Ok so I have a bird dog now. 18 week old lab pup. I have been working with her since 12 weeks.
she is learning.

I got a trainning book for bird dogs but she will not read it. No just kidding she already knows more that me.

The problem is.
She does not like fireworks. I am thinking she may not like gun fire. I have not taken her into the field yet. Should I do something about the fourth of July, or just let her figure it out on her own. I don't want to scar her for life.

I was thinking of going to a park near a gun range, so she can hear the gun shots from a far then work her closer and closer over time.
Any thoughts on what I should do.

Be VERY careful! If your dog becomes gunshy it's usually extremely difficult to rid them of their fear of loud noises. When I trained my labs I started off with a cap gun and went to a starter pisol as the grew accustomed to the noise. I made sure they were doing something enjoyable when I fired the gun.That way they associate the noise with pleasure. The easiest way I found was to do it during their feeding time. I would set out their dish,when they got to eating I would go across the yard and fire a shot. I started with the gun down near the ground to kind of muffle the shot. As they grew more confident I got closer and closer until I could touch it off above their heads. Then I went to the starter pistol and repeated the steps.

Luckily, my neighbor is a bird hunter also so he was very tolerant of all the noise coming from my backyard. Good luck...there's alot of satisfaction hunting over a dog thats listens well and that you trained.

Basser
I sure would keep any dog away from fireworks of any kind. They are not the same as a shotgun report and are not associated with a fun thing to ddo or the natural urge to retreave. When those things are going off I would keep the dog inside with me and lots of staying close by. I am not a good trainer but I will ask an fellow board member to address the subject. He is very savy but he's gone fishing for a few days.

Thanks HBP & BigShark

Basser, when you are out training you pup when it is a little older. You should try and fire a few rounds off when he is doing a retrive. Your pup will then associate gun fire with fun stuff and it will no longer be a problem. The club I train with always makes sure to do this with our springers and gun shyness is never a problem.

touch a round off near there heads? thats aweful, do you think a dogs ears would not ring after that, does yours after you touch off a shot, man, thats cruel..

Who said anything about touching a round of near thier heads....

BB75...You'd better reread my post,It says above their head,not near their head, not in their ear or anything else. Do you hunt ducks? Does anybody you know hunt ducks? If a retreiver is properly trained,they are at heel near your side. Unless you are one of the JACKASSES out there that has no control of your dog,and they run all over the place,A dog is gonna have a shotgun touched off over their head.

My lab is 7yrs old and can hear just fine thank you,and she's hunted over 25-30 days per year.
Add all those shots up and she should be deaf right?
Ringing in the ears is a sign of subtle,but permanent loss of hearing. In other words if your ears are ringing after a shot you have lost a small amount of hearing,every time your ears ring you lose a little bit more.

You wanna talk cruel...take up your case with all the other dog owners that never walk them,and keep em' locked in the house all day.How bout the guys that leave em' in the car on days like today.

I'm sure my dog thinks I'm horrible cause I take her hunting and she has to listen to gunfire,swim in freezing water and retreive all those nasty birds...YUK! I can't even put on any camo without her going apesh!t because she want's to go SOOOOOO bad!

Your not a member of PETA are you?

I had a dog that was exposed to a bad experience with an M-80 (damn kids!!). In fact we nearly lost her. When we did find her, I gradually began training her to be more comfortable around gunfire by using a gunfire CD program available in Cabelas. She responded well and had no problems in the field after about six weeks in front of the stereo. I don't know if they still sell that CD though.

Hmmmmm
Sounds like an Idea. along with the cap gun deal.

We made it thru the forth pretty good.
I live by a baseball stadium. that has fireworks every other friday night. So she should get used to it. Sooner or later, and she is.

Thanks for the help.