Gun shy dog...

[catslayer]

Ok... I don't have a "retriever" I don't even really hunt with my dog, but SOMETIMES I take him for a ride with me... and he is the biggest frig'n scaredy cat in the world... If you shoot he wants to NOT BE THERE in a BAD way...

anybody work with one? any advice on breaking the habit?

[on-a-mission]

I had a golden that was gun shy. I broke her by first shooting a cap gun around her then to get her trained to the shotgun I used a 15' lead on her. I would tie off the free end to a tree and when I would fire the gun and she bolted the lead would stop her short in 15'.
She got used to guns very fast. Actually got to where she saw me grab the gun she was ready to go hunting

[gonehuntin68]

I had this problem with one of my labs. She was so bad that one time I was 2 miles from the truck quail hunting and when I shot at some quail she took off, I could not find her after the shot. When I got back to the truck, she was inside and I only had one window half way down. She jumped through the window and left claw marks on the door getting in. I tried everything the books said to do to break them of this and nothing worked so I decided to do what every book said not to do. I tied here on a very short leash to a tree and sat next to her and started firing a 22 and then when she stopped trying to get away with the 22 going off I went to a 410 and then to a 12 gauge. I was amazed it worked and since that day she was no longer afraid of the noise and once she realized that the noise meant she might have a bird to retrieve she looked forward to it. I would try other things first and use what I mentioned above as a last resort. Try using a cap gun when you feed him and then gradually work your way up to louder noises. If he likes to retrieve, throw something for and when you are throwing it, fire the cap gun and then work your way up with louder noises. What your trying to do is to get your dog to associate the loud noise with some fun or good to do.

[niceg3s]

Ok... I don't have a "retriever" I don't even really hunt with my dog, but SOMETIMES I take him for a ride with me... and he is the biggest frig'n scaredy cat in the world... If you shoot he wants to NOT BE THERE in a BAD way...

anybody work with one? any advice on breaking the habit?

How old is the dog?

[catslayer]

yeah I'm in town so idk how the cap gun will go over... guess in I'm in the garage and have my ear pro on lol....

May set aside some time this summer to just work on this...

[catslayer]

How old is the dog?

2 years