FAMILY PET OR BIRD DOG?

[BIGINNER]

OK,  ABOUT A MONTH AGO I GOT A GSP.  HE'S 9 MONTHS PLD RIGHT NOW,  I GOT HIM FROM A COUPLE OF GUY WHO COULDN'T KEEP HIM ANY LONGER,  I  FIGURED HE WOULD BE A GREAT FAMILY PET AND AWESOME BIRD DOG,    WELL I WAS RIGHT ABOUT HIM BEING AN AWESOME FAMILY PET,  HE GETS ALON GREAT WITH MY KID,  AND MY KID LOVES HIM,  BUT  THE BIRD DOG PART,... NOT SO MUCH.    I KNEW THAT HE NEEDED LOTS OF WORK TO BECOME A BIRD DOG,...   HE HAS A GREAT PREY DRIVE,   POINTS, AND HOLDS POINT EXCELLENTLY...   BUT HE IS EXTREMELY SCARED OF GUNS,...  AND I THINK HE WAS ABUSED BY THE PREVIOUSE OWNERS BECAUSE HE HUCKERS DON'T IF I RAISE MY VOICE EVEN A LITTLE,... SO I AM ALWAYS TALKING SOFTLY WITH IM NOW..  ALSO I CANT RAISE MY ARMS AROUND HIM BECAUSE HE HUCKERS DOWN AND WIMPERS. AND YESTERDAY I FOUND OUT THAT HE IS EXTREMELY SCARED OF OTHER DOGS,  THE GUY I GOT HIM FROM HAS 2 PITBULLS,  SO I'M GUESSING THE PITS DIDN'T GET ALONG WITH HIM (LUCKY) VERY WELL.      SO MY QUESTION IS,...  IS THERE ANY HOPE THAT HE COULD BE A GOOD BIRD DOG,  OR SHOULD I JUST SETTLE WITH GREAT FAMILY PET?

OH,..  AND I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH HIM ALITTLE,  AND HE IS STARTING TO GET THE WOAH COMMAND DOWN VERY GOOD.   HE IS VERY INTELLEGENT,  AND VERY EASILY GET THE COMMANDS DOWN,  SO HE KNOWS ALL THE BASIC COMMANDS VERY GOOD,  AND HE RETRIVES AWESOMELY.


THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT

[Woodchuck]

coming from that sort of environment it will take alot of time to build trust with the dog, it will be slow but he will come around when he learns that you are not going to hurt him, but sounds like he has alot of hurts to get over 

[high country]

your only chance is to break him slowly. while feeding him, or praising him have somone clap their hands, then progress to book dropping, then caps.....on and on. it will take a few months if it is possible. try to only subject the dog to load pops while giving it food......that has worked for me in the past.

[luvtohnt]

He will make it especially if he has a good prey drive and holds on point. Just give him the love and attention he deserves and use some hands off methods of discipline and you will have an excellent bird dog in no time. The above advice about noise while feeding does work great.

Brandon

[runamuk]

he is also in the second fear stage of development so in this case even more diligence with positive reinforcements....lots of praise and happy dance in situations where he is not comfortable and dont try to force him to be around other dogs.....let him watch from a safe distance....desensitizing can be done my aussie went from climbing in the bathtub terrified of thunder and gunshots to simply laying next to me it took a couple years but he got there....main thing I did was not make a big deal out of it first few thunder storms he spent in the bathtub I didnt care I wasnt using it   when the guys would shoot skeet or pattern a shotgun I used this as a great time to break out treats and chews I am kinda stingy with treats so this was like a huge ordeal guns equal fun times....big bang and low and behold knuckle bones appear with meat on them and everything...I am sure I did it all wrong but having had a ton of dogs with issues over the years I developed my own approach...

[Packers10]

Time and patientce are the keys.  All of the advise above sounds pretty good, just make sure you take it slow and make sure you keep observing your dog and continue whatever seems to work for your particular dog....try not to rush it.

[jackelope]

1 great method I've used is to take them to the shotgun range when guys are shooting clays. Start out sitting in your vehicle, progress to rolling the windows down, then walking around the parking lot and eventually standing as close to the firing line as you're allowed to. This is probably not something thats going to happen all in one day so go easy with it.  Positive reinforcement and distraction will be the key at first. He'll get there as long as you have the patience to get him there. In the end it will all be worth it. Hunting over a good pointing dog...priceless.

[BIGINNER]

your only chance is to break him slowly. while feeding him, or praising him have somone clap their hands, then progress to book dropping, then caps.....on and on. it will take a few months if it is possible. try to only subject the dog to load pops while giving it food......that has worked for me in the past.

