Ear Protection for Dogs

[Bushcraft]

Hammering away at waterfowl with a shotgun a few feet away from my retriever can't be a good thing for my his ears.

Is there such a thing as good ear protection one can use with gun dogs that will reliably stay in their ears in the water and thick brush?

[ghosthunter]

My  first dog set right in front of me in the blind. I shot over her for years. At about age 11 her hearing was gone.

 My second dog sits to the side of me or behind me now. 

Never have seen any hearing protection for dogs though. ?

[Colin]

How's your dog gonna know when it's sent? Respond to whistle or voice commands with ear plugs in?

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[Special T]

I think location of the dog when shooting will be as good as it gets... the dog at heal or slightly behind you. May be more difficult in the boat when shooting seems to be possible in most directions.

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[Curly]

You could get some Mutt Muffs for the dog.

Might want to get some doggles to go along with them...........

[Bushcraft]

How's your dog gonna know when it's sent? Respond to whistle or voice commands with ear plugs in?

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I sort of imagined that hearing protection designed for dogs would be made of the same or similar materials in our hearing protection.  When we are wearing muffs we can still hear reasonably well. Certainly well enough to hear a loud command or whistle.  If one's dog is trained for hand signals, so much the better. Obviously electronic hearing-pro would be even better but I can't imagine them lasting more than a few seconds in a nasty, cold, wet, waterfowling  environment.

Has anyone used these? http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/index.html

[Colin]

How's your dog gonna know when it's sent? Respond to whistle or voice commands with ear plugs in?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I sort of imagined that hearing protection designed for dogs would be made of the same or similar materials in our hearing protection.  When we are wearing muffs we can still hear reasonably well. Certainly well enough to hear a loud command or whistle.  If one's dog is trained for hand signals, so much the better. Obviously electronic hearing-pro would be even better but I can't imagine them lasting more than a few seconds in a nasty, cold, wet, waterfowling  environment.

Has anyone used these? http://www.safeandsoundpets.com/index.html

I guess that's true. I haven't heard of anyone using those mutt muffs though. Looks like a good idea but in practice seems like it might be a hindrance. I guess no more of a hazard than a vest getting stuck on something and I almost always vest my dog.

I usually have my dog out to my side and behind me.

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[lokidog]

If your dog holds to the shot, you can always take them off when they are sent out.  It's something to think about, but keeping the dog off to the side is probably the easiest.

[AspenBud]

Keeping the dog to the side is not going to make much difference. It will just deafen the dog on one side more than the other, much like people getting "shooter's ear."