Is my dog gun shy?

Gautama

Before I met her my wife bought a springer spaniel, Julie, as a pet. She was well bred and bred for hunting, but was sold off cheap as she was gun shy.
Then I met my future wife.
I do a small bit of shooting on my uncles land. I wouldn't be an enthusiast, had I not inherited my father's shotgun then I would never have fired a shot.
I've been taking Julie shooting with me since the Winter of 2012. She seemed oblivious of the gun shot so I assumed she'd got over her shyness.
Then one day last winter she got very very odd. Running away from me, sitting on the spot, would come to me, etc. I can't remember much of the details.
Today everything went fine. She was loving the crisp morning and the fields. I took a shot at a duck, missed. A few minutes later I noticed Julie being odd:
Not long after crossing a road into a field she ran back to the road again.
I walked down an inch next to the river. Normally she's run on ahead of me. Instead, and she's never done this before, she ran down along the opposite back. I coaxed her to my side, eventually, but then she swam the length of the river as I walked along the bank! She likes to swim, in and out of the river, but I'd never seen her swim the length of a river section before.
And on, and on, and on...
Frustration got the better of me so I abandoned my walk, put the lead on her, and back to the jeep and home.

Now that I type this out it's really beginning to become clear. This odd behaviour is gun shyness?

She was grand when I went shooting in 2012/13/14/15 but this behaviour has now happened two or three times last season and this.

Eddie B

Yes unfortunately sounds like gun shyness. This is something which is very hard to rectify in a dog. Maybe a shot was fired fairly close to the dog in recent years, which may have resulted in the recurrence of the shyness.

Vizzy

Below is a post that I put up a few years ago about my own dog.

What age is the dog now ? I am guessing 8 or 9 so it may not be worth it to try and "untrain" her.

Best of luck anyway.

"As ye probably can guess from the user name I am hunting over a Vizsla.
Beautiful looking dog and a great nose.
He's 2 now since September.

Anyway I brought him to Birr this year and had a great day.Met a few people who loved the dog/wanted to get one etc.
Was getting ready to head home and I was talking to a lad and next thing the announcer says "next we will have an assualt on the castle with musket and cannon"
With that 12 muskets go off beside me and then a huge cannon.
Long story short the dog goes ballistic and is cowering under me.

Well, my heart sank,I've a gunshy dog !!
18 months of training wasted !!

So I bring him home absolutely disgusted with myself that I allowed this to happen.
I bring him out over the next few weeks making sure that there will be no shots/loud bangs nearby.Then I introduce the starter pistol and initially he is still very nervous of it(TBH the sound from the pistol is more like a rifle crack than a shotgun "blast") but he gets better as time goes on.
After about a month of throwing the dummy for him and firing the pistol at the same time I moved on to the shotgun,at a fair distance at first and then closer and closer.
All the time he is still nervous but not afraid of the gun,if that makes sense, and he will always return to me rather than run away from me when he gets nervous.
So I'm now 2 months in to the season and I have 4 cocks shot over him(and I mean over him) with no ill effects.In fact I shot one this morning but only winged him and he hit the ground and started running straight in to a haybarn in between round bales.Dog goes in and sets him in the barn.
Up goes the cock again and the hunt is on again.I shoot again with the dog at my knee and down he goes.Dog gets the bird an "half retrieves" but that will do me at the moment.

The Vizsla seems to be a real slow burner and at the beginning of the season I wasn't sure if he would hunt at all but I have been running him with the brothers setters and also with a friends springers as well as on his own(like today) to wake up his hunting spirit and he seems to learn a new little trick every time he is out.

Long story short lads-a gunshy dog is not born,he is made so don't give up on the dog,just give him time. "

Gautama

She's 8 or 9 and her primary role is as a family pet, so maybe I'll leave her be. It's a pity though.

delboythedub

Get a friend to fire a shot about 200 yds away while you have this dog on lead and just reasure the dog that all is ok and won't be long before dog realises that sight of gun means means walkies and don't forget to be patient with it and use this exercise to get the obedience message in as the last you want is to shoot and miss something and said dog takes off after it and then chases after it and ends up in the next parish. Best of luck.