gun fire training - Page 3

Donmcinn,
That is an excellent point!  You can take a dog will solid nerves and gun sure and really screw them up by firing rounds to close to them.  Many people think because their dog reacted well once or twice when a  round was fired close to the dog the dog is good.  The dog may have been good and may have good nerves but will avoid pain and discomfort form that loud round.  I have seen this a few times and the dog will remember the negative experience.  When we do live fire exercises with our dogs the dogs ears are filled with cotton.  If I'm wearing ear pro, so is the dog.  

I have a measurable amount of hearing loss being a firearms instructor and many dogs wind up deaf as well.

When I trialed Robby for his SchH1, we didn't have access to a gun for training. And I honestly didn't think it would be an issue since as a pup and onward he seemed oblivious to loud/strange sounds.  But sure enough both gun shots during OB made him break his healing, stop and look.  It was a training issue, not a dog issue though.  He did what I think comes natural to Shepherds.  In hindsight it obviously would have been better to have exposed him to it during training.

 jim, if i ever have a problem with my dogs you will be my sourse of info.i don.t think i have ever read a thread that you particiapted in that anyone knew more about what they were saying than you. thanks for your input on such threads.  i also start my pups at an early age , 4 weeks old .  i use an 9mm and walk about 25 ft, from the brood pen. i also kick around the food bowl ,which is ss and makes a loud noise on the hard surface. i use gunfire about ever week and fire multiple shots. as jim said,a dog needs to be neutral to the noise.   wade

Dogs are pretty sensitive to different sounds. I had a dog that you could shoot a shotgun or large calibre around that would not bother at all. Shoot a 22 around her and she would react totally different. And it was a case of hurting her ears. go figure.

Hank

Wade,
Thanks, but I  suppose even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.  There are several on here with great knowledge and experience....I just try to keep up every now and then.  

I too have exposed my litter to gun fire from a starter pistol at an early age while they were eating. The girl I am still having out of this litter will be 2 years old in a couple weeks and doesnt care about it now at all. However, I found that noise sensitivity can come on quick and to strange things. For some reason this girl developed a worryness for the microwave fan over the last months. Its not really loud, but I wonder how it must sound in her ears. The same girl can be next to a running lawn tractor, a gator I did the AD with her, or a running jack hammer without any problems.

My male had a weirdness for plastic bags from shopping (no other plastic bags) and squeaky egg cartons. Go figure...

And here is an example how quickly one can screw up a dog. My girl had no problems with gun shots, went to shows and everything. Then on a 4th of July, everything changed. We celebrated after training and set off some fire works at the training field. She was in the car and freaked out. Since then she gets nervous when she knows that there will be gun shots. She recognizes the gun and the position of the shooter. I think she can smell the gun powder as well. At home we were building a new shed and as I stapled the tar paper on, she went into the fartest corner of the yard. She has no other problems with loud obnoxious noises. The sound of the stapler must be sounding similar to a blank gun in her ears. It was my negligence and unthoughtfulness, and it contineous to bite me today. Desensitation before a trial is a must with her; she will accept the gun fire eventually, but she always shows an raction to it by forging almost an entire dog length.

Elkoor, I had a similar situaion with my GSD. He had absolutely no issues with gunfire. We trained under all types of guns.Nothing!  He developed a low thyroid at the age of 4 which I did not catch as he was coming off of Heartworm treatment when it presented and was acting like he had ADHD when July 4th rolled around. The fireworks rattled him(never had a problem before) and now I have a gunfire issue. UGH!!!

maybe one should start with july 4 firewrks and then work backwards to gun training 

I wouldn't want a dog that was oblivious to gun fire. I'd quite like my dog to be interested in where it came from! That's why I cannot fathom those who believe sport training works for reality. 

dantes