The bird drive

[windycanyon]

Most good breeders are doing things when the pups are young to condition to random loud noises. Even Richard Walters (Water Dog/ Gun Dog / Family Dog etc) suggested banging 2x4 blocks near the puppies when they were young. Some associate the noise "pops" with dinner time (I do). I am fortunate to live 1 mile north of a gun club that has shoots 2x / week and they shoot in my direction. There is also a target range across the river canyon from me that can be loud, and when the Yakima Firing Center is holding (military) training exercises, we get the BIG BOOMS from that. At ~6.5 - 7.5 wks, one of my car rides will be to the gun club for socialization on a Sunday am (kids / wives there as well in some cases where puppies will often be scooped away from me to taunt their husbands, lol). So for some of us who show up at a hunt test w/ an 11 - 14 wk old as I have done several times, it's not a big deal at all because they have already been conditioned to probably louder booms than that already.

Conditioning is very important. I have heard many stories of gun shy dogs, and in most cases, they were people-caused. The nice thing about hunt tests is your dog is always at a distance from the gunners, unlike real hunting where the dog is shot over. Big difference... my ears aren't very happy if I have to shoot my .38 revolver w/o ear protection either.

[IRISHWISTLER]

I start my conditioning to gunfire process by clapping my hands together each time a pup goes to eat. i start a distance away with fairly soft claps, and progressively get closer and louder with each meal, all the while observing for any signs of aversion. No problems noted, I progress to louder and more frequent and random claps to simulate multiple guns firing. Eventually, I take the process outside and switch over to a 209 primer revolver and use distance to control the volume experienced by the pup. I like to have the pup engaged in play with another dog and continue to monitor for any negative reactions. Next phase I move on to sub gauge shotguns and progress to louder loads while closing distance over days.

Me own opinion on this is that so much of it is in the control of the trainer, why leave anything to chance? And I have never ruined a dog on gunfire introduction.

Irishwhistler

[Labradorks]

I start my conditioning to gunfire process by clapping my hands together each time a pup goes to eat. i start a distance away with fairly soft claps, and progressively get closer and louder with each meal, all the while observing for any signs of aversion. No problems noted, I progress to louder and more frequent and random claps to simulate multiple guns firing. Eventually, I take the process outside and switch over to a 209 primer revolver and use distance to control the volume experienced by the pup. I like to have the pup engaged in play with another dog and continue to monitor for any negative reactions. Next phase I move on to sub gauge shotguns and progress to louder loads while closing distance over days.

Me own opinion on this is that so much of it is in the control of the trainer, why leave anything to chance? And I have never ruined a dog on gunfire introduction.

Irishwhistler

I live in the city where there is random gunfire and fireworks year around, so I suppose my dogs were conditioned prior to gun dog training.

[windycanyon]

Me own opinion on this is that so much of it is in the control of the trainer, why leave anything to chance? And I have never ruined a dog on gunfire introduction.

Irishwhistler

Totally agree, I had a rattlesnake bite an 11 wk old puppy 1yr ago right outside my garage. I immediately crated my big dogs and Kanzi and her brother (who was bit) were put in their expen -- all were only ~15-20 ft away from the rattler. I had to flush it w/ a hose away from the house first, then shot it w/ my .38 w/in sight of all. I had on ear protection... the puppies and big dogs did not however and that is a huge blast which will cause my ears to go deaf nearly for a few moments. No one had issues. I thank God I had done all the conditioning I did early on because right after I shot it, I said OH NO... I thought I had just ruined my puppies. Nope. They didn't even flinch when a friend helped me assess them to gunfire a few days later. Whew. Definitely not something I'll ever leave to chance.

PS... after shooting the snake and disposing of it to the deep freezer, the puppy went straight to the vet where he was treated and released eventually. He fared well w/ just a minor scar on his muzzle in the end.

[TuMicks]

OMG... snake bites are one of my worst nightmares. The little water-pond that we have left for training is in very rattle-snakey terrain.

But in all honesty, I remember being down south and hearing about how endemic water moccasins are and how they hang out in heavy vegetation around ponds, hence end up nailing a lot of dogs in the face. Bad, bad venom.

[Coalman]

I start my conditioning to gunfire process by clapping my hands together each time a pup goes to eat. i start a distance away with fairly soft claps, and progressively get closer and louder with each meal, all the while observing for any signs of aversion. No problems noted, I progress to louder and more frequent and random claps to simulate multiple guns firing. Eventually, I take the process outside and switch over to a 209 primer revolver and use distance to control the volume experienced by the pup. I like to have the pup engaged in play with another dog and continue to monitor for any negative reactions. Next phase I move on to sub gauge shotguns and progress to louder loads while closing distance over days.

Me own opinion on this is that so much of it is in the control of the trainer, why leave anything to chance? And I have never ruined a dog on gunfire introduction.

Irishwhistler

Belle is proof positive of Irishwhistler's (IW) method. When I took Belle to IW for training she showed signs of loud unexpected noises bothering her. I told IW and he put her through his gunfire training regiment.

When Belle got to associate gunfire with birds it was like the light bulb over her head started shining at 100 + watts.

Now Belle associates gunfire with finding a dead bird.


WTG IW!

[IRISHWISTLER]

Belle is proof positive of Irishwhistler's (IW) method. When I took Belle to IW for training she showed signs of loud unexpected noises bothering her. I told IW and he put her through his gunfire training regiment.

When Belle got to associate gunfire with birds it was like the light bulb over her head started shining at 100 + watts.

Now Belle associates gunfire with finding a dead bird.

WTG IW!

Dave,
Thanks for your endorsement.

Irishwhistler

[LabsN'Hounds]

My fiance is from South Dakota and his entire family hunts pheasants with Labs. They swear the Labrador is far more effective at hunting wild pheasants in their terrain and climate than a pointer. We are currently hunting one of our dogs and he loves it.

Your dog sounds like he is showing some interest so I would start training him. I think you will be happy with his abilities. I know I prefer to hunt with Labs rather than Pointers for upland game.