Gun Sensitive in the water

[SavvyFM3]

Ive got a dog that is a bit gun sensitive in the water. A few months back we had shot a duck in front of her that had escaped from the bird box. She pulled up from the chase after the shot and came back to shore. I walked her around and sent her for the blind with no problem with no other shots. I believe the maturity / timing was off for this situation. So being concerned I backed up to blank guns, air guns and shots in the distance with very little reaction. A month or so later I let her watch some duck chases at our training day along with the birds getting shot. So I put one out for her and let her give chase for awhile. Once the bird was far enough out I shot it she retrieved no problem. We did this two more times with no issues. I even threw one out and shot over her, no issues. This past weekend during training on Friday no issues Saturday while training she decided to blink the duck after the shot. She came back to shore but then went out again and made the retrieve.

Has anyone out there gone through this and what worked for you.

Currently I will be moving back to birds on land and soon to be shooting them.

[Sharon]

Hard to say without being there.

How old is the dog?
You may have just asked for one retrieve too many, the dog was tired of it , and balked. May have nothing to do with the shot. It is often our bad habit to not stop a training session soon enough.

[crackerd]

Sharon's spot on - especially with so little information about the dog (breed, age, level of training) in your report. I'm inferring you're training for the NAVHDA duck search with a dog that hasn't been force fetched, which can backfire bigtime and stop your training in its tracks. May have nothing whatever to do with gun sensitivity, just that the dog retrieves - as many youngsters and unforced dogs do - when it wants and what it wants. If I'm wrong, your being more forthcoming about the parenthetical stuff above may get you help from somebody who's experienced the same problem.

MG

[SavvyFM3]

This current episode took place this last Saturday, Looked to be blinking the duck however after coming back to shore she decided on her own to make the retrieve. I worked her on this water the previous day with no issues. Dog is 13 months old and has been force fetched. I am currently backing up to bumper piles along with game piles and a blank gun and sending her for the retrieve. I do not see any hesitation on land around gun fire. Only in the water. I think the splash along with the concussion is the cause. I thought we had gotten passed this but it is still there. I am working her daily on retrieves and blanking them off. The goal for Sunday is some duck chases with shooting in the background and eventually shooting one in front once, the distance is there from the duck.

The first time this happened was her first time chasing a duck that got away and was shot in front of her it very much surprised her. I am sure it is stemming back to this episode and I would like to be able to work her through it.

[gonehuntin']

Sounds to me like the dog hasn't been water forced, not that it's gunshy.

[crackerd]

The first time this happened was her first time chasing a duck that got away and was shot in front of her it very much surprised her. I am sure it is stemming back to this episode and I would like to be able to work her through it.

That was the first time, but is there a reason you continue to shoot ducks in front of the dog? Is this a retrieving exercise? You still haven't cited what breed you're working with, but you did say "the goal for Sunday" which is the traditional day NAVHDA chapters train. If you're training for the duck search, you only shoot a shackled duck after the dog has spent considerable time in the water trailing it - either by sight or, preferably, scent. And even then you might want to recall the dog after that time without the duck, because if it's running in the utility test and the judge says "Time" and your dog won't recall, oops, the duck may not be dead but your chances at a high prize pretty much are.

Don't think I've ever shot a live duck in front of a dog in training the duck search. And that's duck search - not duck chase. Really, the last thing you want after getting into training for the duck search is a chase - it really does the dog no good insofar as perseverance and using scent. While you could always let the duck draw the dog far out from shore by sight to give it confidence in the water, it's also then gone out of shooting range. So you've got to decide if you're training for a search or a chase, and weigh your answer against how your dog's behaving in the water with gunshot in its vicinity.

But you also want to heed GH's comment on force fetch; you said the dog's forced, but it may be incomplete. Your choices then if the dog blinks a bird is to ear-pinch it out to the bird to get it picked up, or to revisit force fetch taking several steps back. The first choice ain't really viable in most pieces of water out there.

MG

[adogslife]

What you are seeing is a temperment issue. In the German testing system this is an actual category and if the dog doesn't make the retrieve it's excluded from the test,possibly breeding. Yes, training may be able to overcome this issue and it's best you know of it. Training gives us insight into our dogs temperment and whether or not a dog is worth breeding.

[crackerd]

What you are seeing is a temperment issue. In the German testing system this is an actual category and if the dog doesn't make the retrieve it's excluded from the test,possibly breeding.

Does that include retrieving the rock the VDD allows handlers to throw to make a splash and entice their dogs to get in the water at their German testing? (Sorry, GH - couldn't resist...)

May be a temperament issue, most likely not. Nobody I know - no duck hunters I know - shoot cripples in front of their dog nor even shoot in the vicinity of the dog when it's in the water. The original poster might want to think about that too.

MG

[gonehuntin']

What you are seeing is a temperment issue.

The last thing I would ever call a dog refusing a live bird retrieve is "temperament". If you want to call it desire or drive, that I'll buy, but temperament? Nah.

[adogslife]

the dog turns away from the duck after the shot dead or alive doesn't matter
definitely a drive and desire issue that is preprogrammed by temperment
the dog is not confident in water
a shot should entice a dog, make a dog move forward
avoiding the situation doesn't make it go away
versatile dogs should handle gunfire in this situation
if the dog cannot handle this stop or risk possible ruining the dog

sounds like a nice dog
keep up with the desensitzation

[gonehuntin']

the dog turns away from the duck after the shot dead or alive doesn't matter
definitely a drive and desire issue that is preprogrammed by temperment

I know it's not worth arguing about, but I believe temperament has nothing to do with a dog's drive and desire. Temperament is a dog's psychological makeup and determines his disposition, not his drive. They are two totally separate things and really have nothing to do with each other.

[labman21]

If I understand this right your dog is gun shy while in the water. I would think that your dog got a little scared because sound travels over water much better and louder and dogs ears are much more sensitive than ours. Another thing that may have startled the dog is that you shot while the dog was actually in the water. I wasn't there but the dog was possibly to close and your shot itself scared it. I think if this was the scenario you could possibly have the same issue on land. Dogs hate being shot just like birds do. Sorry if I didn't understand your post. Good Luck, with your doggie.