Gun introductions

ucfireman

Senior Member
Is there an age that y'all introduce a pup to a gun shot?
Do y'all have the gun close or a ways away so its not so loud? And then bring it closer? Do you send them on a retrieve right after the shot so they will associate the noise with the retrieve?
OR just kind of shoot while on walk or doing training just so they hear the noise while focusing on something else?
What type of gun do y'all use? All I have are regular guns with real bullets. Where do y'all get training rounds or blanks?
Anyone have links to videos of this?
 

The Donk

Senior Member
I have a GSP who loves fetch more than anything. I started with a 22 cap gun. We started with standard bumper fetch. When she was real fired up and focused, I shot the gun as I threw the bumper. She didn't care one lick about the 22. We did that a few times then went right to the bird launcher and 22. She was quick to associate the sound of the gun with a bird launching/flushing. Out of caution I waitied one more weekend and did the same but introduced the shotgun towards the end of training. Again she couldn't care less when a bird is flushing. Charlie has a very strong prey drive so it was easy. I have another GSP puppy who doesn't show the same drive for hunting and wouldn't try this method on him until he shows some drive or interest in anything other than a stick or his sister.
 
You can start conditioning them very young, (8 weeks), by taking 12-14" pieces of 2x4 and clapping them together as hard as you can on the wide side. Watch your fingers. This is part of the process I have used to select a puppy. If they are playing with their litter mates and are not bothered by the noise they are good candidates for being indifferent to gun shots.
 
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