# Hunting Season -- Afraid of Gunshots



## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Around me lately, there have been a lot of loud gunshot noises. I *think* this is due to hunting season, but whatever it is, our problem is the same.

When I'm taking a walk, she'll hear a shot and go beserk. Look around wildly and PULL toward home. I've been trying to get her to sit, then walk calmly, but its very, very difficult to calm her after this. Not to mention embarrassing as my dog drags me down the sidewalk.

Similarly, she hates fireworks and percussion instruments.

Any suggestions on how to condition her to get used to loud noises like this?


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

I had an Irish setter that was extremely gun-shy and also terrified of fireworks and similar noises. She also became aggressive if she saw a rifle, or even a toy rifle (which used to be more realistic than they are now.) 

While having some x-rays, we discovered she had a 22-caliber bullet in her back, too close to her spine to be safely removed, so I figured she was justified. Somebody had apparently shot her at close range before I took her in. We never were able to "desensitize" her.


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## Zoopie (Feb 22, 2010)

My dog does not mind thunder or fireworks. When it's hunting season and he hears gunshots, he does something similar to the bacon dance a 3 year old can do in a toy store. He cries, howls, throws himself on the ground.

His parents and half his litter were shot in front of him though. Nothing to do about it.


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## NikoBellic (Sep 29, 2011)

I saw a video of hunting dog puppies where the owner would shoot off his gun at meal time, so they would associate the noise positively. Maybe bring some yummy treats and make it a game where the gunshots are like the clicker, a signal indicating a reward. Will take time I'm sure, but it's an idea...


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

People are sick, the things they do to animals. Jeez. One of my boyfriend's dogs is a older rescued rat terrier. When he was found, he was covered in paint. He had clearly been a paintball target.

Since I first encountered Gypsy at 8 weeks old, I am fairly certain she's never been traumatized. Hopefully that means I can reverse the fear.



> I saw a video of hunting dog puppies where the owner would shoot off his gun at meal time, so they would associate the noise positively. Maybe bring some yummy treats and make it a game where the gunshots are like the clicker, a signal indicating a reward. Will take time I'm sure, but it's an idea...


Good idea, thanks! D'you think I should treat even if she freaks out? Treat immediately following gunshot, regardless of reaction. Or should I treat after I calm her down/get her to sit?

I wonder if I could practice with a sound recording of a gunshot at home... She's hyper-alert on walks already. It might be good to practice in a safer place.


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## NikoBellic (Sep 29, 2011)

I would treat immediately, but I think the tough part will be not to do it with any rapid or sudden movement that frightens her more, maybe have something you say immediately after, like "gunshot" in a calm voice and then give the treat. Because it is just a sound and nothing else in the environment changes, she will learn that the only thing that noise means is that she is about to get a treat.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Agreed... once she panics, she's gone into 'amygdala highjack' - full emotional, flight, overload, there's not much you can do. The goal is to keep her below that threshold and reward her. Takes lots of patience and a lot of time.


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## NikoBellic (Sep 29, 2011)

I thought of this thread when I was walking my dog tonight and I noticed something I always do. 
Whenever he hears a weird noise for the first time and kind of freezes or looks at me, or just keeps paying attention to it, I always try to imitate the noise quietly which gets his attention and then say "it's okay, relax" and he is likely to disregard it. 
My theory is that maybe because dogs can pick up so much sensory info that we don't detect, especially through smell, that we must often seem clueless to them of something they are very aware of. So imitating the sound before reassuring him let's him know, 'yea, I know what you are talking about, and it's not an issue.' Anyways, these are the things I think about on long walks.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

NikoBellic said:


> I saw a video of hunting dog puppies where the owner would shoot off his gun at meal time, so they would associate the noise positively. Maybe bring some yummy treats and make it a game where the gunshots are like the clicker, a signal indicating a reward. Will take time I'm sure, but it's an idea...


Do not, I repeat do not do this. No let me rephrase that, *I would not do that* as with everything there are choices you make with your dogs. Old school was the old cap pistol program, the cap pistol would be fired off when pups were eating, I have no statistics but my personal thoughts are there were as many pups gunshyed as not. People just think about it, this is the equivalent of hanging a person scared of heights over the edge of a 60 story bldg and expecting the fear would just magically disappear. The problem with this stuff is there are no doubts that sometimes it works but the pups/dogs it works with you could probably stake out next to howitzers going off and it would not bother them at all. 

Some dogs (I've heard can be desensitized with sounds from stereo systems etc) I have never witnessed this or even met met a live person who tried it. Our Vanna PTSed a year or so ago was scared of thunder and yet she could lay down and sleep with a thunderstorm sound out of a Yamaha YSP-800 soundbar/woofer system. extremely loud and never move a muscle. That I have personally experienced.


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

I'm having a bit of a hard time equating the sound of gunshots, with taking your dog for a walk along a sidewalk. Is this an urban area ?

