Hyper excitement

[AVB]

My cocker is nearly four and he is the first dog I have 'trained'. He is nowhere near as good as other dogs I see videos of on here but is eager to please and I get immense amount of pleasure seeing him work when I shoot. However one thing that is getting worse is his excitement whenever there is gun shot. When working over dummies or even game he is excited but manageable until there is a shot then he just goes hyper. Is it because he is associating the shot with a retrieve and if so is it just a case of giving him exposure to lots of shots but no retrieves? What should I do when he gets excited (bouncing up and down) I'm order to calm him down?

 

Thanks

[motty]

Sound like a difficult problem to deal with. Rather you than me!

[scotslad]

Wot age did u start working ur cocker??

 

To me it sounds like to much to soon and it just blows there heads, some can start to yip and whine throu doing too much too soon, seen some very promising 6 month old pup end up as pets as rushed into shooting far too quickly.

 

Wot o u use it for? Beating shooting over?

 

Ur prob best to get real proper advice of someone who can see and address the dog/problem (I also take it is definitely is excitement and not some sort of anxiety??)

 

Wot I 'd mibee going to near a clay shoot or game shoot (usually I'm nt a great believer in taking dogs near a clay shoot) and do some steadiness training within gunshot with no retrieves, even during normal training work on trying to calm it down, using the stop whistle and letting it sit for a while cool off, even get it used to sitting either at ur feet or at distance for longer periods

 

 

Infact just re read ur post.

Is ur dog steady to thrown dummies without gunshot?

I'd probably throw a lot of dummies but only let the dog retrieve a few and keep clear of gun shot until its steady.

But really to me its the sort of problem u need someone decent to see ur dog to give u advice

Edited August 25, 2017 by scotslad

[ips]

I am no expert but as a fellow cocker chap it Certainly sounds like anticipation of the retrieve to me. If his reaction is such to gunshot one thing for sure he ain't gunshy unless of course its anxiety as scotslad alluded to (and it definitely could be as my one gets very fidgety when anxious which could be misinterpreted as excitment) if its definitely not anxiety i would work on general steadiness to flush and to shot, can you use a starter pistol were you train, chuck a dummy fire a shot and demand a sit and calm before release.

[Walker570]

As above and back to basics. I am a big believer in when your dog starts to 'misbehave' then back to basics. The suggestion to go close but not too close to a clay shooting session and have the dog sit on the lead, admonishment when it shows any sign is a good one. I'm for getting a dog to 'behave' from a very early age and just the opposite to the above have seen dogs which have not been trained till over 6 months old turn out to be a menace. But we are all different and have different ways of doing things. I don't profess to being an expert but my dogs over the years have secured invitations rather than me. Labs, GSP and Viszla. I have to be honest and I am sure you will appreciate what I'm going to say. Too often we don't look at our failings but concentrate on the dogs. Look back over the last six months and try to work out where you went wrong and then attempt to put it right.

[AVB]

He was about 18 months when I first worked him. He is a peg dog with a bit of rough shooting thrown in. I am fairly certain that it isn't anxiety. Yes he is steady to dummies without gunshot.

 

I am going to go back to basics and not let him retrieve as others have mentioned. I have a starting pistol so will also fire lots of shots and not even throw a dummy (a bit like my shooting!) to try to break the link between shot and retrieve.

 

He is a really lovely dog and if he doesn't improve then I may have to retire him. At the end of the day is he is a pet first so, whilst it would be a disappointment, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[scotslad]

Get urself along to a decent pro trainer (or good amatuer) they'll be able to properly ***** the dog(and more so urself) and figure something out.

And I'd get something organised shortly, many pro trainers will be flat out the now getting there dogs fit and up to standard for the FT season and the shooting season always flies by anyway, I'd imagine the trainer would want to go out to an actual shoot with birds falling rather than just a clay shoot for the problems u describe.

 

 

I would do that before u get any starting pistols out, if ur not entirely sure wot ur doing u could easily make it worse

[A1Decoy]

Have you tried a dummy launcher? Sounds like a shotgun, they really can be lethal and hurt your hand, you can get different launcher blanks for different distances. Helped our lab as she use to get over excited and not listen when a shot was fired!

 

Aimee @ A1

Edited August 29, 2017 by A1Decoy

[scotslad]

I'd be careful with either using a dummy launcher (or even starter pistol) if u have a dog that already gets over excited with gunshot and associates it with retrieves, using a dummy launcher and letting the dog retrieve from it might only make the problem worse.

 

Like I said I don't think its a problem u can solve by listening to internet advice of folk who have never seen ur dog. even if the advice is good I u either don't/mis understand it or get the timing wrong u could easy make the problem worse

 

While dummy launchers are a handy tool they really are a gimmick too, most folk can train gundogs to a vey decent level without 1, unless ur training labs/dogs to a really high standard (I say labs only because u will be working them at longer distances, for spaniels u can usually throw or use a tennis racket to get balls out plenty distance for most folk)

[ips]

Launchers are VERY loud. My bitch is not to happy with them when we have been at game fares.

Edited August 29, 2017 by ips

[lancer425]

My cocker is nearly four and he is the first dog I have 'trained'. He is nowhere near as good as other dogs I see videos of on here but is eager to please and I get immense amount of pleasure seeing him work when I shoot. However one thing that is getting worse is his excitement whenever there is gun shot. When working over dummies or even game he is excited but manageable until there is a shot then he just goes hyper. Is it because he is associating the shot with a retrieve and if so is it just a case of giving him exposure to lots of shots but no retrieves? What should I do when he gets excited (bouncing up and down) I'm order to calm him down?

 

Thanks

When you are practising retrieving is the dog rock steady? If not care to try explain dogs behaviour.

[figgy]

Give him some excersise before taking him shooting. Take him to a clay ground and walk him round the car park so he can hear the shots but get no retrieves. He will sharp get the idea, my dog started to run in when I lifted my gun to shoot a bird. Staked him down for a few shoots and he got the message. Now as I lift the gun I say sit just in case he gets ideas.

It's trial and error to find what works for your dog.

 

A friend and old shot once said to me all the training the world goes out the window on a shoot day. Dogs get excited and basic obedience is what keeps them steady.

Edited September 22, 2017 by figgy

[ips]

What's that other saying...

 

Best way to ruin a good gundog, take it shooting

[figgy]

Take it beating that can ruin a dog if you want it to sit quietly next to you.