Shotgun Shooting with Pets around?

[adventureduo]

How do you guys do this? I want to take the shotguns out to the desert and shoot some clay pigeons while we are out there, but i think the dog would have heart failure in the first 5 mins.

Any tips?

 

[BogusBlake]

Start young if you can.

I took Chuy out when he was a little puppy just to get him used to the noise. It really wasn't a big deal. Haven't tried it with an older dog, but you have a puppy , right?

 

[erin]

Some will be bothered, some not. It is best to start young, and quiet, like w/ a .22 LR, and then work up to the boomers. Also, I know some who start with them near, but not right under a gun, to gradually work them up to the noise. Just remeber, if the dog doesn't dig the noise, it never will, don't try and force it.

 

[fisher205]

A good friend of mine's dog will take off running just at the sound of a shell getting jacked into the chamber. But anyway..

I first of all tied them securely so that if they were afraid I would be able to find them. I then walk about 100 ft away so it's not too startling and watch their reaction when I shoot. I then work closer and watch them. I do shoot into the ground in front of me and the dogs get to looking at where you are pointing. So far I have not had a problem with my dogs. They get excited whenever they hear a shotgun and know the difference between a rifle/pistol and the shotgun.

I don't take the dogs shooting clays. They try to retrieve them. I also don't think that much shooting is good for their hearing. I can't get them to wear their hearing protection.

Did my first grouse hunt last night. Basically got a good 2 hour walk in, but got the dog in hunting mode. - Brad

 

[archtimb]

My Shepard is just the opposite...even if you haven't seen him for a while, just load a round and he'll come running! And, not always with the best timing when using sniper techniques on varmints in Momma's garden!

To the original question, you need to start them young. I have never seen a dog afraid to begin with, get over the noise. It's heart wrenching to see a dog like this in a town on the 4th. of July.

Mitch
:camping:

 

[Tucson T4R]

I had male and female Norwegian Elk hounds. Even though they were around shooting from very young, they never liked it. They would walk with you out of camp but as soon as they saw you chamber a round they would both high tail it back to camp and hide under the truck until you returned.:REOutShootinghunter

I know they were bred and used for hunting but my two wanted no part of it.:yikes:

 

[calamaridog]

You should try and build up to it. Yes, it's better to start them when they are 8-10 months, but you never know.

If the dog is already petrified of loud noises then you may be too late.

Of course, your dog is too small to retrieve downed game, in case you haven't noticed:shakin:

There was a thread over at Mud not long ago:

http://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=153658&highlight=dog

 

[wistacoma]

Strange Twist to the same problem. My 4 year old Springer Spaniel who I hunt over at least 30 times a season has never had a shotgun bother her. But come the 4th of July with its fireworks and she is under the bed for the whole day. She cannot stand firecrackers, bottle rockets or fireworks. You would think that once she is used to a loud noise ( and being in front of a shotgun muzzle while shooting at bird is definitely loud) that fireworks would just be another loud noise. Somehow she differentiates and disappears when the fireworks come out in our neighborhood.

 

[crawler#976]

I started with a 22 blank gun when my dear old Yellow Lab hunting dog Cyka was 6 weeks old. At three months she was fine with a 22 LR, and at 6 months she was fine with a 12G and full power rifle loads. Until the day she had to be put down, all I had to do was open the gun safe and she'd go bonkers when a gun came out. Haven't been bird hunting since 1996. I haven't had the heart or time to train up a dog to meet her standards. She was working on a whistle and hand signals at 6 months, and was trials ready by 9 months. All that training paid off in her late years. She was stone deaf at 10 (probably all the years of sitting next to a 12G didn't help that) and used to crack me up. She knew if she looked at me she'd have to obey a hand signal. So, when she didn't feel like doing something she'd very obviously avoid any eye contact

With an older dog, I'd start with 22CB caps if you can find them, and work your way up. Make it a game - if it's a retriever, make them fetch a dummy or whatever.

Mark

 

[adventureduo]

All good info guys thanks. Yeah our dog is not a pup, she's a 5 year old Boston. So i have a feeling it's going to be really hard. I have had a hunting dog (german short hair) in the past.. but shes is far from it. I guess i just wont shoot around her.. i'll just go off away from camp and have her stay at camp under supervision. Plus, it cant be good for her ears..like you guys mentioned. Mark, i feel for you man. That's a tough thing to go through.. so much time and dedication it's hard to start over when you still miss your old canine hunting partner. We sent out german out to a hunting dog teaching school and they abused her and she was gun shy ever since.. it was really sad. We later found out that the school was shut down because the employees were using drugs and in turn abusing the dogs. Not good. Im a big time animal lover and i hate when i hear stuff like that.

 

[7wt]

Just remember to let her take a poke a the trigger from time to time and she will soon love it, much like you do.

 

[ArmyTaco]

http://www.coondawgs.com/articles.html

There is a really good article under that link. Click on the gun shy dog link. Hope this helps.:gunt: