my lab is 15 months old... I've pretty much realized he wont ever hunt

I cant break him of being scared of a gunshot... fucker is even scared of thunder

He is very skittish... he was scared of a waterbottle in my yard the other day...

the other day I threw the dummy for him, he retrived it 4 times great.... then all of a sudden he turned into a big ol pussy and wouldnt go near the dummy... like he was scared shitless of it as if it would kill him..

I dont get it!......anyone ever had a lab like this? I've never had one act this way. My last lab was a yellow female and she had 10x the drive and wasnt scared of shit.

He will make a good pet and I think thats it.

I'm sorry but I find this amusing, I feel ur pain..maybe it's the way u worded it

I took my dog n the boat when he was 2 months. He laid down while we hunted. The first shot he ever heard he was laying down. I fired, he picked his head up like wtf was that Nd just put his head back down. Loud noises never did seem to bother him. Buy u some fire crackers maybe u can break it

There are processes to introduce your dog to gun shots. It may be too late if your dog is really scared already. It's a super hard thing to break once they are already scared of loud noises/gun shots. But it's worth a shot.

This is what I did with my dog (this was when she was young and before a gun ever went off near her). I had a buddy with a primer gun stand about 50 yards away from me and my pup. While I had her sit I had him blow a duck call and pop off a round, then throw out a bumper for her to retrieve. That was it for that day. The next day I had him stand at 35 yards, bang and throw a bumper. The next day 20 yards. Eventually to where I shot the primer gun next to my dog and threw my own bumper. This makes the dog associate the gun shot with a bird dropping and getting to retrieve, which makes it fun as hell to the dog.

Try that out with your dog. Make sure to work slow and gradual and be patient.

Mine is a big baby to. When our 10 lbs dog barks he comes running back to me but he ain't scared of gun fire and will retrieve any thing u throw.

My dog can be a little spoiled bi*** too but he hunts his ass off to make up for it lol


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Think he read your mind haha


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Chew toys W.T.F.?? You guys don't have hunting dogs those are house pets! good thing it don't get cold down south those fuckers wouldn't get off the couch to hunt in the cold.

Don't you worry he knows when it's game time haha


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My dog is good with gunfire, but I've heard different ways of conditioning them to be ok with it. One that several people have told me is to cut two 8" or so sections of 2x4 and whenever he's eating with his back turned to you, slap the 2x4's together loudly. It'll still scare him, but supposedly, he'll eventually just tune it out so as not to interrupt his meal. I can't vouch for it. I've just heard it helps, but good luck!

I started with mine at about 5 weeks. I bought a cheap cap gun and would shoot it off, he would be skittish at first but I'd give him a treat when he came back. Eventually he would just sit there while you shot and now you can shoot a shotgun around him and he is fine at 9 weeks.

his brother (my dads dog) have been in kennels onside of eachother since they were 6 weeks old..

mine is scared of everything.... my dads is fearless

mine listens he's just very skittish....

he isnt only scared of gunshots... its all loud noises..

Having your dog sit and shoot a cap gun before you let him eat is a good way to introduce him to gunshots.

still wont make him not scared of thunder or the a/c kicking on

I feel your pain bro my dog lacks allot of testicular fortitude.

Bubba sometimes dogs take after their owners. Maybe you should act like a tough guy around him. It may rub off on him. I hope this helps.

On a side note TJs dog was a pussy at one time. That dog would only hunt during teal season. Shes a whole different dog now.

Don't give up

You might try getting on your hands and knees and growling barking and tear the water bottle all too hell next time he's afraid of it oh and piss on it and kick grass all over it as you walk off

Some dogs have it, some don't - I think you have the don't, and probably won't ever get rid of it.... Sad to say....

My 2 year old Lab/Golden Retriever cross doesn't mind it at all - I can shoot turtles out of the pond with my 7mm Mag, and she is swimming out to find the pieces - the Lab I tried to train before her would tuck her tail between her legs if you snapped your fingers (besides, she wouldn't fetch either ). That dog became a yard dog - the current one stays in the house like part of the family, and acts very much like the pic's posted above - LOL!

One big mistake people make is trying to use a supersonic firearm to train a dog ( ie - .22lr ) - all shottys are subsonic, and don't hurt the dog's ears like the crack of a supersonic. If you start them off with a cap gun, or blanks (primer only), the noise doesn't hurt their ears (as much) and they tend to not mind it so much. After you work them up, then a real shotgun blast, etc. The firecracker thing - I have used that to teach my dogs NOT to chase cars.....

It has been overcome, but for the most part, I hate to say, gun-shy dogs are gun-shy forever.....

