The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Should I Practice Shoot Around my Hunting Dogs?

Andrewsmith1 · November 24, 2012, 02:30 PM

My wife and I adopted a German Shepherd dog who did not meet the standards of A police dog. Apparently the trainers tried to get him used to gunfire at too close a range and he became extremely gun shy. Fireworks sent him scrambling for cover and every time I brought out a gun (even if it was a simple air rifle) he headed for cover at just the sight of the rifle. If the dog is behind the shooter and in an open area where the sound of the shot dissipates quickly the dog will most likely learn to handle the sound of gunfire. When you try to train a dog to accept gunfire on a small range with lots of other guns being fired and they find themselves in front of the muzzle they will often become gun shy. My Irish setter and three boarder collies never had a problem as long as they were behind me when I shot. You could usually find the german shepherd cowering in the bathtub. One of the boarder collies never got freaked out by anything but started acting freaked out during thunderstorms and fireworks because she discovered she could get extra attention and treats from my wife if she acted scared. When a coyote threatened the chickens she kept them away from the coop while I shot the coyote as it circled around the coop. I think the sound of the shot dissipated over the open land. My dad and one of his hunting partners shot at a deer from 400 yards away one year. They each took four shots at the deer before they realized they were having scope problems. The sound of their shots in the open land meant the sound had diminished enough that the deer was never scared off even though they were splashing bullets all around the buck while trying to readjust their scopes. The deer walked off without injury while the hunters scratched their heads trying to figure out how their scopes could have lost zero so quickly. I don't hunt with dogs, but If i did I would do what I could to minimize damage to their hearing.

November 24, 2012, 02:30 PM	#12
Andrewsmith1 Member Join Date: January 23, 2011 Posts: 33	My wife and I adopted a German Shepherd dog who did not meet the standards of A police dog. Apparently the trainers tried to get him used to gunfire at too close a range and he became extremely gun shy. Fireworks sent him scrambling for cover and every time I brought out a gun (even if it was a simple air rifle) he headed for cover at just the sight of the rifle. If the dog is behind the shooter and in an open area where the sound of the shot dissipates quickly the dog will most likely learn to handle the sound of gunfire. When you try to train a dog to accept gunfire on a small range with lots of other guns being fired and they find themselves in front of the muzzle they will often become gun shy. My Irish setter and three boarder collies never had a problem as long as they were behind me when I shot. You could usually find the german shepherd cowering in the bathtub. One of the boarder collies never got freaked out by anything but started acting freaked out during thunderstorms and fireworks because she discovered she could get extra attention and treats from my wife if she acted scared. When a coyote threatened the chickens she kept them away from the coop while I shot the coyote as it circled around the coop. I think the sound of the shot dissipated over the open land. My dad and one of his hunting partners shot at a deer from 400 yards away one year. They each took four shots at the deer before they realized they were having scope problems. The sound of their shots in the open land meant the sound had diminished enough that the deer was never scared off even though they were splashing bullets all around the buck while trying to readjust their scopes. The deer walked off without injury while the hunters scratched their heads trying to figure out how their scopes could have lost zero so quickly. I don't hunt with dogs, but If i did I would do what I could to minimize damage to their hearing.