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Bughucker

Posts:2

03/03/2008 11:50 PM
I have an interesting situation and I'm hoping someone can help. I have a 1 1/2 year old GSP who has been hunted over this last season. One hunting trip I noticed she did not enjoy multiple shots fired by my hunting buddy. After a few more shots she came to heal. We stopped hunting mostly because she would not break heal. The next outting she was startled with the flush of the bird. I stopped and we backed up to getting her "birdie" again. That went fine and we worked our way back to caps and birds. She again would come to heal after a few shots. On the last outting she ran to the truck. I did get her to come back but my fear is she has become gun shy. I don't want to continue along the track I'm in because I'm not getting the results I was hoping for. Her prey drive is great, she locks up on points but we have gone backwards with gun fire. We've tried: Gundog conditioning CD, no problems. Banging pots and pans, hitting plywood with the hammer at feeding time all without a problem. Shots in the field cause her to look back and now it looks like it has gotten worse. I love her as a pet but we're wanting her to hunt, that's what she loves to do as long as I have a silencer. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Trey

SW Iowa

MH
Posts:516

03/04/2008 6:43 AM
What is a gun dog conditioning CD? At what age was this dog introduced to gunfire?How was it done? And, what was her reaction at the time?

wgspr rescue User is Offline

Milwaukee, WI

MH
Posts:630

03/04/2008 10:51 AM
I guess, you gotta back off. Get her on bird, no gun fire, turn her into a bird maniac, then enter noise/gun fire back into the equasion. Our Maggie was gun shy when we first adopted her from rescue, so we backed up the truck, got her used to regular noises, and just walked her in the field with our GSP, got her on bird, no gun fire. And after about 6 months, we started using blank gun, then stepped up the sound, until she could handle shot gun, and she was a fine hunter in her hay day. It can be done, if you had her there before, you can probably get her back to that point with time and patience. I would not push it. If she turns out to not be a hunter, will you still keep her?

Lisa C. Rossman WI GSP Rescue, Inc (wgspr.com) "Until there are none, rescue just one!"

Bughucker

Posts:2

03/04/2008 10:11 PM
Thanks for the help. I'll try to answer some questions that came up. I received Sage at about 4 mos. and "training" started from day one. Noises during feeding time, to banging, etc. She had already been on birds so we moved to caps while a flushing bird. All these were successful. We introduced gun shots at a distance then moved in. We were able to shoot over her on birds late last season and again this season. We have had no responses, at least no negative ones until this episode. Unfortunately we have gone backwards quickly. The Gundog conditioning CD is a cd that introduces gunshots with music then fades to just gun shots. We have used it with our other GSPs and it gets them conditioned to loud noises. As for keeping her, she is a part of our family and her spot on our bed is always open. We want her to be what she is bred to be. Her drive is so high, I would hate to not be able to get her out. Our older GSPs have the spirit but pay dearly (physically) during the week. She has some big paws to fill.

cdansan

Northwestern, Vermont

MH
Posts:130

03/06/2008 8:44 PM
The first couple of seasons hunting has to be fun and filling the game bag has to be secondary. Fire one shot at flushing game with the shooter being not over the dog. While the dog is on point, walk in at an angle in front of the dog so that they can see you and flush the bird. Have a trustworthy friend or spouse fire only fire once from a short distance away. Firing from right over the dog exposes its sensitive ears to muzzle blast and the pressure wave. You must start over and gain the dogs confidence again. The first couple of seasons hunting with exhuberant friends can be detrimental to the process. Mulitple shots from multiple people is a lot of noise when the dog is already excited by the flush of the bird and the desire to chase. Patience is the key to starting over. Good luck, Dan

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