As far as the "desensitization" --- if you're going to try that technique at all, it should be performed _very gradually_. If it's not done gradually, then I'd consider it "flooding" ... which can prove to be very deterimental, one way or another, in most cases. It's even likely that flooding will have the opposite effect making the situation worse. Tread carefully.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

There are plenty of urban areas where you can hear gunshots from hunters. We live smack in the middle of a small town of about 12,000 people (and about 20,000 dogs) and wake up to the sound of gunfire on the first day of duck season. It's not next door, but it's close-enough that a nervous dog will hear it.

Like wvasko, I am skeptical of desensitizing a dog to gunfire and thunder by using a stereo. They have no trouble determining if it's live or if it's Memorex. The low frequency vibrations are very difficult to simulate.


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## NikoBellic (Sep 29, 2011)

Oh, to clarify, Wvasko (and K&G!) I didn't mean that they should shoot off a gun with their dog that is having the fear issues! The anecdote about the video I saw was just an intro to my suggestion of treating and trying to create a positive association with the gunshots that are out of their control. I didn't mean for them to bring a gun, start busting off shots and and make a game of it, though I can see how it could have been taken that way. Hope that wasn't the impression I gave Kirsten&Gypsey, sorry guys!


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Thank you all for your input!

And no worries, NikoBellic. I knew what you meant. Even if I didn't, I have no gun with which to literally misinterpret your meaning. 



> I'm having a bit of a hard time equating the sound of gunshots, with taking your dog for a walk along a sidewalk. Is this an urban area ?


Suburban. I live in a large neighborhood on the outskirts of a town. We are surrounded by forested areas and patches of farm fields.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

> Oh, to clarify, Wvasko (and K&G!) I didn't mean that they should shoot off a gun with their dog that is having the fear issues!


No need for apologies, I was knocking the idiot who made the video because of the many people who might watch and try it. 

The cap pistol thing I mentioned was weird. The instructions were, you feed your puppy and then while pup was eating you get behind it and fire the cap pistol. If I were eating and somebody I trusted came up behind me and fired a cap pistol I might jump. Since I am an adult I could laugh it off but sometimes pups just don't. Now how idiotic is that.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

NikoBellic said:


> I saw a video of hunting dog puppies where the owner would shoot off his gun at meal time, so they would associate the noise positively.


This may work some of the time (explains why people still do it) with dogs specifically bred to have strong nerves and minimal reaction to loud noises. It is unlikely to be of any use with a dog who is already gunshy. Would more likely make things worse.

Rehabilitating a gunshy dog is an iffy proposition. I've heard of cases where the CD program has worked, but I have no direct knowledge of any dogs who have gone through it. I couldn't even guess at what the success rate might be. Regardless, a cure isn't going to be effected today. It's a slow process in the best of cases.

The best you can do, this season, is to walk the pup before and after legal hunting hours, and crate her in the quietest part of the house with some soothing music playing (Mantovani's 101 Strings is better than the 1812 Overture). Tranquilize her if it gets bad enough.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

> The best you can do, this season, is to walk the pup before and after legal hunting hours, and crate her in the quietest part of the house with some soothing music playing (Mantovani's 101 Strings is better than the 1812 Overture). Tranquilize her if it gets bad enough.


Good stuff and actually even though soothing, if needed can be played loud enough so that gunshots in home can't be heard at all.


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## cshellenberger (Dec 2, 2006)

Marsh Muppet said:


> This may work some of the time (explains why people still do it) with dogs specifically bred to have strong nerves and minimal reaction to loud noises. It is unlikely to be of any use with a dog who is already gunshy. Would more likely make things worse.
> 
> Rehabilitating a gunshy dog is an iffy proposition. I've heard of cases where the CD program has worked, but I have no direct knowledge of any dogs who have gone through it. I couldn't even guess at what the success rate might be. Regardless, a cure isn't going to be effected today. It's a slow process in the best of cases.
> 
> The best you can do, this season, is to walk the pup before and after legal hunting hours, and crate her in the quietest part of the house with some soothing music playing (Mantovani's 101 Strings is better than the 1812 Overture). Tranquilize her if it gets bad enough.


Or a loud fan will create enough white noise to block out the shots, you might include 3 mg of melatonin or a Thundershirt (available at PetCo) in the equation.


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## Marsh Muppet (Nov 29, 2008)

cshellenberger said:


> Or a loud fan will create enough white noise to block out the shots, you might include 3 mg of melatonin or a Thundershirt (available at PetCo) in the equation.


Or music and a fan...and anything else that helps. We had an old girl who had it very bad. I built a heavily sound attenuated box for her in the basement and played the stereo for her. I recommend Mantovani (does anyone even remember that stuff?) because, unlike legitimate classical music, there are no clashing cymbals or crecendos. Just straight, boring elevator/dentist office music. And don't skimp on the pharmaceuticals if the condition is really bad. We got our old gal completely zonked, and she still shook like a paint mixer. Her problems were only thunderstorms and the 4th of July. We were far enough removed from hunting lands that gunshots were never an issue.

You can use a standard wire crate and just pile comforters and moving blankets onto it as a field expedient.


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