Once my dog learned to sit and stay I started about 100 yards away and shot and slowly worked my way towards him shooting every like 10 steps he never had a problem


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I have a 75 pound bad ass pit bull that will tackle a 300 pound hog like nothing but you get a tiny three mo th old cat any where close to him he will ball up in my feet scared to death and piss all over hisself funniest shit ever.

That is some funny shit lol


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imma try the black cats...

i can make loud noises when he eats and it doesnt bother him




But still why yall think he just will up and get terrified of the dummy?

I was using canvas bumpers, and all of a sudden I could tell he didn't like it n his mouth. Come to find out the sand was pouring down his throat. Didn't notice till after I made him go get it 100 times just to show him. When he was coughing up and trying to throw up I figured it out

Sometimes a dog needs a good body slam

I took mine out at 7 months and leashed him in the boat with us and hunted away. He was like wtf was that after the first shots and tried to get up under me but i pushed him off and he didnt give a crap about gun shots after that. He wouldnt retrieve the birds yet, it was funny, id cut him loose and he would run to the bird look at it and run back......

Once scared of loud noises, it can be pretty hard to break them. At 15months, you better start now.

My dogs sleep through the worst thunderstorm. Although mine don't hunt I did take him to the skeet range and had him sit while I was shooting. The guy I got him from also, had teken him to the pond a few times with bumpers and shot his guns. That was when he was old enough to walk.

I just had a black that got adopted that was scared of thunder. He'd cower and run under the bed or the desk. I took him outside during bad storms. Seemed to help him a bit.

That could be something to try. Take him outside while a thunderstorm is going on.

he sleeps outside... he will hide in his doghouse

i am just dumb founded... i've never seen a lab act this way... and his brother right on side of him is fearless

You need the dog whisperer.

First of all you cannot fix gun shyness. If so I would be the richest trainer in the world. We breed labs and it is amazing how much dogs can differ from litter to litter. Just because he is skittish does NOT make him a bad dog. Making loud noises around him will not help the situation at all and will only make it worse. If he is gun shy, I hate to say it but that is pretty much what you got. If anything, the only thing I would do to make sure is start off with him in the truck or kennel a good ways off and have someone else shoot. You stay with him and make him feel safe. If he seems scared or skittish, have them move farther away. If he seems fine, move closer and closer. Eventually you can let him out and have him walking around (with the gun still far away) if he seems ok with it. You don't want to make the situation worse, but instead want him to feel safe and comfortable with loud noises. It also sounds like he maybe needs to trust you more and have a better relationship with you. The more he looks up to you and respects you the more comfortable he will be around the house. Work on simple obedience and walking on the leash so he knows to listen to you and that you are boss. Hope this helps!

he listens to me well and is a great pet...

its just outside he's not sure of himself

with that said he has been doing good the past week... I got him with my uncles dog (his litter mate) and he was really fired up.

time will tell

If you can get him really fired up about fetching. Maybe a little competition with a solid dog. Then have someone shoot a ways off and move closer. Take your time. Take lots of time. If he acts scared stop shooting and get him fired up again. The idea is to get him so excited about the fetch he forgets about the noise. Might work might not. My dog has been scared of thunder and fireworks since he was two. Guns don't scare him, never have. Guns mean his favorite game, "Shotgun Fetch". Go figure.

My dog was unsure of the gun at first , and I was worried that he wouldn't hunt, I took him to a gun range with the windows up , and parked down the road and sat there and let him here the gun shots of in the distance , at first he coward down and then he calmed down when he relized he wasn't being hurt so I moved alittle closer than alittle closer until I was in the parking lot with the windows down , this worked very well. then I started with the starter pistol from 100 yards away at a pond with his bumper until he was next to me when I shot the pistol , this took about a month and a half to break him but it worked well , then teal season came and he retrieve all are birds. Hope this helps.

I don't know if you could find a dog more traumatized then my female Boykin was when I got her at 7mos old. She was scared of her own shadow and it took awhile to get her to fetch at all and she wasn't excited about it. After goin through the ear pinch and collar fetch portion of force we started throwing her frozen ducks and started with a starter pistol now she is crazy about retrieving. She is in the beginnings of force to pile now and has handled pressure well. I'm not saying she takes it like a hard headed chocolate lab can but my point is if done right you can probably fix the dog if too much damage hasn't already been done.

I don't know if you could find a dog more traumatized then my female Boykin was when I got her at 7mos old. She was scared of her own shadow and it took awhile to get her to fetch at all and she wasn't excited about it. After goin through the ear pinch and collar fetch portion of force we started throwing her frozen ducks and started with a starter pistol now she is crazy about retrieving. She is in the beginnings of force to pile now and has handled pressure well. I'm not saying she takes it like a hard headed chocolate lab can but my point is if done right you can probably fix the dog if too much damage hasn't already been done.