When it comes to the realm of retrievers, bird dogs, treeing dogs, and even in some cases pack dogs gun shyness is something that can be heartbreaking. From experience, owning a dog that cowers even when you pull a gun out of the truck is highly frustrating. Working with a lab puppy lately has led me to doing a lot more research into this topic. I wanted to find out more about how to ensure this is not a problem so that when the time comes that does not effect her performance. One common misconception is that a dog is born gun shy and nothing can be done about it. However, this is found to be inaccurate in the sense that a puppy can be conditioned to this. Like any other training area of a hunting dog, introduction to gunfire is a multi-step process that starts with baby steps at a young age.
I am far from an expert when it comes to retrieving dogs and really anything other than a running, pack hound. But since I have been working on this much more recently I find it to be useful to share some tips on how to prepare a dog for gunfire. When having a dog that will be introduced to gunfire keep in mind that a puppy should be around 6 months old before introducing loud, close gunfire due to the development of that pup. But it is never too early to start conditioning them to noise.
My lab came home with me at just under 2 months of age in February of this year. From the very first day whenever she would get fed or play catch I would make it a habit to clap near her with a moderate volume. At first this will most likely startle the dog slightly. As the puppy or puppies progress in growth, steadily increase the volume that you clap around them at. In the instance of retriever training it creates a realistic situation to create the noise just before throwing a toy to simulate shooting a bird.
After the pup has reached about 6 months old and is conditioned to moderate noises, gunfire introduction can happen. However, it is most likely a good idea to first introduce gunfire at an increased distance in the 100 yard range. This is just so they can start hearing the gunfire but do not start off firing shots just above their head. Another important step in the process is starting off small and increasing. A twelve gauge shotgun with buckshot is not the ideal load to introduce a dog to gunfire with. One of the most popular opinions is to start off with something like a twenty-two caliber or maybe even a smaller shotgun with a light load such as a target load or blanks. The pistol and small caliber loads are typically closely matched to the projectile of a dummy launcher making it a good option for the handler. Continuing with the pattern as the dog progresses, slowly incorporate larger and louder guns and shell loads. Make sure to observe your hounds behavior and do not move to the next step if they are not ready for it. It is important for them to understand that these noises are not to be associated with negative reactions but to not produce a reaction at all.
Every person will have a different method or opinion on the best way to condition a dog to gunfire. There is no one set in stone, correct way to do it but in recent experience this simple progressive measure seems to be effective and easy. The most important thing to know is how your puppy reacted and which direction to move with the training.