I have a Chocolate lab that loves to retrieve and does great in her training. However, She is scared of every loud noise that goes on inside and outside the house. She wants to tuck her tail and run every time a gate slams, I drop something in the house, or I shoot any type of gun around her. How do I at least get her used to me shooting around her?

By no means a pro trainer but here is how I conditioned my dog.

Start with her food. Every time I was about to feed my pup, I would make loud noises. I feed in our utility room so I would bang on the dryer. You can clap or bang a couple of metal bowls together. If you feed once a day, I would switch up to twice a day and repeat the process. Soon she will associate the loud noise with a positive event. Afterward you can start having someone shoot a starter pistol from a distance while she is eating and overtime move closer and closer until you are right next to her.

Most important thing to remember is not to be in a rush. Take your time and move at her pace. My $.02 for what it's worth. Good luck.

Thank you for the reply...

She is a very good dog and easily trained dog. This problem has been a huge hurdle that I couldn't get over without some help. I will start on your suggestions this evening.

took my pup out to some land and had my daughter about 250 yards away, she would shoot her 20 ga. and I would toss a duck feather and play and praise the pup for a few min... then we would move about 25 yards closer and repeat the process it worked great

Take it back to who you got it from, and get a Black dog.....
Just kidding, TDH09 has some good info there.

Cute. I was thinking the same thing. lol... But seriously, the advice about taking it slow and incrementally while there is a very positive distraction going on, is spot-on. Good luck!

The way I did it was have the dog sit and fire a shot and then give him a treat. I used treats to teach him the other comandes. It did not take long before he could not wait to hear the gun.

Tried this at feeding time this morning for the first time. She looked at me like I was crazy making all the noise. Hopefully this will start to help. I will be taking her to my deer lease this weekend and trying the shooting from a distance and moving closer. Should I be holding her on her lead or just make her sit beside me unrestrained when I do this?

Keep her on a leash, the leash 'tethers' her to you (a safety/security thing). Remain calm, and talk soothingly, even if she's acting like a retard and trying to run off or anything else. You don't want to associate anything with anger during this exercise. As confidence grows, take off the leash. Use your best judgement for when that time is appropriate.



Growing up, we always had bird dogs, and used the loud noise during feeding technique.

A few shots from a starter pistol while they chowed down, and they lost their fear pretty quickly. You can get a starter pistol at many sporting goods stores, or online.

Good advice and this was the exact plan of attack that I used. I did however scare a few neighbors.

I have never been a fan of loud noises while eating, espeically if your dog is not a big eater. If my dog hears a loud strange noise, she jumps as well. But if she hears a gunfire, head pops up, and she is looking to mark. So it only makes sense to me to train the dog in that fashion, so they associate gun fire with retrieves.

So why not associate gun fire (and the smell of gunpowder) with retrieves? As said above, slowly introduce is the key always:

1) Start with cap gun, throw retrieve, send dog, when dog is 20 yards out, fire cap gun. The dog will not even hear it from this distance, so you will be safe. Next retrieve, make it 15 yards, dog probably still will not hear it. Keep doing this process, maybe spread over days to be safe, until dog is right by your side, you send dog and fire and dog is ok. Watch the dog carefully, at anytime dog seems to jump/flinch from the gun fire, you are going too fast.

2) Do the whole process above with blank gun, 209 Primer Pistol (not as loud as 22 blank gun).

3) Do the whole process above with shotgun, blanks.

You learn well Grasshopper!!!

The key is to introduce the noise when the dog is focussed on the pleasure of going after the bumper. The other key is SLOW

This is good and very much like what my post was getting at when it said 'while a positive distraction is going on.' HOWEVER, THERE IS ONE CAUTION... This method works great on a dog that has not already displayed an adverse reaction to gunfire. However, when the dog is already gun-shy, it may associate the loud noise with a correction (negative reinforcement, since in the dog's mind, the noise is negative) and it could back-fire if the dog associates the negative reinforcement with the retrieve. Then you would have TWO problems to fix... gun-shy AND unwilling to retrieve or unsure about retrieving.

Here is another method for a gun-shy dog:

Do you have a friend who has a dog that retrieves? One good method is to have your dog WATCH another dog working... from a 'safe' distance, pup sees the other dog's release associated with gunfire and makes the connection. Since your dog will be restrained from making the retrieve and chomping at the bit to go, there will be a positive distraction and the gunfire becomes inconsequential. Wait til your dog can hardly stand it, then let him make the retrieve. Have your friend fire the gun from the same location it had been firing and with the same timing (about the peak of the arc when the dummy is tossed), as it had been. In pup's mind, nothing changes other than that HE gets to make the retrieve. Now he knows gunfire=retrieve. Build from there. Good luck!

Thanks master!

best advice.
My GSP flips a lid when i drop a pan in the kitchen. its a different sound. If we're out in the field and im shooting hes fine.

I know people that have started out with a cap gun, and then worked their way up the calibers with an older dog that was skittish.

Originally Posted By: Guy
I have never been a fan of loud noises while eating, espeically if your dog is not a big eater. If my dog hears a loud strange noise, she jumps as well. But if she hears a gunfire, head pops up, and she is looking to mark. So it only makes sense to me to train the dog in that fashion, so they associate gun fire with retrieves.

So why not associate gun fire (and the smell of gunpowder) with retrieves? As said above, slowly introduce is the key always:

1) Start with cap gun, throw retrieve, send dog, when dog is 20 yards out, fire cap gun. The dog will not even hear it from this distance, so you will be safe. Next retrieve, make it 15 yards, dog probably still will not hear it. Keep doing this process, maybe spread over days to be safe, until dog is right by your side, you send dog and fire and dog is ok. Watch the dog carefully, at anytime dog seems to jump/flinch from the gun fire, you are going too fast.

2) Do the whole process above with blank gun, 209 Primer Pistol (not as loud as 22 blank gun).

3) Do the whole process above with shotgun, blanks.





You learn well Grasshopper!!!

The key is to introduce the noise when the dog is focussed on the pleasure of going after the bumper. The other key is SLOW
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www.snakebreaker.com
i have agree with snakebreaker, make sure the negetive vive is not with the retrieve and if the dog acts all weird do not reinforce it by petting her and telling her how sweet she is. Act like it is no big deal ingnore the sound and tell her to sit and if she moves tell with the sound tell her no and again say sit. Do not get mad or lose your temper. Do not startel, WARN HER FIRST BEFORE THE NOISE,by saying mark or something else.