Teaching Your Dog About Guns

If you are a hunter and have a hunting dog, you deftly want to teach him or her not to be gun shy or fearful in any way of your gun. This process should begin as early as possible in teaching the dog not to be afraid of loud noises that guns produce. In order to teach your dog not to be afraid, it's necessary to expose them to these loud noises such as gunshots and fireworks on a regular basis.

This of course could be problematic if you do not live in a location that allows the discharge of firearms or fireworks. If this is the case, it will require you to take your dog physically to a location where you can train them for resisting the fear these noises produce. Almost all dogs naturally are frayed of these loud sounds. It will take time and effort on the canine owners part in order to convince the dog and reassure him or her that the noises are not harmful. In fact, it's even best if the dog to associate these noises with pleasurable experiences such as eating.

To begin the process, watch remember that you want to associate the loud sounds was something pleasurable and also in the beginning sounds cannot be produced very near to the dog. You want to be very careful that the initial exposure of the dog to the discharge of the gun or fireworks is not detrimental to the process. Therefore, the dog should be exposed to the sounds from a faraway distance. Perhaps 50 to 100 yards depending on the type of noise used for the training would be required in order not to spook the dog too much to the new sound.

Remembered always have some treats available but the dog enjoys eating immediately after the noises produced in what ever method is available. Have a helper discharge the rifle or shotgun and immediately praise the dog, pet the dog, and feed him or her one of their favorite snacks. Repeat this process two or three times and then quit for the day. Do this every day for several weeks.

During that time gradually move the sound closer and closer to the dog. It will become obvious that the dog is not paying any attention to the loud shot and is actually learning that when he or she hears the shot a pleasurable experience is about to happen. This is the ideal situation which you want to accomplish for your hunting dog. In most cases, most dogs can be trained to accept the loud noises of the gun discharge in a matter of weeks. But of course it makes a difference on every dog's personality. You have to be aware of your dog's progress and not take it to fast. Let your dog be the judge of how rapidly he or she is accepting of the noise.

Visit Steve Weber's website for more information about keeping your hunting dog healthy in all respects. His site has detailed information about treating dog arthritis in older canines.