Post deleted by coolie76

Just an amateur opinion but the common factor is your buddy. He probably did something to make them that way. He probably need professional help to train them.

i dont know a lot about this, but try having someone hold the dog and pet it while someone else shoots the gun over and over....till the dog gets used to it.

From what I have read on here several times, start slow, with cap gun, then blank pistol, then small caliber, then the big guns.

I don't mean this in a bad way but you are right, you don't know alot about this. Gun shyness is a man made trait. Taking a gun shy dog to the skeet range and holding and peting him won't make it better and could make it terminal.

The only safe way to introduce a dog to the gun is to fire a blank while the dog is away from you a good distance and in pursuit of game. As he shows no ill effect from this experience move to higher caliber all the way to the shot gun before shooting it over the dog. This method has been used on pointers for many many years and is fool proof if the trainer/owner doesn't screw up.

In my opinion this is the only way to break a dog to the gun. Once the dog is screwed up putting him on the stake out chain and watching other dogs point game is one method to fix the problem but their are many in use by good trainers.

Pet the dog and shoot over and over is not one of them....

Best thing he can do is find a local pro who has some experience fixing dogs with this problem. He will spend some money, but will have a shot at fixing it. It can be a very difficult problem to fix and there is no one "cure all". You need someone with some experience to evaluate the dogs and make some recommendations. It such an easy thing to prevent if gun introduction is done right, much harder to fix, but it can be done.

These are all good suggestions (except the one about "hold the dog and pet him" ) You will need to take the gun out of the equation for an extended period of time and basically start over from scratch with re-introducing the dogs to birds (game). work up slowly AFTER the dogs begin to exhibit a very strong prey drive and do it from a DISTANCE with a very quiet gun or even a hand clap. You have to watch the dogs for signs that they show towards the guns. if their focus moves from the game to the noise... slow down and backup a little or put the gun back up and focus on the prey drive. You want the dog to be engaged doing something that he enjoys when you begin to introduce gunfire. eating, fetching, playing with a ball, birds, etc... but that is mostly for introducing gunfire to pups. Since the dogs have shown shyness to gunfire, you will need to be very careful and take it slow. The professional route is probably the best way to go if you have the $$ to shell out on it. Otherwise, it needs to be a slow and gentle process.

pro trainer....shell out the money, it will be well spent.

gun shy dogs are not born, they are made

I have heard that if you start with a bb gun and shoot while he eats. He might look up the first time but will get use to it after a while. Then do it with a .22 till he gets use to that and so on. He starts to associate the gun noise with something he loves.

like others have said start slow, don't use anything for a while, just get the dog excited about going hunting. don't start with a .22, use a starters pistol or cap pistol and only when the dog is totally excited about something else.

Someone on another site had a pretty good idea. I think it is anyways. Leave the dogs in the truck or crate while you go out a few hundred yards away and have some fun. Throw a football around or play with a toy that the dog likes and knows, basically do something fun and let the dog watch from a distance and not interact. Every few minutes fire a couple rounds while slowly walking closer to the truck. Monitor the dog though and see how he is reacting. Eventually get to the truck and let the dog out and play with him.

I had a female GSP that has been very skiddish around people ever since she was a pup. When working on the gun I didn't give her any special treatment because of that though. I started out making as much noise as I could when I fed her ex.) banging the feedpan around, slamming the door, etc. Never, never console the dog if it seems skiddish when you do that. Go on with your business normally. After a few weeks of that when you pour the food shoot the cap gun while you walk away. Try to prevent making eye contact with the dog when you do this. Then put some good food in their bowl such as milk or wet food, something you know their going to really enjoy, shoot as you walk away and then possibly sneak around the edge of the house. Then comes the birds, use a wing on a string and put a friend a ways away and get them to shoot a shotgun shell that has had all the bb's emptied out of it when you make the wing flush. Gradually work your way closer paying attention to the dogs reaction but also keep it sidetracked by the wing. Dont try to get over the dog in one day. Should take a few. Then start over with a real shell. I know I kinda rambled on and this probably seems like a six month process but in reality it's only about 2-3 weeks. To make a long story short my female is still skiddish around people, but she is not gun shy and she is a great hunter. She just has a very different personality but when the e-collar gets put on she is a totally different dog with a whole different attitude and better yet I never have to use it because of her skiddishness. So having a skiddish dog is not always a bad thing just make the best of it.
Chris