. He's spotted a few grouse. He freezes and goes into a natural point. He'll sit and stay for.me while i walk closer to the bird,

Any suggestions how to train this guy to not fear gunshots? I've never fired ons around him, but obviously starting by shooting a 12ga. over him wouldnt be a good idea.
 
I was gonna tell him to go to a gun range too but he is in Lalatario also. Maybe the sound of a club hitting a golf ball may suffice.
 
I never take my hunting dogs to a gun range to introduce gun fire.

I've seen it done, with a dog in a wire cage sitting in the back of a pickup & always thought to myself: "What would you do that to your dog?" IMHO there is no reason for a hunting dog to hear a couple hundred rifle shots @ close range as their 'introduction' to gun fire.

What I do is find something the dog loves to do, retrieve perhaps? Once the dog is engaged in that activity & a ways away from you, I fire a blank gun. My dogs have turned around, looked & then ignored. They are busy playing. Over time, I fire that blank gun when they are closer & they learn to ignore it.

I put way too much time & money into a pup to sit them on a rifle range & have them hear rifle shots from 22 on up to magnums with brakes on them...

YMMV

Cheers
Jay
 
I wouldn't take him to a gun range, too much too soon. Just my two cents. Do you have somewhere to go that you & a friend/family member could go to, and have your friend fire a .22 (blanks) from a distance away (safely) one or two shots to see how the dog responds. Before the other person starts to shoot, play with the dog, show the dog that hey this is safe, fun a great place to be then slowly introduce the gunfire. Go slow....this is a very broad answer that I'm giving you, not a pro but have trained a couple of hunting dogs. Be sure to check all regulations in your area.


Jay has summed it!
 
I took my dog to my friend's house to shoot in the backyard. I had him bring my dog into the front yard so as not to scare the dog and my friend gradually brought the dog closer...it's natural for the dog to want to see it's owner so just keep it leashed and let it work it's way back to you. Btw, started with 22lr subsonics and worked up to high velocity...didn't fire any centerfire that day.
 
My range is in a forest and I use to park at the gate and walk the trails/roads near it but bought a property near by and can hear the shots from there now and walk the trails from there.
 
Glow slow.
Take him to an active trap range...
Take a lawn chair, leash, water, terd bags and treats with you. Stay in the car for about 5 or 10 minutes to have him get used to the noise, give him a treat or two. If he's o.k., take him for an on leash walk but stay away from the firing line.
Stay away from the firing line (parking lot or further away) and sit in the lawn chair, relax and give the dog a drink, hopefully the dog will lay down beside you or sit. If that doesn't work get back in the car and head home. Try it again another day.
If the dog is fine, move to behind the shooters say 100 ft. back, sit and stay. Move forward and stay safe, allow the the dog to sniff around and to also smell the firearms. No more than 10 or 15 minutes. Treats, water and head home.

Next time out, take your shotgun, have someone sit with him and hold his leash. Have him watch you shoot, if he gets bored that's a good sign. After that treats, water and home.
Do that a couple of times.
If you are able to let him go off leash in a safe area (not a range), try shooting at a fixed target with dog positioned behind you.
If that goes good, take him to the field and see how he does. Go slow... Wait for the dog to alert before you shoot any birds...
If you do this right you won't be able to pull a rifle or shotgun out without the dog whining and wanting to go hunting.
 
to introduce my not hunting bull dogge to gun fire was with treats .Start with caps and work up .When I shoot now he sits behind me waiting for a treat
 
Jay said:
I never take my hunting dogs to a gun range to introduce gun fire.

I've seen it done, with a dog in a wire cage sitting in the back of a pickup & always thought to myself: "What would you do that to your dog?" IMHO there is no reason for a hunting dog to hear a couple hundred rifle shots @ close range as their 'introduction' to gun fire.

What I do is find something the dog loves to do, retrieve perhaps? Once the dog is engaged in that activity & a ways away from you, I fire a blank gun. My dogs have turned around, looked & then ignored. They are busy playing. Over time, I fire that blank gun when they are closer & they learn to ignore it.

I put way too much time & money into a pup to sit them on a rifle range & have them hear rifle shots from 22 on up to magnums with brakes on them...

YMMV

Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

This....^
Never start a dog at a range
 
I took our lab to the gun range to get the dog not to be frightened by the noise. This was time consuming. But so was the field work too. This too was before the internet and high speed connections information was only from books. I know I am dating myself. I think the book I used training your retriever by James lamb free

Is started out on the road for about a week and not moving closer.

