Introducing a pup to gunfire

Luketie123

Well lads just bought a springer spaniel pup 5 months old and I'm just wondering how you's get ur dogs use to the sound of the gun and wat age should u do it

German pointer

you hold the dog and get a mate to fire a shot from 100 yards or so and over time gradually move closer to the sound watching the dog for nervousness and reassuring him all the time

223vmax

Is he generally nervous? Rattle the food bowl around and see how he reacts. If you can make a lot of noise and he doesn't show nervousness then he's fairly confident and not so sensitive to noise. If he's ok with general noise then while hes eating fire a gun about 50 yds away. Don't let him see the gun and have someone observe him to see how he reacts. If ok do this repeatedly over a few days. Get closer a few days at a time. If at any point he shows a reaction then stop, leave it a few days and start again from 50 yds. It's important he is doing something while your doing this- either playing or feeding. Once your within 10-15yds away don't get any closer. Bring him out on a bit of ground and if he flushes a bird (any bird) or fur, fire into the sky so he associates the gun fire with flushing something. What ever you do don't push him or rush this process - take your time. Over a couple of months he'll be sound.

I've done this with young pups, 3-4 months, but each dog is different and reacts differently. Some are not concerned with loud noise at all, some take some coaxing. Again dont rush things even if its going well. Once slip up can set you back a good bit and it takes twice the work to get them back again.

dodderangler

By no means an expert but when I had my hv/gwp at 8 weeks old I always made loud banging sounds around her like in back garden if I was doing work like hammering and stuff and she became accustomed to it and I introduced her to gun at 5 or 6 months in a field.
Stood 100 yards away while my mate held her on lead.
Took two shots and called her and she looked at me. Praised her for it and moved closer after each shot. Done it 6 times till she was at my heel.
Always praise the dog when she doesn't budge and maybe a treat aswell.
Then she'll know it's safe when your around.
As said no expert but it worked for me

Springwell

Party poppers are useful to get them used to it in the garden etc too.

blackwater doc

Fired over my 8 mth lab 2 weeks ago with a dummy launcher and he loved it