The American Beagler Forum

I have several started pups that I will be taking with me hunting,when our season starts here in ky. in Nov. I would appreciate any advise how other hunters start shooting around their young dogs.I dont want to make them gun shy. THANKS MICKEY

The main thing to do is not shoot while any of your young hounds are close to you. It would be better if you conditioned them to loud noises as part of thier traning but nomally if they are at least 75 to 100 yards from you and on a hot chase the gunshot won't bother them. They may stop running when the shot is fired but should continue on after a few seconds.
After learning to associate the gunfire to dead rabbit they should be fine.

Don't go out with a bunch of guys with automatic shotguns. I start my dogs over the gun by myself and only shoot when I have got a sure shot with the dogs running. I then leave the rabbit laying and let the dogs find him. It is usually best to only start one pup with the old dogs while starting them on a gun. If you have several yound dogs and one breaks, it could cause the others to break. Go slow on conditioning them to the gun. Gunshyness is usually a training error.

Never shoot with a pup around you. They need to be excited and in on the chase. Don't shoot at a rabbit comming toward you, wait until it passes and the bark of the gun will not be so load. Make sure of your kill. Then tease the pup with the rabbit until his tail is back up and he is excited. If you miss make sure you have a dead rabbit to do the same, so don't miss the first time. After a few times the pups won't even notice the gun.

Just make sure they are running. And at a safe distance. As mentioned above, don't like a lot of guns around when I first shoot over em either.

Just make sure they are running. And at a safe distance. As mentioned above, don't like a lot of guns around when I first shoot over em either.

I always like it to be just me and my brother or someone that you know is responsible when there are young dogs involved. I just always make sure that the young dog is hot and heavy on the track and barking before I shoot. They usually don't pay much attention after the second or third time. I also agree with redtick that most gunshyness is a result of miss handling. Good luck with your young dogs this season.

I shoot so much at home that my dogs dont even pay attention to it. I was teaching my girl freind to shoot her new pistol tonight and I was watching my 5 month old pup when she shot. He didnt even flinch but he was watching closely like he was curious. I agree with the others though, never shoot a rabbit to close to them.