I moved in to the start of the parking lot again for about a week.

Moved as close as I could in the car (all these moves the windows have been up) open the windows again for about a week

Seeing how the dog reacted I now move to the trap fire line and had the dog heal and shot a round of trap and watched how the dog reacted as other shot too.

Now she was ready for hunting
 
Jay said:
I never take my hunting dogs to a gun range to introduce gun fire.

I've seen it done, with a dog in a wire cage sitting in the back of a pickup & always thought to myself: "What would you do that to your dog?" IMHO there is no reason for a hunting dog to hear a couple hundred rifle shots @ close range as their 'introduction' to gun fire.

What I do is find something the dog loves to do, retrieve perhaps? Once the dog is engaged in that activity & a ways away from you, I fire a blank gun. My dogs have turned around, looked & then ignored. They are busy playing. Over time, I fire that blank gun when they are closer & they learn to ignore it.

I put way too much time & money into a pup to sit them on a rifle range & have them hear rifle shots from 22 on up to magnums with brakes on them...

YMMV

Cheers
Jay
Click to expand...

Redsoilreaper said:
I wouldn't take him to a gun range, too much too soon. Just my two cents. Do you have somewhere to go that you & a friend/family member could go to, and have your friend fire a .22 (blanks) from a distance away (safely) one or two shots to see how the dog responds. Before the other person starts to shoot, play with the dog, show the dog that hey this is safe, fun a great place to be then slowly introduce the gunfire. Go slow....this is a very broad answer that I'm giving you, not a pro but have trained a couple of hunting dogs. Be sure to check all regulations in your area.


Jay has summed it!
Click to expand...

dilly said:
This....^
Never start a dog at a range
Click to expand...

indeed best advice.

try with 22s far far from him and come closer. then repeat but far far with another shotgun. the best will be to have him train to associate later shotgun to bird flying, but again not need at all for range for a gundog.
 
Training pistol, to 410, to big gun is my usual method. Having birds on hand to train with is a good idea too. Gives the dog a focal point when the shot goes off.

22 would work fine in place of training pistol
 
You must associate the bang of the gun to something the dog enjoys doing. Positive reinforcement. In my case I had a squirrel problem. I would send the dog after them. Then I shot one when the dog was in the house. Got the dog to retrieve it. Then threw it as the dog stayed on me. Then incorporate the gun and boom, dog retrieves duck, goose, dove, you name it. My dog now lives to hunt.

North
 
I have a Lab X American Pointer and didn't train her to do it but as soon as I rack the chamber where ever she is running in the field she comes straight back and sits beside me. It must be in the genetics of the breed. Great party trick. As soon as im done shooting she runs off and does her own thing till Im ready to go again.
 
One of those old school cap guns works well as an introduction. Dollar stores have them. While the dog is eating is a good time to do noise work. Start with banging a few pots and pans, then move to the cap gun. Gun club way later.
 
Get a 209 shotgun primer blank gun. I have one made by traditions. Like I said above slowly work into it with something the dog enjoys doin. I can't even open my gun safe without the dog ready to go.

North
 
I take my dogs for walks on our farm where there are an abundance of english sparrows, starlings, blackbirds and other pest species. I shoot them with a .22 and CB caps. Dog gets to associate walks with a gun and quiet gunfire with dead birds and retrieving fun. Move up to high speed Long Rifle .22 cartridges later, then still later introduce to shotgun at a distance. Works every time.
 
I took a few beagles I owned to the shooting range when they were pups and it worked out well..... I guess the idea is to play with the dog while hearing the gunshots from a distance first..... If the dog is playing and having fun with you, those distant gunshots don't even get noticed by the dog, he is too busy playing having fun.... As the fun continues, move closer and within a short amount of time (hour or two) you will eventually be standing next to the gunshots/shooters and the dog won't even react..... Mind you before I brought those dogs to the range, I would yell out loud BANG BANG sounds and bang some pots and pans together all while playing with him in the yard..... I would throw a ball as he is running to the ball, scream out BANG, BANG or hit the pots and pans.....At first they look at you like, hey whats that, what are you doing but he soon learns loud noise BANG BAND and Pot and Pans banging sounds mean we are playing/having fun...... :)
In a nutshell, introduce the loud sounds gradually while focusing on fun.....
 
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