gun training

B

Bosco

New member
I was looking to get some outside opinions on this. I have a four month old pup who I have been shooting a starter pistol around and he is doing great. I was looking to see when other folks would recomend step the nose up and what I should step it up too.

Travis
 
At 4 months I wouldnt worry about much.. Just let the pup be a pup and have fun..Read lots of books and watch some videos find the way that best works for you and stay with it..have fun..good luck
 
i agree with oggie... i started shooting around sage hard about 8 months old.. but i was shooting alittle clay at 5months but i let her be a puppy when i was shooting it.. keep us informed on howis going ... and have fun with the pup:cheers:
 
3-4 months of age is a good time to introduce your pup to the gun. Your approach and method of training is the critical part. It sounds like you could advance to a .410 or 20 gauge. Make sure the pup has plenty of distance between the shooter and itself and make sure the pup's attention is on birds, bumpers, or actively searching for them. Watch the pup to see if there is any negative reaction, if none you can get a little closer and repeat the process. After a couple of outings you should be within typical shooting range of the dog. Take your time and don't over do it.

George Hickox has some good training DVDs you can buy at Bass Pro Shop either for "Training Pointing Dogs DVDs - Collection of Volumes I-IV" or ''Training Upland Retrievers Vol. 1-3'' http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/s...e hickox dog training|-|100000000000000135702 It will give you an easy to follow approach to training. I personally don't follow some of the ideas like force fetching but it will provide a good base for teaching commands. If you don't like shock collars, just stick to a check cord. A good book on the philosophy of dog training is "Bird Dog" by Ben O. Williams you can by it at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Dog-Ben-...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203399932&sr=1-3

Have Fun Training!
 
When I introduced pup to gunfire it was with a blank pistol. She had been on birds for a while and I would let her chase after the flush, eventually we would shoot when she was off in the distance chasing. Always watch for any negative reaction if you have one ignore it and put the pistol away for a while and just put her on more birds. As time went on we would shoot when she was closer and still chasing and progressed to shooting during flush. Take your time on this, if you create a gun shy dog, it is most often impossible to fix. This is just the way I did it, there are plenty of ways to do it and lots of people will tell you their way is best. I dont know which way is best, I just know what worked for me. Good luck
 
I brought my pup to a sporting clays range and just played with her for about a week. After that she got curious and we went walking, and she eventually got to the point where when she heard a gun, she got excited and looked for something falling from the sky. Just take your time and realize that it might take your dog a week or a few months to get to this point, but they will get there. Lots of positive reinforcement during the shooting really goes a long way.
 
Noise Tolerance

Go for walks with the dog where you can discharge a shotgun or large caliber handgun. Just pop a shot off every once in awhile. Or use firecrackers.
 
BritChaser said:
Go for walks with the dog where you can discharge a shotgun or large caliber handgun. Just pop a shot off every once in awhile. Or use firecrackers.
Click to expand...

This may have worked good for you, But it is also a good way tp make them shy if your not really careful..good luck
 
I hunt with a dog that was very gun shy at first. I took her for walks and before I would shoot I would get down on my knee and talk to her. I held the shotgun in my dominate hand and placed the butt on my other knee. While I was petting her and talking to her I would pull the trigger. I went through about a box of shells over the course of 3 days and it worked very well. She was fine with gun after that and she's turned out to be my best dog. Just be patient with them and keep them close to you and behind the barrel for awhile. As you all of you duck hunters know very well, the gun is much louder on the other end of the barrel.
 
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