Hi everyone!Found out last weekend how scared my BC is of pistols!!I was helping out at my obedience school..we had a competition to do with protection and one part of it was obedience..in the obedience they shoot twice with a starting pistol..anyway my dog was in the car while I was helping out!I thought he was fine as he was laying down but I didn't realise that he was laying there because he was scared!!After the competition I went to the car to praise my dog for being brave and a good boy..he was shaking and there was diarrhea all over his cover..
Going back in time..he had run away and it was that time of year when bitches were on heat!That night while he was out gun shots had been heard and there was a concern that somebody had maybe tried to shoot our dog?(I only heard about this recently)
So I guess this has caused my dog to become so scared?
How can I help my dog get over this problem?
Maybe treats and loud noices?
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
Posts: 31571
Loc: North-Central coast of California
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Quote: Tracey Rudwick
Hi everyone!Found out last weekend how scared my BC is of pistols!!I was helping out at my obedience school..we had a competition to do with protection and one part of it was obedience..in the obedience they shoot twice with a starting pistol..anyway my dog was in the car while I was helping out!I thought he was fine as he was laying down but I didn't realise that he was laying there because he was scared!!After the competition I went to the car to praise my dog for being brave and a good boy..he was shaking and there was diarrhea all over his cover..
Going back in time..he had run away and it was that time of year when bitches were on heat!That night while he was out gun shots had been heard and there was a concern that somebody had maybe tried to shoot our dog?(I only heard about this recently)
So I guess this has caused my dog to become so scared?
How can I help my dog get over this problem?
Maybe treats and loud noices?
I would combine desensitizing with counter-conditioning.
Do you have access to a place where you can make a similar noise far enough from the dog so that there is no reaction?
As to why, I'd guess that maybe a shot was fired so close that it scared the dog, but as to being shot at, I don't know how a dog would equate the noise with a gun aimed at him.
I agree with Connie. The best you can try is to desensitize your dog. My dog is afraid of fire works and such, but she has been trained and worked through the gun shots in training. As Connie said, start from far away, and when you have someone shoot 1 shot, try to keep your dog focused on you. Whether it's playing or a jog, or taking a treat.
Melissa Thom Webboard User Reg: 12-04-2007
Posts: 2781
Loc: Upper Left hand corner, USA
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the advice given in Training the Hunting retriever goes as follows, note that this only will work on a dog who has a decent food drive.
Get a starter pistol.
Drop the food pan and walk 100 feet away. (If your dog likes to follow you more than he likes to eat you may need to tether him but feeding in a kennel run is better.)
Wait until he's well into chowing down.
Fire the pistol once and walk away like nothing happened.
Don't react if your dog acts startled. Don't comfort his fear. You have to treat it like nothing happened.
Repeat twice a day with food until the dog doesn't even look up from his food. Increase to two shots, or three until you're sure your dog doesn't care.
Then move the activity slowly closer and closer until you're actually firing next to the dog.
As a note on some dogs this process can take months if they're already gun shy.
There is also a method that uses recorded classical music with gun shots mixed in. The music is played very loudly and the initial shots in the recording are very faint. As the days go by the music becomes softer and the shots become louder until it is only the sounds of the gun shots heard on the recording. I think the time mentioned in the hunting magazine article I read said 2-3 weeks for desensitization.
This was about 10 years ago and someone was selling a prepared tape, who knows if you can find one.
Hi everyone!
Thankyou for all the advice..Today we did like Connie adviced...I was on the other end of the field and played with my dog while my friend used the pistol...The first three times he was frightened and unsure but after that he played with me even though the pistol shots were in the distance...We are going to train regular and hopefully slowly but surely he will get used to it..and hopefully in time he can accept the noice nearer!!Yes he is a bit scared of fireworks and he doesn't liekthunder either!
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My dog is REALLY scared of pistols ect.......
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