Socializing Your Pup

The festive atmosphere of picking a new pup and taking him home to meet the family is an exciting time for all. There will be plenty of oohs and ahhhs as everybody comments on the puppy. Now you must realize the responsibly that inherently comes along with that new puppy. Over the years I have seen several new dog owners make the assumption that the pup is an accomplished hunter from birth. These poor pups will be put in a kennel in the back yard. Regretfully, they will only see their master when he comes out to feed and water them. As that pup grows and matures in the solitude of that kennel, he will develop his own independence, personality and habits, more than likely bad habits. You must be committed to the proper health care, housing, training, and nutrition of your new family member. The bottom line is that puppy can be a joy or a burden, it's your responsibility to direct which path he takes. So what do you do next? First and foremost let's get him socializing with other pups and humans to build some confidence, security, and character into the little guy. Between forty-five and sixty-five days old you should look for every opportunity available to allow pup to interact with others. The puppy has got to build trust in his new surroundings and master. Allow other pups, your kids or grandkids to run and jump with pup, always being mindful of his safety. Your actions toward the pup should always be in a deliberate manner, encourage the little fellow when the opportunity presents itself. The little guy will understand the difference in praises and a stern "No". The best thing I have found to aid in the socialization of the pup is the local playground. Hold him in your lap and let the kids pet and scratch him. The interaction with human touch is going to benefit you down the road when you start training the pup. Allow him to explore, with your careful supervision. Early training sessions with your pup are all about encouragement and repetitive interaction to start the education process. You can't be there every minute of the pup's early life, but you can give him attention in the morning before you go to work and evenings when you get home. Five to fifteen minute sessions, four to five times a week will ensure solid development of your pup. Make special time for them on weekends and days off. Make sure the pup is getting proper exercise, food and care. This routine will start sticking with the pup, or as I call it, branding. Repetitive actions become expected routines. Patience is the key to building a solid foundation for future training and an A+ student. Jim "Duckie" Newcomb, president of ShellShocked Outdoors, http://www.shellshockedoutdoors.com

Avoiding The Gun Shy Pup

I’ve gotten calls and letters from people who had bought a gundog pup from another trainer and were furious that he ran and hid under the truck when they shot a gun over him. I always ask if they had introduced the dog to gun fire before taking him to the field. Invariably I get the response, “But he’s a gundog”. Every time I hear those comments the warning signs begin flashing in my head. My opinion has developed from the experience of raising and training more litters than I can remember. Pups are not born “Gun Shy”, the careless mistakes and miscalculations of trainers and owners force them into that feared state of mind. Of course I am asked if I can correct the pup’s gun shy problem, this can be a time consuming monumental task. There is nothing worse than a gun shy dog for the average hunter. The hunter hates the dog and the dog hates hunting, a no win situation. Re-conditioning the dog not to fear the sound of a gun can be done, but it is time consuming, taking hours of one on one work with the animal. Most breeders don’t or won’t take the time to correct this problem, they just write the pup off as ruined. I have a 95% success rate in reversing gun shyness in spoiled dogs. You can find my e-mail address on my website. Gun shyness is a condition; a sickness if you will that can usually be cured. Time periods usually ranged from one to four months for correction of the conditions. Dozens of pups have successfully been converted to accept the loud noise of the gun and gone on to make good gundogs or retrievers. Not all have been a success story; I had a chocolate lab brought to me once, great dog, plenty of fire and try in him, until he saw a gun. The dog would go into violent tremors, shaking almost uncontrollably. After the sixth week of trying to reverse the condition, I finally recommended the dog become the family pet and the owner start saving for another dog. The owner never would tell me what happened that caused that dog to be so afraid of guns. I start introducing my litters of gundog pups to sudden and loud sounds starting at two weeks old. While those pups nursed on their momma, I tap the concrete kennel floor right next to them with a hammer. I never did this unless they were nursing. It is important to associate the noise with something good, eating! As they grew, the taps get louder and by four weeks old I am hammering on that concrete while they nurse away to their little heart’s content. Starting at 5 weeks, I introduce them to can puppy food. I start slapping two stainless steel bowls together as I walk out to the kennels. The first time the pups have somewhat mixed reactions, but by the time they are seven weeks old, they come running when they hear the sounds of those steel bowls slamming together, they have figured out that noise means chow time, a positive association with the noise. The result is seven week old pups that are just about gun broke. I have another trick up my sleeve that is one of my favorites for conditioning pups to sudden noises. Pups will check out anything new in their environment when given the opportunity. Look for an old metal trash can lid, there’s still some around. Get a pole and run it width-wise through your kennel fence. Tie one end of a cord to the trash can lid and the other to the pole you just suspended. Secure the trash can lid so it is two inches off of the concrete pad of the kennel and stand back! Those pups will crawl all over that thing banging it over and over on the concrete. A pup that is not surprised or startled when hearing loud noises is a pup that will take to gun training very successfully. If you just bought a pup and are not sure how to gun break your dog, don’t worry. It is not that hard. The goal is the same as raising a litter, but we will have to change a few things. You must remember that a dog that is “Gun-shy” has been taught to be gun-shy. Of all the things you do to train your dog, this will be the most important, if you fail here, then it is nothing but uphill for a very long time. Before you do anything else spend a week with your new pup and allow him to build trust and confidence in you, while finding him that trash can lid to play with. After a week, start making evening feeding time very enjoyable and fun for the pup. Start feeding him one third of a can of puppy food. Start right away with a steel feeding bowl. The next evening you go out to feed him, tap the bowl on the can, watching the pup carefully. If pup is a little timid, fine just give him a couple more days of two taps of the bowl on the can before his evening meal. You know you are successful when you can walk out the door banging the bowl on the can while the pup comes running. He is associating the banging with something positive, food. Let’s take it further. Get the help of a friend. Give your friend a starting pistol and tell him to get twenty five yards away from the pup’s feeding spot. When the pup has started feeding, signal your friend to shoot one shot. The pup will dictate what happens next. It is normal for the pup to look the way of the sound. What he does next is critical, if the pup continues to look for the source of the sound, ignoring the food, then don’t try shooting again until the next day repeating the process, but thirty five yards back. If the pup glances at the noise and continues to eat, then have your shooter move in five feet and shoot again, repeat the process, shooting a total of six times. The shooter should end up around forty five feet from the pup. Do these procedures for three days then move to a 410 gauge and ultimately a 12 gauge, (shooting no more than three times a day with live ammo and no closer than forty five feet from the pup). This entire process can take as much as four weeks, or be completed in two, it totally depends on the pups reactions. Using this positive reinforcement method will ensure the dog is secure in his introduction to the gun. I break a dog to the gun before I try to introduce them to any other activity. This is the first building block toward the rest of the training. This method has proven successful over the last twenty years. Jim "Duckie" Newcomb, president of ShellShocked Outdoors, http://www.shellshockedoutdoors.com