The American Beagler Forum

Myself and a buddy of mine bought a few hounds about 2 1/2 months ago he bought 2 and i got 1 but i added one more a few weeks ago.
They run rabbits great, Saturday was the first day of the season here and our first time shooting over them and they are a bit gun shy not as bad as i have seen some dogs but gun shy is gun shy in my book and when you pay good money for already trained dogs you dont expect it.
I left the breeder a message is there any curing this?

Some can be cured but it is normally a long hard road. In my opinion it isn't worth it. Cut your losses and get something that isn't gun shy. Did the person selling them tell you they had been gunned over or was it their first time out?

big dog

I was going to say the same as Big Dog, but I didn't want to tell you the bad part. He's right, most of the time they get worse. I have seen some that were so gun shy that when they saw you carry a gun to the truck, they go hide. Sorry for the bad news...............................

hounddog
Jim Umbarger

we were told that these dogs were hunted over alot ,when I shot the gun on the first rabbit sat. they just stopped trailing it

all 4 dogs are gun shy????

after I fired the gun all dogs stopped hunting ,so I tied them to a tree and walked 100 yards away and fired one round and the dogs tried to run the other way

WHOA that's not good. They should have been still on that rabbit and never knew you even shot a gun.

I'd say give them a couple more tries out in the field. Maybe use a .22 or something less in sound and at a good distance. But be sure their on a rabbit when you do this. If they stop be sure someone is near by to encourge them to continue. Yell and scream rabbit rabbit there he is get em or hunt em up tally hoe whatever command you give them. Give them encouragement.

whats the chance of buying 4 gun shy dogs that is bad luck

If you bought them all from the same guy then maybe that is the reason that he sold them. Hopefully not though.

did the dogs just stop barking or did they quit alltogether n leave the country i have seen dogs take off for about 40 minutes or so then slip back in the race n hunt like hell till ya shoot again never seen one broke from being gun shy that i can rember not saying it cant be done just i havent seen it did they go back to hunting after ya shot, i have also seen dogs just quit barking for just a lil bit but still be hunting kinda like theyget surprised by the noise jb

when I fired the gun they stopped barking so I started to call them over to where I missed the rabbit and they wouldnt come at all ,it took 10 minutes for them to come over that is when I tried to shoot far away from them and they tried to go away from the shot .they never ran as if they were scared they just stopped hunting that rabbit .I find it hard to belive thse dogs are shy and I am gonna try again w/ them this week

quote "we were told that these dogs were hunted over alot "
In my experience a dog would know what the crack of a gun is. And then
when called means he missed it again, he seen it and they would bust their butt to get to me to continue the race. I would be contacting the breeder for a refund if he doesn't give it he knew it when he sold you them. JMO
Mike

Dog traders come out of the woodwork in September and have "deals" on all sorts of "top notch" hounds. Sounds like you were victimized by a dog trader that looks for people that are in the market for hounds just before opening day, especially since all the hounds you bought all have that in common. You have to be careful buying hounds just before gun season, the sad truth is that there are people with no scruples who are always ready to separate someone from their money. Now back to the question, after I have expressed my frustration at people who identify with us but give us a bad name. I have never been able to break a gunshy hound, and have seen evidence that it is passed on in some cases, I assume that it is just the timid nature that is genetic in some hounds. Some have been neglected and/or abused and only need time to socialize to a new surrounding. It's pretty late to start over, and you have to find something to do with them, too. The guys here that have made suggestions about how to break them will steer you right, whatever the outcome, good luck with them.

Never seen a gun shy dog but heard of it. We shoot over out hounds as pups so we never run into that, they get used to the sound pretty fast if they know there's a reward at the end of it. Shoot a rabbit over them and let them get a taste of blood, maybe that will help?

I have raised every hound I have ever kept for any period of time from pups except one. I have a 9-year old son and a 5-year old daughter, so my pups have pretty much grown up fearless. If they survive Jessi, they aren't afraid of any ol' gun!