So long story short I ended up with a 1ish year old female GSP. The original owner got rid of her because she's gunshy, he gave her to someone with 4 kids and they had no time for her, they couldn't handle it so I took her. She is skittish but has come a long way in a week. The little things/noises don't bother her as much and she seems like she's becoming a new dog. I want to be able to hunt with her but am unsure of how to proceed without knowing how much she knows and what she is comfortable with. I did take her out on a walk through a nearby public hunting marsh on Sunday and she was raw, but you could tell she had done this before. She was really excited had her nose to the ground the whole time and she would stop and come when called (which surprised me). She did well enough I let her off the check cord for most of our walk without issue. She likes to play fetch and she has had some work with retrieving done with her but we will need to polish that up at some point. She brings her dummies back to me but it becomes a game to her I think. Right now we are still getting used to each other and settling into our "routine," so I haven't pushed much training on her yet. Again, I have no knowledge of her training/lifestyle at her first owner. I know it's going to be a long process and I'm willing to take the time necessary to try and get it right. I'm prepared for the worst case scenario of having a "pet" that doesn't hunt and I'm ok with that. My main concern is how to get her comfortable with guns without making things worse. I live in the city so I am somewhat limited with the noises I can make (for example shooting blanks while feeding is a no go). Any advice on how you guys with some training experience would proceed would be much appreciated.
Thanks
"New" GSP need some help
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Perhaps you could try using Party Poppers (with the streamers removed) while out for walks ? Not even the worst of British policeman can say much when I fire party poppers while training my dogs in public places. They do not make a very loud bang but that may be in your favour to begin with.
I'm told there is or there was a c.d. that played gunshot noises on the market ? One of those could be played quietly around the house etc. and then gradually the sound level could be turned up.
Sorry but that's about the best I can do to help, I have no real experience of gunshy dogs , I've never had one .
Bill T.
I'm told there is or there was a c.d. that played gunshot noises on the market ? One of those could be played quietly around the house etc. and then gradually the sound level could be turned up.
Sorry but that's about the best I can do to help, I have no real experience of gunshy dogs , I've never had one .
Bill T.
The older I get, the better I was !
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your first step is to get her prey drive up , way up, either on birds or squirrels until she's birdy as heck, that's the key to curing gunshyness or noise shyness.
DO NOT fire anything around her until that is accomplished and for that matter never shoot around any dog unless it's attention is on game
I am typing on my phone laid up with a back injury so send me a pm and hopefully in a few days I will be able to send you some more info, I've worked successfully with gun shy dogs
DO NOT fire anything around her until that is accomplished and for that matter never shoot around any dog unless it's attention is on game
I am typing on my phone laid up with a back injury so send me a pm and hopefully in a few days I will be able to send you some more info, I've worked successfully with gun shy dogs
currently two shorthairs, four english pointers, one Brittany, one SPRINGER a chihuahua and a min pin lol
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forget the blank guns, cap guns and noisemakers. That is only noise condition. Keep on doing what you are doing. Do some obedience training and get her comfortable with you. take her out in the field as much as you can. let her drag a checkcord. throw an occasional pigeon and let her chase. build on her birdiness all you can. Maybe work on her recall with some treats. Generally build her confidence. Do not comfort her if she appears afraid of loud noises.
You need her to connect guns and birds. With a dog this young she will probably be OK.
You will need a fairly large area where you can shoot, a helper and pigeons. take her out and let her chase the pigeons. You may have to let her catch a couple to get her fired up. As she gets more confident she will get harder to control so work on that. Probably the cheapest way is to find a trainer who has homers to help you. Once she is chasing throw a pigeon and when she is chasing. Have your helper shoot a shotgun a long ways off. If she reacts move the gunner farther off if not move closer. Timing is important so you need to be able to signal the gunner. Only do one or two a session. Time is irrelevant. It takes as long as it takes.
GSPs are pretty much hard wired to hunt birds. Good Luck.....................Cj
You need her to connect guns and birds. With a dog this young she will probably be OK.
You will need a fairly large area where you can shoot, a helper and pigeons. take her out and let her chase the pigeons. You may have to let her catch a couple to get her fired up. As she gets more confident she will get harder to control so work on that. Probably the cheapest way is to find a trainer who has homers to help you. Once she is chasing throw a pigeon and when she is chasing. Have your helper shoot a shotgun a long ways off. If she reacts move the gunner farther off if not move closer. Timing is important so you need to be able to signal the gunner. Only do one or two a session. Time is irrelevant. It takes as long as it takes.
GSPs are pretty much hard wired to hunt birds. Good Luck.....................Cj
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That is one lucky dog to have you.
Mr Hills ' post is exactly what I'd do.
Mr Hills ' post is exactly what I'd do.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett
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thanks for the input. My plan is to take it slow with her (and then have to slow down even more at times lol). I need to find a way to get her on some live birds. I won't get the gun out until I've had her on live birds for awhile.