INTRODUCTION TO GUN FIRE
During the first 5 months of your dogs life, he has heard the sounds of the world around him. Kids playing, cars and trucks going by, lawn mowers, vaccume cleaners etc. ( Hopefully no gun fire, or fireworks).
When it is time to introduce him to gun fire, I want to have him chasing and retrieving clipped wing pigeons first.
When I introduce the pup to the sound of gun fire, I have my assistant stand about 75 yards away from the dog. I will have my helper use a starter pistle with a .22 acorn blank.
When I am ready I will have the dog chase a clipped wing bird on the ground and I will signal my assistant to fire one shot from the gun while the gun is muffled inside a hunting vest( To muffle the sound.)
My job is to evaluate the dogs reaction. did the dog even notice the sound, did he flinch, bolt, blink, drop the bird or give me any sighn that he was spooked?
If I see no problems I will try the same step again, to see if I get a diffent result. If I see spookyness or sound sensitivity I quit the shooting immediatly, and go back to birds for a few days to build up his interest again.
If The sound is not a problem, then my assistant will fire the same blank with the gun out side of his jacket and behind his back( again at a distance of 75 yards).
again if we have a sound sensitivity issue, we dont shoot any more, and I go back to more birds. If I dont see a problem with the sound, I move the gun a little closer( about 20 yards) and repeat the steps.
my goal is to have the pup chase clipped birds in the yard while the blank gun moves closer, and closer to the point that I can shoot right next to the dog when he is chasing the bird and the sound does not effect him.
If at any time I see a problem with the sound of the gun, I quit and put him back on birds to keep him motivated.
If all goes well I can move forward to the .410.
I will repeat this process with the live and loaded .410( at a distance of 75 yards, but not muffled in my jacket) and keep moving forward untill I can shoot the .410 next to the dog.
As this training moves forward I will repeat each step with the 20 gauge, and then a 12 gauge. If and when I have been able to shoot the bigger guns around the dog when he is chasing and retrieving clipped wing pigeons I will then start flushing and shooting live flyers for him.
this process will take 2 to 3 weeks or more. dont rush things, make sure your dog is not sound sensitive and stays motivated around birds.
If at any time you see any spookyness, quit the gunfire and go back to birds.
Conditioning your dog to gun fire is not somthing that should be rushed. Take your time to be sure.
DO NOT take your dog to the trap range to SEE WHAT HAPPENS gun shy dogs are not born, gun shyness is caused by improper introduction to loud noises by people.
Roger Hess