Fireworks and dogs

[Stubby]

There is quite a lot in gundog training books about getting pups used to gunfire - as throwing them in the deep end can ruin a pup

 

Long time since I read it, but I think they started with starting pistol 200 yards away and slowly got closer.......

 

My first spaniel came from a so called professional trainer, she was absolutely against shooting and would disappear if she even saw a gun... Found out later he had reputation for beating obedience into his spaniels

 

Found out years later he had ' put a few shotgun pellets ' in sally when out "training" - I'd like to have put a few pellets in him

 

Sally was beautiful dog, and would produce milk to order if you brought a lamb into the house ( or any other young livestock ) but was not a shooter

 

She also arrived pregnant as he'd kenneled her with his trails dog the day we picked her up..

 

One of her pups went off to be a trials dog in ireland, and we are now on sixth generation of her pups, all good workers And much loved dogs

 

First step is put an open gun on the floor near where she eats her food to get her used to the look of it . Did this for 2 weeks . Then walk about out side with gun and dog with gun open . a week of that . Then walk about closing gun occasionally and pointing it up and down again . Rewarding dog and reasuring her all the time . A week or so of that . Always putting open gun on the floor at feed time . Then something quiet like air rifle and so on etc etc and so on . Did all of that and more . No use . She did not like bangs end of . Her sister on the other hand would run to the door if you so much as looked at the gun . She was bonkers . In reality I needed something in between !

[ArthurBottlesworth]

Hard to think of anything more to do....

I gave up with Sally, but there was never a problem with her pups

 

Is she enthusiastic about hunting and or retrieving?

Perhaps build on that?

If she likes hunting, throw out a dead pheasant and get her to retrieve it , then when she gets enthusiastic about retrieving try to get her to realise that a bang is linked to having fun......just bang two sticks or similar to start with?

[Stubby]

Hard to think of anything more to do....

I gave up with Sally, but there was never a problem with her pups

 

Is she enthusiastic about hunting and or retrieving?

Perhaps build on that?

If she likes hunting, throw out a dead pheasant and get her to retrieve it , then when she gets enthusiastic about retrieving try to get her to realise that a bang is linked to having fun......just bang two sticks or similar to start with?

 

She is dead now mate . Died at 15 . She would hunt like all spaniels even bring back wounded game from the previous day . First bang and she went to pieces .

[Lucan]

If you've got spaniels there is a great book by Joe Irving i'd recommend. When talking about introducing a dog to shot, he talks about importance of knowing the difference between gun-nervous (solvable) and gun-shy (unsolvable, just unfortunate genetics).

[Stubby]

If you've got spaniels there is a great book by Joe Irving i'd recommend. When talking about introducing a dog to shot, he talks about importance of knowing the difference between gun-nervous (solvable) and gun-shy (unsolvable, just unfortunate genetics).

 

Hes the bloke who used to keep raw tripe in his pocket !

[Asimina]

I'm not sure what is available in your country, but in mine dogs can take Alprazolam, which is Xanax. It works great to calm a dog down. One of my regulars takes it before every groom and she is like a different dog when she takes it. I can't groom her without it.

 

If it were my dog, I would also put him/her in a comfortable crate and cover it with a blanket. My own dogs prefer to stay in theirs if they are scared or we have company. They view it like their own little respite.

[Dan Curtis]

My lab was going to be a gundog, she comes from great working lines but unfortunately she's petrified of guns, even in the distance. Strangely enough she isn't bothered by fireworks in the slightest, sometimes she doesn't even seem aware of them. I've always walked her at night so she became exposed to fireworks from a distance. To start with we were so far off that they were clearly visible but inaudible to me. We've progressed to the point now that when we let a few off at the weekend, she's more annoyed that we're outside without her than she is about the noise.

 

Knowing how she is when she hears guns I really feel for anyone with a firework shy dog, must be horrible to deal with. At least guns can generally be avoided and don't go off every night for the first fortnight of November.