Another question about a gunshy dog.

[Bunnyblaster]

I'll make this as short as I can and still give you as much info as I can too.

I gave a young hound (1 1/2 years old) to a guy about a month ago that just stopped by looking for a beagle. I had just decided a few days before that I was going to send this dog down the road because of some hunt issues and it just so happened this guy stopped by before I decided to list her. She has always been a little on the shy side but never to the point where you couldn't catch her to load up or anything drastic like that. I'm sure you guys know the kind I'm talking about, not extremely timid but you can't use too firm of a hand with her. So anyway you get the idea. I told this guy all the in's and out's of her and exactly why I had decided to get rid of her. I even told him about her deer chasing that took a little doing to break her of but I was fairly confident she wouldn't take one again.........keep a collar her on her just the same but you should be ok. I said take her home, spend a week or so getting to know her before you take her out and be a little careful with a gun because she has been shot around but up till then never any closer than around 50 yards and with nothing bigger than a 20 gauge that I could remember. I had used a cap gun quite close to her late this fall when I was breaking in some pups that were running but that was it.........NEVER, EVER has she been jump shot around before at all!!! I made that point very clear just in case they like to jump shoot which he said they didn't. My point to him was I figured she'd been around enough gunfire that she'd be ok but be careful and work up to it until you and her get to know each other.

The guy calls me I think 5 days after he picked her up and tells me that they were out hunting, this dog and his original dog are doing great at a Christmas tree farm and after quite a bit of running they decide to shoot a rabbit for the dogs. His buddy shoots from no closer than 60 yards to the dogs and this dog flips out and comes running back to him shivering at his feet. I go through the whole explanation again of what I'd done with her to that point and am trying to piece together what happened and he says I'll just keep her and run her, I just won't hunt with her. Well about 3 more weeks go by and while I was on vacation last week he leaves a message that he can't keep her anymore cause they tried again and she's still gunshy. I hadn't had a chance to call him back and right before supper time last night he stops by to talk to me. We go through the whole thing again and I am just baffled to be honest with you guys.

He may be feeding me a load of crap but at this point all I can do is take the guy at his word that it happened the way he said it did but to go from what I sent him away with to what he dropped back off........I'm still confused. I told him to stop this morning and drop her off in my kennel and I'm gonna see what's up and if I can fix her I guess. I was not convinced when I let her go that she was completely gun broke(I've since changed how and when I start with noise around pups) but I was also not expecting her to become a gunshy dog. I took her today to a pen with 1 other dog and let them get on some rabbits. One was a sight chase and I fired off one round with the cap gun from about 50 yards away and another was a hot track they were hammering fairly well and I fired off I think 3 shots while they were anywhere from 40-70 yards away. Both of these times she never even slowed down let alone come running back to sit at my feet. I know it was only a cap gun but I would have thought that she'd have at least reacted to it if she was as shy as he says she is.

I guess I have 2 questions to ask:
1. What do you guys think happened because I'm still not sure what to think?

2. How would you go about checking her/breaking her if he's right? Start over and work my way back up or tie her to a post and shoot .22 rounds gradually getting closer and closer and lots of praise and rewards?

To be honest I don't want to spend a ton of time running her because that's why I let her go in the first place.........I didn't care for her. But at the same time I don't want this guy telling people I gave him a gunshy dog just to get rid of it either. I'm not trying to make a name for myself or anything like that but I don't want to start making a bad name for myself either even though I don't think I did anything wrong.

So I'm gonna see what I can do and any and all advice is welcome............and don't sugar coat it either, just give it to me straight. I want to know what you guys/gals think.

[Joeyman]

Well you said you had her in a pen right? and you used a cap gun right? so why not use a 12g shot gun once or twice and see what she does or start off using a 20g maybe around you she is not scared cause she knows you. Could be that she is around strangers and it spooks her. If she runs a rabbit in that pen and you shoot a shot gun and she keeps on going. Tell that man to come on over and see for himself. If he don't want her anymore all you can do is give him his money back or another dog not sure if I"m on the right track I've only sold one dog and it was a pup that I started and shot only a starters pistol.

[beaglecrazy-scott]

if i read it right , you GAVE this man a beagle , i would think he wanted a dog and now season is out or almost out , he doesnt want it any more, i would try your best to see if she is gun shy ,and if she is or isnt , then give her away to someone else while telling them what you know. ....good luck ..scott

[dave g]

if she is good with the cap gun, now get out a .22 then try that before jumping to the shotgun. then work up to the shotgun. if you have access to .22 shorts that would be perfect then longs then magnums then 12 gauge. if it is gunshy and you jump right to shotgun blasts it is not going to help a darn thing. start from scratch. also dont give the dog back to the guy. i would forget all about him. sounds like a pain in the rear end to me. if you gave the dog to him free of charge he should be putting the time into it himself to break it. beggers cant be choosers. or after you break the dog of gun and he wants it back put a price on the dog for your work and see what he says.

good luck, dave

[Bunnyblaster]

Yes I did GIVE her to him free of charge. Tonight when I fed I banged away with that cap gun while they were eating...........1 shot.....pause.......2 shots....pause........5 shots.....still nothing........so I reloaded it and banged away 8 shots from about 30-35 yards away and she never even looked up.

I'm just probably being too nice cause I don't want there to be a chance that someone thinks I intentionally screwed them on a beagle even if it was a free one but I'm thinking you guys are right and he just started shooting without getting her trust first which I told him he needed to do.

I'll work my way up to bigger guns and see what happens...............I don't know what else to do.

[grmsdnny]

Bunnyblaster, I think you should live by the bottom line of every post you make. I think you are worrying too much about what other people might think. You know the truth, that's all that matters.

[da ridgetop]

My opinion the guy was probably jump shooting and boogered your pup up,young dog in a strange place getting dumped off the tailgate then shoot shoot bang bang, ive bought pups before that for the first time or to out they acted scared i think it comes from strange place and not enough bond time.My other opinion is he just wanted a dog to hunt and now that season is going out he's not interested in paying 25-30 dollars a bag for dogfood the rest of the year and you told him the pup was timid and he figured it would be a good way to get rid of the dog Donald

[Bunnyblaster]

Bunnyblaster, I think you should live by the bottom line of every post you make. I think you are worrying too much about what other people might think. You know the truth, that's all that matters.

Very good point.

You guys are probably right about the guy and the more I think about it if he doesn't want to take the time to see if he can make it better then why should I? I feel bad for the dog at this point cause it ain't her fault. I'll see what happens over the next few days and how she acts.......so far she's been just fine. Maybe in a week or two I'll just have to post her up for sale!