silpig5 Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 as title sugests took my 12 week old lab up my land to see if she stands . started of by leaveing her in front of van with mrs as i walked 20 yards away , she didnt even lift her head with two barrels. then had her sit 10 yard away and fired 2 primers in air . nothing two 32grms at 20 yrds , nothing , then to heal a 32grm made her look up !!! well happy , no flinching or retreating . will post new pics asap , if she keeps this rate of learning i will be over the moon . just wish she would stop pulling the cat across the lawn by his scruff !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris o Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 nice one mate.sounds like a awsome dog i am thinking of getting a lab at somepoint in the near future as have been told they are a lot steadier especialy in a hide. got a the same problem with my dog a 17 week old springer every time he sees the cat he uses it as a toy and pins him down and throws him about but never hurts him all the best and keep up the good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudpatten Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 Had it been my dog I`d have taken it a bit easier than you did. I`d have started with a .22 blank fired in an old game bag to muffle it at about 100 yards distant from the dog. I`d then bring it in closer over a period of days. It would take up to a month, or more, to work up to a 12 bore fired in close proximity and that with a dog no younger than 6 months. Broadly speaking,all of this fun would be accompanied with food treats or other pleasant distractions. Looks like you got away with it but what would you have done if the dog had flinched or shown signs of fear. What was your fall back position? Don`t want to sound too critical and, obviously, I don`t know you or your dog, but I respectfully think you are risking too much, too soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 (edited) "then to heal a 32grm made her look up !!!" And why would you subject a 12 week old puppy to that? Repectfully its not "Nice one mate" Un- believable!!! http://www.shootinguk.co.uk/qa/430592/When...o_gun_fire.html Edited December 30, 2009 by turbo33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpk Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 hi i dont own a dog at present so i probably cant comment ,but at 12 weeks a baby isnt realy aware of its surrondings ,it doesnt understand the difference between what scares it and does not and i can imagine its the same for a puppy.You may have got away with it this time but maybe next time once the pup heres it again it may get realy scared and you would have a real issue with his/her steadyness and underlying fear issues . im not being condasending but seems a high risk rushing everything for the sake of it for the problems it can cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_commoner Posted December 30, 2009 Report Share Posted December 30, 2009 i would slow things right down mate, you might end up with a problem a little later on, 12 months 18 months later, by subjecting her to gunshots too early Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silpig5 Posted December 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 thank you for replies , i know it is early , but in hindsight and background info , she is with me in my works van which is a mobile workshop and doesnt seam too bothered about any noise around her i.e. loading shovels filling bulkers ,forktucks beacons and general plant noise . it was a play sesion with lots of treats and playing . i might add that any signs of flinching on the first gos with the primers or whilst she was in van would have stopped the session. i am well aware of the risks and later probs but thank you for pointing them out . thats why i use p.w. cant beet lots of knowlodge. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 silpig5 I am sure that I read somewhere that a dogs hearing system does not fully develope until later months. At a very young age there is a potential to permanantly damage its hearing. I personally leave gun introduction much later as there is no advantage in early introduction. At the end of the day, the choice is yours but I agree with the other posts on here that say maybe slowing down a bit would be of benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted December 31, 2009 Report Share Posted December 31, 2009 12 weeks...! Far to young. Simple as. Not only are the bones in her ears still growing, but a dog can still turn out gun shy if you don't take things slowly... I've got a young springer pup in training at the moment, he's 8months, and still hasn't heard a bang yet!! Slow down... it will pay it's reward in the long run. In the meanwhile, you can do the usual tricks of, dropping food bowls, slamming doors etc to acclimbatize the dog to loud noises. I'm no expert - but I would concentrate on the basics of, sit / stay / recall training for now... you need to let the pup be a pup!