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INTRODUCTION TO THE GUNS

On the internet, there is always someone asking how to cure gunshyness in a dog. As in most things, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. To me, the key is to introduce your puppy to gunfire in a very low key way. Don't make it a big deal, just make it part of what you are doing as part of everyday life.

As you know, I include Cha Cha in virtually everything I do. Whenever I drive somewhere, she is in the kennel in my vehicle. I make a point of taking her on walks wherever we go. When I go to Petsmart, she comes in with me. When a park is nearby, we go for walks and I throw a mark or two. When I work at home, she plays under my feet. When I go to the office, she sleeps in the vehicle, and I come out every couple of hours to take her for a brief jaunt. In short, she is my shadow.

Of course, I also take her training with me. She gets to play in cover. Sniff the bird rack. Poke her nose in the flyer crate. Check out all the dog trucks with their barking occupants. There's a lot of stimulation.

Training on Saturday is particularly exciting as the whole gang comes out. While folks were trying to get things set up in the field, I threw some more puppy marks for Cha Cha in the cover.

Her first return was a little bit sloppy. Cha Cha grabbed the rope, not the bumper.



But, things improved with her next two retrieves.



By the time, Cha Cha and I were through, a test had been set up in the field. The flyer guns were just 10 yards from the line and launched a duck flyer right in front of the dogs. At first, the two of us walked around the trucks as the guns went off. Cha Cha thought nothing of the shots.

Then Cha Cha and I sat down about twenty yards from the guns. I showed her the guns in the field, but she was more interested in watching all the dogs and handlers. However, her ears perked up when she heard the blank guns in the field. She focused on the birds being thrown. Then she saw the duck go up ... and come down. She was transfixed. Nothing beats genetic programming!.

We sat and watched three more dogs run. With each new dog, Cha Cha got more and more excited. She never even noticed the gunshots. I went off to help shoot the flyer and left Cha Cha to keep the training group entertained. Chris was holding Cha Cha when my stint at the flyer station was over.

Cha Cha had a great time playing with the training group all day.

By the time she returned home, she was ready to crash with Mom.

Very interesting & professional site. You done great work.
floyd (Email) (URL) - 30 04 06 - 05:50

Hi you have a nice homepage
tommy (Email) (URL) - 30 04 06 - 06:18


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