OH.  I FORGOT TO MENTION,  HE IS NOT AFRAID OF LOUD NOISES,  I'VE SHOT OVER HIM BEFORE WITH A SHOTGUN,  HE'S NOT SCARED AT ALL IF HE DOESN'E SEE THE GUN,  BUT IF HE SEES A GUN IN MY HANDS,  EVEN A BB GUN,....  HE RUNS AWAY TAIL BETWEAN HIS LEGS.  I THINK HE MIGHT'VE BEEN SHOT AT OR SOMETHING,   I'V CHECKED HIM OUT,.. AND DIDN'T FIND ANY SCARS OE ANYTHING THAT WOULD SUGJUST THAT HE WAS SHOT AT,   BUT THE WAY HE BHAVES WHEN HE SEES ME WITH A GUN MAKES IT SEEM THAT WAY. 

[runamuk]

you can still apply the same technique just go slow set the gun where the dog can see then ignore the gun and make the mood fun...slowly the dog will equate the gun to good times.

[Idabooner]

your only chance is to break him slowly. while feeding him, or praising him have somone clap their hands, then progress to book dropping, then caps.....on and on. it will take a few months if it is possible. try to only subject the dog to load pops while giving it food......that has worked for me in the past.

OH.  I FORGOT TO MENTION,  HE IS NOT AFRAID OF LOUD NOISES,  I'VE SHOT OVER HIM BEFORE WITH A SHOTGUN,  HE'S NOT SCARED AT ALL IF HE DOESN'E SEE THE GUN,  BUT IF HE SEES A GUN IN MY HANDS,  EVEN A BB GUN,....  HE RUNS AWAY TAIL BETWEAN HIS LEGS.  I THINK HE MIGHT'VE BEEN SHOT AT OR SOMETHING,   I'V CHECKED HIM OUT,.. AND DIDN'T FIND ANY SCARS OE ANYTHING THAT WOULD SUGJUST THAT HE WAS SHOT AT,   BUT THE WAY HE BHAVES WHEN HE SEES ME WITH A GUN MAKES IT SEEM THAT WAY. 

If he had been shot at he would be afraid of the sound.  I'm betting he has been hit with something long like a broom, if that's it he will get over it when he completely trusts you.  Be carefull not to scare him, but if he does get scared just take the object away and not make a big deal about it to him.  Good luck and lots of patients.

[Happy Gilmore]

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,62827.0.html

Is there something different this time around?

[mjbskwim]

WHY ARE YOU YELLING???

This is really weird.Our GSP when I was a kid would run as soon as he saw the gun or heard the gun shoot,if he didn't see it first.

I'm guessing you are in the same boat as I am right now.
m
My best hunter is gun shy.But she is the best dog I could ever want.

That's the important part.

[parrydog]

I am no dog expert, but it sounds like he can be turned into a bird dog.  I adopted a lab that my aunt and uncle found, they told me he got along good with their dogs and was a very tender little guy.  When the lab showed up I came out of the house and threw my arms up to give him a big how-do-you-do and he he hit the ground and cowered.  I assume that the people who had him before my aunt and uncle mistreated him.  I soon learned that he also didnt like the sight of a shotgun in my hands.  We adopted him in june and by october he had gained enough trust in me that i felt comfortable taking him out hunting.  He also has a strong prey chase drive, had to break him of chasing deer.  He also loved to fetch especially in water.  I used his strong desire to please, i.e. fetch for me, to introduce him to positive experiences while i had a shotgun in my hands.  I would also randomly take the gun out around the house and set it against the wall where he could see it and make him sit while i petted him and/or gave him a treat.  I eventually got to where i would make him sit and pet hime while i was holding the gun.  I also took the shot gun, when I could, on walks so he could see the gun and associate the gun with getting to go out on walks.  Eventually he came to associate the gun with fun activities and now it doesnt bother him one bit.  I also used rough play to teach him that even though I may be yelling and/or raising my hands he wasn't going to catch a beating.  As most of the good advise people have posted on this thread keep the experiences positive and only introduce new/scary things to the dog under controlled circumstances so you can remove the percieved threat quickly.   

[BIGINNER]

well,  i think he is starting to get confortable around me,  when i got i him i couldn't get him to get into the kennel or tuck..   i litterally had to shove him in if we wee going somewhere.  now i can;t open the door to my truck or car without having hive jump into the front seat and wait to go somewhere.  also,  for the first month i had him i never heard him bark.   today i let him out of his outside kennel,  and he ran around th yard barking.   first time i heard him bark... pretty cool.  he has a nice deap bark too   

[mjbskwim]

Sounds like a slow starter.He'll probably come around soon enough.
You do have 9 months to get him ready.