First want to say that my method is different then other methods. I don't believe in making loud noises around pups when they are young, or during feeding time. I cringe when people take there dawgs to the trap shooting range, or tie dogs up and just start shooting. Gun shyness is man made, some dogs are more timid then others, and my method is designed to fit each individual dog. I have used this method to cure gun shy dogs. I want dogs to understand gun fire and to love it.

What do we want our dogs to love? Thats birds. I get my dogs to LOVE birds. I first start by properly introducing dogs to birds. I start with a live pigeon and clip one wings flight feathers. This way the bird can still fly but only for a short distance. I will take the pup and get them excited about the bird, I will allow the pup to chase as the bird is in my hand, and I will let the bird go. The pup should chase the bird until it hits the ground. I will let the dog catch the bird, I will take the bird before it gets beat up to bad. I will end the session as the pup wants more. I will repeat sessions until I am confident that the dog loves birds. I will then take a freshly killed pigeon and have the dog start retrieving that, I then will go to a frozen pigeon, and then to a fresh killed duck, to a frozen duck. After I have the dog retrieving frozen ducks in training, and loving it its time for intro to gun fire.

You will need two people to help you, one person will shoot the gun, and the other is a bird boy. Now its important that you have been using bird boys in training long before you start introducing gun fire. The only new thing I want the dog to experience is gun fire. I always start with 22 pistol with blanks. I will have the dog at heal, I will have the bird boy in front of me about 30 to 40 yards, and the gun man behind about 40 to 50 yards. I will signal for the bird boy to throw the bird, I will send the dog for the retrieve, and as the dog is running I will signal for the gun man to shoot. Its important for the gun to fire before the dog reaches the bird. Its the dog handler to watch his dog. If the dog shows no sign of being bothered by the gun fire, I will signal for the gun man to move closer, If the dog seems nervous I will move the gun man farther back. When the dog comes back with the bird give tons of praise. If the dog is not bothered I will have the gun man move up 15 yards, and do it again. I will slowly have the gun man move closer until he is standing right behind us. If the dog does not seemed bothered I will have the bird boy shoot the gun and throw the bird. This would conclude this session. I will come back the next day with 22 live rounds, and do the same thing. I will come back the third day with 4-10 shotgun, fourth day with a 20 gauge, and then a 12 gauge. I will train for a couple of days having the bird boy shooting a shot gun and then throwing the bird. After I am confident that the dog loves the shot from the shot gun because he knows he is going to get a bird. I have the gun man come with a second shotgun and do the same thing again. The bird boy will shoot a shotgun and as the dog is running for the mark the gunman will shoot a second shotgun. I will keep working on this until the gun man is shooting right behind the dog. I do this because I have gotten dogs in that the owners swear that in training the dog was just fine with the shot gun in training, but the first day in the duck boat or blind 4 guys got up to shoot and the dog is hiding. Dogs need also to understand multiple gun fire. I know my method is alot of work, but I have never had a gun shy dog using this method. I have cured gun shy dogs with this method. Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!

I am not saying that you have to follow a specific time line, I used the 1st 2nd third day as a example. Each dog is different and some go faster through the program and some slower. If you have a gun shy dog I will take months to complete the program. Good luck.

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I hear so many times that a person is telling me that they are having problems with there dog, and so their idea is to get a electronic collar to solve there problem. I also get people who tell me when they used the electronic collar on their dog it either laid down or went and ran and hid under the pickup. The electronic collar is a wonderful tool for dog training, but it is not the answer for everything, nor does it replace the work that is needed to properly teach your dog. The electronic collar is not a teaching device; it is a device to give corrections. The reason dogs will either lay down or hide under the pickup is because they do not understand why they are received the correction.

Before I ever use an electronic collar on a dog, I will have the dog wear a dummy collar from the first day of training, and a young pup will wear this dummy collar for at least two months. A dummy collar looks and feels like a regular collar that comes with the electronic collar. I put a dummy collar on a pup long before they ever receive a correction so they don’t become collar wise. A dog that is collar wise will understand that when the collar is not on them the handler cannot correct them. With the help of the dummy collar the day I put the electronic collar on they think its no different then what they have been wearing for the past two months.

It is very important that the pup has been properly obedience trained. It usually takes a good 2 to 4 months of hard work to properly teach a dog to be obedient. I use a 30 ft lead to obedience train my young dogs. The 30 ft lead is what I use to teach with and correct with. A pup will always have this 30 ft lead on until they are properly conditioned to understand electronic collar corrections. The proper obedience commands that need to be taught are the come in command, sit, heal, and walking heal. I have all these commands taught very well before I think about using the electronic collar.

A pup is not ready to be collar conditioned until they are at least 5 months of age. It will normally take you that long to properly obedience train the dog anyway. It is very important that we educate ourselves on how to properly use the electronic collar. There are some great books and tapes that are on the market to teach how to collar condition your pup. Smartwork for Retrievers by Evan Graham is a very good training book, and it teaches how to collar condition your pup. You can purchase this book here. Mike Lardy who is a Field Trial professional dog trainer has put together a tape that teaches and shows how to collar condition your pup. You can purchase this video here.

The electronic collar is a wonderful tool if it’s used properly, and it can help make your hunting partner be a wonderful companion in the blind.

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