I love my dog, don't take my title fool you. He is my best buddy, loyal, and always there for me, but I wish I could take him to the blind with me, and out in the field, but its just not possible with the way he acts.
His problem is he is so gun shy, if you even hold something resembling a firearm, he tucks tail and runs to find a place to hide. I dont know if it is because of something that may have happened to him before got him, or what. Whenever I got him he was about 7-8 months old, and my brother was his original owner. Now, I can honestly say that my brother is not the best animal owner, but he swears he never hit him, or shot guns or lit firecrackers etc, but honestly, I take that all with a grain of salt knowing my brother.
I believe he is a Ridgeback/Labrador mix, but may have some red-bone in him. He has a slick yellow/orangish coat, with the longer drooped ears. You can make out his ridge running down the middle of his back if you look, but its most visible when he is on alert and his ears are perked.
I don't know what to do or where to start to try to break him of his shyness to guns, and loud noises. Things like when we were watching the fireworks show at the lake last year, he was sitting at the edge of the water, the show starts, I turn and he is gone. I eventually found him about 1/2 mile away back at our campsite, and he had tore a hole into the side of the tent to get in, and was inside hiding.
Taking him to the lease, and doing target practice, or actually hunting with him is out of the question. At home, even picking something up like a broom, mop, or even a 2x4 board, anything resembling a gun will make him run for the hills.
I'm at a loss with him, and just dont know what to do anymore. It would be nice to take him out with me in the field, but everytime I try, as soon as he sees a gun, he jumps in the truck and wont come out, or will run off and hide until I honk the horn when we are leaving.
He is a great dog, loyal, playful, awesome with my kids, and very defensive of our family. He doesnt shy away from confrontation with strangers and is quick to let out his deep loud bark if there is a strange noise at night, and does not run from other animals, Hell, once he even took off chasing a pack of coyotes, and has tussled more than once with other dogs.
I'm just wondering what I could do to try to break him of being so afraid of loud noises. I think thats what his fear really is, and is just associating guns as a source of the noise. I don't know if anyone has any suggestions, but i would love to hear and try them. Im planning on heading out to the lease this weekend to do some work, and will have him with me but would like him to be calm.
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Here is my buddy after he injured his foot somehow..


Loyal to the family, great with my kids


Doing what he does best, sleeping


Thanks in advance.

I'd just let him be what he is a loyal pet to you family looks like to me he loves laying on the couch.

I am not saying give up on him. I still take my britt hunting cause he loves to go but he will not retreve well. I personally have not been able to break my lab that is a excelent retrever of gunshyness. He lays on the couch wit momma while I hunt. And gets retreves when I get home.

Hopfully some one on here can give you advise to fix the problem.

Thanks for the reply, your probably right.

Also, does anyone have a guess what mix he is? I know he has ridgeback, but not too sure about the other part/s

There are a lot of thing you can do but they all take time and have mixed results. What I would do is First find what motivates him the most. Chasing balls fetching stick whatever it really doesn’t matter as long as he gets really excited about it. Have him plying and excited about it and then have someone A LONG way off fire a blank. Make sure it is far enough not to be load and that the dog can not see the person. Give the dog lots of praise and keep playing with him like nothing happened. The goal is to associate the noise with something good. If this works very slowly bring the person firing the blank closer. It will take time and do not rush it. This is the only thing I have heard to help with this problem.

good advice above

I would try... around the house when he's near you, get a gun out, when he cowers do the old "it's ok buddy, come here", use his trust in you.
Maybe get some bubble wrap, while sitting around watching tv with him next to you pop one... "it's ok buddy" later do it again.

I think part of the problem is that dogs hear lots better than we do, imagine if your ears ring after a gun shot what's it like for a dog.

By the way, GREAT LOOKIN DOG!

Just start small and make baby steps. Maybe every time you get a gun out and he looks at it give him a treat. Positive and small.

Sounds it's so bad I wouldnt even think about pulling the gun out for a while

A guy gave us a gun shy pointer when I was a kid. He would cower and run when he would even see a gun. We carried a gun anytime we fed him or were outside around the dog pen. It seems like it took several months until he wasn't afraid of the gun. After that we shot the cap pistol back by the house while he ate. He eventually got used to that and worked up to a shotgun. He turned out to be one our better dogs.

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. Honestly, I think what motivates him the most is just being wherever I am. Once I get home he is already waiting at the door before I have parked and will follow me like a shadow wherever I go afterwards. Sometimes is so bad I have to tell him to lay down and stay, and he usually finds his bed and stays there. So I think that maybe as long as I work with him using the bubble wrap, blanks, cap guns etc..kind of a combo of all, he might come around, if not, he is still the best friend a man could ask for.
I have noticed that in my home office, he ALWAYS is there with me, and that's also where I tinker with my guns and clean them etc. Used to when I pulled out a rifle he would start clawing the door trying to get out, until he figured out he could turn the knob and get out, but I now lock it when I'm in there and he has gotten to where he will find his little spot on my man couch and not freak out, but he NEVER takes his eyes away from the rifle til its gone. So, maybe there is hope.
He is smart and listens and follows commands, but just like the reputation for a lot of ridge backs, he can be rebellious and hard headed when he wants to.

Try a starting pistol or the quietest shotgun you have. Have someone hold him (sitting at heal) on a leash or anchor him to a tree , stake, or a fence but I recommend someone hold him for calming affect. And start 40-50 yds away and shoot if he cowers or trys to run away just back up and shoot again. Keep backing up until he dose not have a negative reaction and just sits there. Start at that distance every time and slowly start working your way towards him until you can shoot directly by him. It will take some time and presistance and lots of repetitions I would try to work him just a little every day or every other.Most dogs can be corrected, Good Luck.

My GSP was gun shy, took my trainer over a year and some cash but she fixed him.
Like you though, he's my bud so even if she couldn't he would still be here under my desk while I type

I wouldn't mess with it.

Your dog has it BAD! Understand to fix it by yourself will take up to a year or longer. Sounds like you need to start VERY small and slow. Try clapping your hands a feeding time and work your way up from there as the dog learns to ignore the sudden sound. I read about a family that did it in one weekend,but it took a lot of cooperation,strength, determination, and a dog they were sure would not bite!!

Oh, he will not bite! Never has even attempted to, and I am about 99.9% sure he never would, but I guess there is always that 0.001% chance there.
I didnt get to make it to the lease this weekend due to a family emergency, so it will have to wait awhile.
I did try something last night that seemed to have a little effect. My son has a toy pop gun. I was playing around with it last night and noticed my buddy wasnt standing there near me after I shot it. I put it away, and called him back to me, and grabbed a few treats. I had my son stand on the other side of the house, and start popping it. Wiley (my dog) started to cower back, but I told him to sit, pat on the head, and treat. I did this over and over, and I will be danged if not after about 15 minutes he was completely oblivious to it, he just wanted to play and get another treat. He could still see my son playing with the gun, but didnt seem to care, until he closed the distance by 1/2.

I can see this will take some work, and I really appreciate the advice guys. Slow and steady will win the race with him. I am going to keep trying and update you guys on his progress.

Thanks again all.