Gun shot

[annie]

Hello,
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to train a dog to remain calm and no distracted when hearing gun shots?My 13 months female had no problem with these kind of noises when she was a puppy, but after being in contact with protection sessions and its use of whip, she becames crazy when hearing any kind of sound which might be related to the whip. She stops what she is doing and runs to the direction of the origin of the noise,with an attitude like "what's going on ?.." I am beggining to be concerned about the use of this tool in protection session, maybe it was premature ,I have asked my instructor to stop with this procedure. Maybe her defense drive is very high and is better to not work it now. We are working her for the BH and a future SCH level which we call CAB, is a SCHI without tracking...Someone suggested to punish her when showing this behaviour, but I am afraid to create a conflict in her mind. After all, is better to react than to be afraid...
What would be the best way to resolve this problem?
Thanks,
Annie

[hannahjoe]

Hum, my suggestion would be to work her through it, literally. When you know the gun shot is going to be done, do some attention training work with her, as soon as the shot goes off, BIG PRAISE and BIG TREATS!! But make sure you are heeling with attention as it's happening. And yes, I would stop the whip at the moment, some dogs get crazed with it, especially my girl. We can't use the whip on the ground, it send her into a frenzie. But certainly try and "work" her through it, keep her mind working on something else and praise immediatley.

Lisa
Mom to: Rescue Dogs
Joey, Swept Away By Love: AKC CD, ASCA CD, CGC, TT, TDI, PP, HIC, CS, CI

U-CD, Holy Hannah's Little Mako: AKC CD, ASCA CD, C-CD, TD, RA, BH, CGC, TT, HIC

Nikita, Princess of Saybrook: A Shinning STAR and ANGEL amongst us

[Judi W]

Not everyone even uses the whip and are able to train just fine without it. From her point of view it is perfectly natural that when she is expected to translate that type of sound into action she would not possibly know then she is supposed to show no reaction at all. I'm sure you have analyzed it correctly.

Suggestion. Yes, drop the whip in your protection training. Then, Go out to a place near a shooting range where the sounds will be pretty constant, but not so close that they are too loud. Have a picnic, do a bit of work, not too much. About a hour of sound like that in the distance it becomes background instead of impinging. Then do it again, going a bit closer.

[Luvs]

I had a similar problem with Akasha this summer. Our problem started right after a seminar in which the helper used a lot of whip.
I was doing some off lead heeling (my first mistake) and as soon as she heard the gunshot she ran to the blind looking for a helper
I put her back on lead and did some more heeling, making sure that I had her attention, just before the gunshots went off. This time I was ready and when she tried to take off I corrected her and we continued to heel. We continued to work on her heeling during the gunshots, every time she looked away she got a correction and rewarded when she gave me her attention. The first time she kept her eyes glued to me during the gunshots she got her toy and a good game of tug.

She is now much better about keeping her attention on me during the gunshots, but every now and then she does forget herself and will do a quick check for the helper before looking back at me, but always remains at my side. I just make sure that I am ALWAYS ready during the gunshots so I can correct her if needed.

We did also cut WAY back on the use of the whip during protection.

When Akasha first took off running I was really upset, because I thought she was scared, until I saw where she was running to Interestingly enough, when she had been on the long down she never even flinched during the gunshots, it was only when she thought she was going to get to do some bite work that she got amped and took off for the blind. With her it was an obedience issue, not a nerve issue.

[lblax]

many inexperianced and many experianced but over zelous helpers over use the whip and sometimes it is also over used trying to keep the undriven dogs drives up during protection.. at 13 months she is still nothing more than a pup and probably isnt even showing natural aggression or defense yet while it is ok to put some pressure on a young dog like this they shouldnt be forcing this age of dog to work in defense which to me that sounds like what is going on.....i have a few questions for you
1 are you working with a club or a private trainer??
2. im sure your dog is capable of tracking why would you go for a shcA title that only does ob and protection the sport is a 3 disipline sport and while it is ok to drop protection if your dog is not suited for it and pursue ob and tracking titles it is never ok to do the protection and drop one of the other venues you see any dog unless they have a physical handicap can do the obediance and tracking

[annie]

Thanks to everyone for the prompt answer. All suggestions were very welcomed and I will try the long down before looking for a place like Judy described...I agree with the remarks made on use of whip in young dogs, I have already deleted it.
It is good to know that my problem is not unique...
Regards,
Annie

[annie]

Originally Posted by lblax

many inexperianced and many experianced but over zelous helpers over use the whip and sometimes it is also over used trying to keep the undriven dogs drives up during protection.. at 13 months she is still nothing more than a pup and probably isnt even showing natural aggression or defense yet while it is ok to put some pressure on a young dog like this they shouldnt be forcing this age of dog to work in defense which to me that sounds like what is going on.....i have a few questions for you
1 are you working with a club or a private trainer??
2. im sure your dog is capable of tracking why would you go for a shcA title that only does ob and protection the sport is a 3 disipline sport and while it is ok to drop protection if your dog is not suited for it and pursue ob and tracking titles it is never ok to do the protection and drop one of the other venues you see any dog unless they have a physical handicap can do the obediance and tracking

Larry:
I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and theres no SCH club in my town. The nearest one , which is a very good club,is about 5 hr car drive .I make this trip once a month.They are a PA Entity and accept us in a non official basis,they are not allowed to receive RW in their field.I train with a private trainer and on my own when I am not there to fix my difficulties... It's hard, but I will not give up .
Regarding what you say about SchA, if I have understood you well, you are totally correct when saying that the sport is a 3 sessions sport, but I am having many problems in finding appropriate tracking fields in my area and I still have to learn a lot about its techniques. The people from PA are giving me a lot of tips , lets see if I improve on it.
Sorry for my English, and thank you for yr input re the whip use, I now see that it was a mistake. We are presently working in prey drive only and she is doing quite well.
Regards,
Annie

[lblax]

another suggestion is see what kind of blank gun your trainer is using if he is using a 22 short caliber switch to a 22 magnum or a 32 or larger caliber even though they are loader they dont mimick the whip...

[annie]

Tks, I will ck that.

Annie

[mrsgrubby]

I don't mean to be so stupid, but this is a forum to learn from so I am going to ask.
What is a whip and what are you doing with it? I'd like to understand what is being discussed here.
Thanks