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hodge911 Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 (edited) adi how i got jess used to the gun was by taking her to the local clay ground and parking way from he guns for the first time while treating it as a play time then over the next few trips slowly worked my way closer to the guns with her while again giving lots of praise til eventually after a few visits she was happy to sit next to the guns without any hassles forgot to add she was 10 months old on her first trip Edited January 1, 2010 by hodge911 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyb79 Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 I am sure that I read somewhere that a dogs hearing system does not fully develop until later months. At a very young age there is a potential to permanantly damage its hearing. Spot on. A young dog's hearing which isn't fully developed can be damaged without the dog even knowing it. As a tale of warning, I learnt this lesson the hard way with my first lab. Took him to a clay shoot at age 6 months. Scared the living **** out of him and now he hides whenever there's any kind of loud noise. I will never forgive myself for that, as not only is he a perfect working dog in every other sense, but he has a fear of something which I believe I caused. Who knows, he may have been gun-shy right from the start, but I'll never know. I still have him and he is very much my best friend, but I can't take him shooting which upsets me greatly. Don't risk it with any young dog, my working dogs now do not go near a shot until at least a year old, and even then it'll be one shot from a .22 short blank in one session and no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted January 5, 2010 Report Share Posted January 5, 2010 We took Ruby out this weekend for her first gunshots. She's a 5 month old HWV. She's a bit skittish in the house about loud noises and sudden movements, so I was a bit concerned. I'm not as concerned now. I had the 22 rifle with blanks. Started at ~100 yards while my wife threw her bumpers (she loves to retrieve). No reaction. Move to 75, 50, 25. No reaction other than excitement about the bumpers. We finished with throwing the bumper and shooting from the same place while the bumper was in the air. Again, no problem. So far so good. Next we need to get some 12 ga blanks and poppers. Anyone know where I can get a fired cartridge with a field replaceable primer? Then I can use the SxS in the field as the blank gun by bringing along a box of 209's. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mec 9000 Posted January 10, 2010 Report Share Posted January 10, 2010 The advice to refrain from close gunshot is spot on so too is the develpopment of the ear. Too many owners are in too much of a hurry to have their dog out with the gun and ruin what might have been a good dog. Hopefully you have been lucky. No dog is born gunshy, they may be of a sensitive disposition and need to grow in confidence. You may think there is no problem with the odd shot then take the dog to a pigeon hide where a barrage of shots will do more damage than you can fix. I have a bitch who will work with me and is not gunshy in the least and have no doubt that she could have made the grade in trials but for one thing, she is scared to death of fireworks probably because she does not know where the noise is coming from. How does that affect her, well if shooting with a group of guns at a drive and shots are fired in the distance she will refuse to move and is markedly scared. If with me only she will mark and retrieve without a problem. At two years old she was with me as I was training my other dogs and we were staying in a mountain bothy. she worked no problem to my use of a starting pistol and was well used to it but when in the small roomed both I inadvertantly left a blank in situ, a family member picked it up and pulled the trigger, the noise was deafening and our ears were ringing, The dog has never been the same since and what a waste that was. Gerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mec 9000 Posted January 12, 2010 Report Share Posted January 12, 2010 We took Ruby out this weekend for her first gunshots. She's a 5 month old HWV. She's a bit skittish in the house about loud noises and sudden movements, so I was a bit concerned. I'm not as concerned now. I had the 22 rifle with blanks. Started at ~100 yards while my wife threw her bumpers (she loves to retrieve). No reaction. Move to 75, 50, 25. No reaction other than excitement about the bumpers. We finished with throwing the bumper and shooting from the same place while the bumper was in the air. Again, no problem. So far so good. Next we need to get some 12 ga blanks and poppers. Anyone know where I can get a fired cartridge with a field replaceable primer? Then I can use the SxS in the field as the blank gun by bringing along a box of 209's. Thanks Rick All primers can be easily removed with a small punch and the new ones pressed in. You could buy a kids cap gun and hold it under the shotgun to simulate. If you have problems I could make you up some primed cases for the cost of materials. Gerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.