How soon to shoot around a puppy?

[Ruark]

I've found it hard to predict how dogs will react to gunfire. I've had a couple of retrievers that just loved the sound of a gun right from the day one. But some others never get used to it, and will run away and hide, scared to death.

It probably helps to associate it with something positive, such as a thrown dummy or a snack. Maybe shoot the cap gun, then throw a dummy or ball and let the puppy chase it. Good luck!

[Kdub]

We start out by banging two pots or pans together around the pups while they are eating . You start out banging them kind of softly and then slowly building up from there.
Maybe if she stays in the camper she wont get scared, but if she gets gun shy its a job to overcome it, good luck.

[MTNshape]

I was shooting a cap gun WHILE she ate a week after I brought her home.. She didn't even flinch when the real guns started going off at 4-5 months.

Conditioning is the key.

Exactly banging on a pan while feeding worked for my labs

[bowhunterhelm]

When I bred labs I started shooting a 22 over them the day they were born. Never had one gun shy.

[br549redneck]

I used to use the old school pop gun that way didnt have to buy caps a shot of wd40 down the barrel every few shots makes it louder done this while they were eating never had a problem except for 1 brit never got her to where it didnt bother her.

[Sleepy]

Never had to condition Gunner. First shot he'd ever heard was over the top of him at 4 months old and that's when he retrieved his first bird. At the same time, his drive to retrieve is out of this world and that's what he has his mind on. Probably never even noticed it when he saw the birds coming. All depends on your dog.

[Muygrande]

12 weeks is probably a little early. At a minimum I wouldn't do it unless you have shot a cap gun around the pup and seen no response or an excited response. It is a lot easier to prevent gunshyness than it is to fix. Some pups go through an uncertain time at 12-16 weeks and you really don't want them to have any bad experiences with guns or going to the field.

[Matt_C]

I would recommend starting the pup with the gun being fired maybe 45 yards away and tossing a bumper or bird for it to retrieve, you will want to toss the bird in a direction where it will be a positive outcome for it. Do that everyday for a week. Then move to about 30-35 yards right down to where you are next to it. After you do it 30-35 yards start by having someone hid or stand behind something when firing so the dog will return the bumper to you instead of them. By the time yoiu get next to it and firing a gun she/he will assoicate the sound of gunfire as something good is about to or is happening. It also conditions them to thunder when it's 45 yards away.

[Frederick D. Be]

When Maverick was 2 months old I would take him dove hunting. He would sleep at my feet until I went to pick up the bird and then we played the game. At 4-6 months he was in the water doing duck retrieves and that year had 26 duck retrieves on his own. We made it a game and he learned very quickly. Cheers!
Fred

[txheartshot]

She did great this evening. Shot the cap gun while throwing her dummy, and while she ate...not one single flinch. She could care less about the cap gun or loud clapping. We played fetch with her duck, and at one point she brought back her duck AND her tennis dumbbell. I'm feeling pretty positive right now, so hopefully that continues.

[scott123456789]

One thing I learned the hard way was test shots/singles are quite different than multiple shot strings when birds came in. I was shooting over the top o my dog at 4-5 months and thought he was good to go. Took him out to duck hunt thinking all was well. After 9 rapid 12 ga duck shots he tensed up. I gave him many months off and worked back up with a .22 and now rapid shots he is good to go. So your caution of exposing him to camp is valid and I would definitely do some rapid close shooting around him if you plan to take Hume out in September.

[critter69]

I took my gsh when she was 10 weeks, dove hunting. The guns never bothered her. Of course she didn't have a clue what we were doing. But she is now 8 and knows when the gun comes out of the safe whats going on. We did not have a lot of shooting when she was that young, as we don't have nearly the dove numbers here as you guys have.
So don't worry I bet she will do fine. And hope she becomes your best friend , mine has. Great dogs.

[rascal71]

Like you have been doing, clapping while eating worked on my lab. Use a release command to eat as well.

[DawgOnIt]

Lots of good advise above. Keep up what your doing. While hunting that weekend, let someone shoot a dove away from you and bring to you. Then as they shoot doves in the distance, throw the bird and make a big deal over it. If all is well, move closer to the shooters and do the same. From what it sounds like, you are good to go, but this slow and positive introduction should firm things up. Positive association to the gun fire. You should be able to work your way up right to the shooters.

[3rdShot]

With my Springer, I took him to a skeet range a couple of weeks after I got him, parked a couple hundred yards away from the firing line that first trip. When I got him out of the kennel in the back of the truck, he looked towards where the guys were shooting, but it was far enough away that he didn't even flinch, I gave him a few treats and walked him around for 20-30 mins, then went home. A few days later I did it again, but parked closer, same routine. Third trip a few days later I parked next to the firing line, and walked him around right there, he only looked up a time or two as the guys moved stations while shooting right here, just had his nose to the ground while we were walking around. The first several months I had him we did this at least weekly, so he was very comfortable around shooting sounds when dove season came around.
Good luck with the new pup!