Have hunting dog that is scared of gunfire what do i do?
my hunting dog bandy is a great hunter she points and flushes but is scared of gun fire what should i do? oh and she is not the conventional gun dog she is a smooth fox terrier (and yes she is a true hunter!)
this is going to take about 3-4 days, about 30 minutes per day.
get some food your dog loves. Give him a half his normal supper the day before.
Go out and handle the gun somewhere where your dog can see you. Have a friend hold your dog by the leash or collar. So he doesn’t run away and hide, and so he doesn’t run up to you. Then set the gun down and walk over and give him a treat, tell him good boy, pet him, be nice for about 30 seconds. Then walk back to the gun, pick it up point it somewhere safe. Set the gun back down and go give the dog his treat and petting. Do that A LOT, at least 10 times. Don’t overfeed him, consider giving him enough treats to abou match the amount of meal he was shorted.
Feed him half his normal supper this day too. Next day, now same hing, he will see the gun and actually think ‘treat and pet time!’ I suggest using a .22 rifle this time. Do the same thing as before, but this time, at about time 5, shoot the gun once. Make sure the dog is a good ways off, like 30 paces away. Set the gun down, walk over then give him a treat and extra petting, at least twice as much. Now go handle the gun but don’t shoot it, come back pet him and treat. Go back handle the gun don’t shoo, come back and pet him and treat. NOW go back and shoot. then come back and pet and treat, go shoot, come back and pet and treat. Call it a day, half meal again.
third day, Have the dog be 30 paces away again, handle the gun, have assistant bring dog to you, pet him and give him treat, then have assistant take him away. Shoot gun. Set gun down, have assistant bring dog to you (even if it means dragging him) pet and treat. Repeat.
You may need to do this a fourth day. Ideally on the fourth day you can shoot, and then call the dog to you and he will come, give him treats and petting, then have assistant take him away. NO need to shoot real close to the dog. If you ARE hunting often the dog will be about 20-30 paces in front of you anyways.
Often it seems taht after about 3 times the dog calms down and gets into the groove but I like doing it at least 10 times because I think the dog remembers it more strongly that way. I think at 3 times the dog is just tolerating it, but at 10 he starts to actually think “gun = treat!”
when you do go out hunting, bring some doggie treats for him then too. No need to do it every time, but do call him to you a few times, pet him say good boy and give him a treat, even if you aren’t doing any shooting.
Vivica A. Fox – Smooth Magazine
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