Can You Help My Dog?

[Ruster 9]

Hi first things first he is not a hunting dog but my border collie is scared of loud bangs so if he is around when fireworks go off or there is thunder or i shoot my air rifle even a loud popping exhaust he tries to hide away

 

I was wondering if you guys with shooting dogs ever had this problem and how did you solve it in your trusty side kick?

 

Is it possible or would you just get another gun dog? This is not an option for me i love my dog but just wondering

[dymented 2,220]

take your time and reassure the dog sit him next to you and on the lead and shoot your air gun after every shot praise him he will get the hang of it evenchualy

[paulus 26]

some are always going to be gun shy

[the monkey 342]

You can get gunshot CDs,maybe play them quietly in the background and gradually turn the sound up

[skycat 6,174]

The problem is that many Collies are very sound sensitive. Loud noises really hurt their ears, so you can't blame them for not wanting to be around loud bangs. You can overcome this to a certain extent by getting the dog to associate the shot with something pleasurable. If the dog has a strong prey drive, in other words, chase instinct, and it loves retrieving, you may be able to use first a quiet bang: anything that makes a smaller sound similar to a gun shot, and let the dog retrieve an item. Even getting someone to stand beside you and pop a blown up paper bag to start with.

 

Desensitising a dog that is sound sensitive can take many months, and even then, the dog probably won't really enjoy the experience of being on the shooting field unless its prey drive is so high that it can tune out the negative aspect of the situation.

[Ruster 9]

Cool all the post make a lot of sense and it gives me a few things to try, thank you

[Casso 1,261]

None of this is about sensitive ears or hearing it's about control,

There is nothing about thunder or fireworks that a dog can control,

we don't see wild animals , all with very sensitive hearing tearing round fields like lunatics during thunder , why, because they sit tight and by doing so, feel they control their environment , which is also why bunnys will sit tight even when they feel danger approach,

it seems counter productive to instinctive behaviour but they have learnt to control their environment by doing feck all,

Gun dogs associate gun shots with a driven frame of mind , they still hear the same as any other dog but in drive they have supreme control , everything feels good , they can feel flow even with the loudest of bangs it's associated with a good feeling and life is good ,

 

So it's about giving the dog a way of controlling its environment and making positive associations

 

Getting the dog used to working with a tug item can introduce a driven mindset on response when you need it,

However you do it, best of luck , loud bangs are just the bad guy (predator)the dog can't objectify so runs from the feeling it gets in that area thus acting prey-like,

Dogs have both predator and prey like qualities, they can adjust to issues in their environment easier if you can change their mind into a driven mindset , drive activates the predator mind,

[britdog 15]

I would introduce the noise from a distance first I have used this method on young dogs if you dont have a blank pistol use a party popper.

prepare your dogs meal in its dish have your helper stand a good distance away and fire the party popper and imedatly feed the dog. If the dog re acts negatively a big no no is for you to make a fuss or try to re assure the dog if you react the dog will think there is something wrong just try again the next meal time but ask your helper to go a further distance with time and patience things should improve