Thanks, Victoria, I'll sit down later and read that right through - but this section came up to meet me straight away.
Quote:
Now that we’ve clarified that, we’d like to state that some dogs are born bold and others are born less bold, and occasionally – rarely – one is born timid and spooky. That doesn’t mean the pup was born gunshy, rather it has a defect that makes it timid.
Freckles is definitely NOT the timid type. She is scatty, and very high spirited, barks a lot, but is certainly not scared of things she understands. I think that is the problem - she doesn't understand that the noise a gun makes won't harm her and will give her a job to do and a trophy to bring back to Mum. How do I get round that one if I don't shoot myself? The starting pistol isn't any good as I've nowhere to legally use it her anyway. I did ask my closest neighbours but I wonder if some of the further away ones might think it was real gunfire? _________________ Annie
Handle every situation like a dog, if you can't eat it or play with it, just pee on it and walk away
I think your best bet there is Andy Annie - she doesn't need to learn on a starting pistol she needs to make the final connection for the job and that will either work or not. Andy is best placed to help IMVHO.
You need to have someone who will not let you colour her perception (something I am sure I did with Freddy who was terrified of noise) and will look at the problem afresh.
At the end of the day I haven't seen how 'bad' she is and only you know whether it is fair to her to try. _________________ Sue, Chase and the non-Brittany boys - Brice & Piper. Pets first and foremost.
American test...hummm...Don't care for the tests one bit! As for the umbrella bit, hummmm All puppies start with different social skills depending on how experienced their owners are and what they subject them to.( ie Victoria's breeder who had lot of noises)
How often would you come across a bucket of stones
Anyway, I can vouch for Anne's Freckles and her bad experience, sadly she was not the only one and one of my pups belonging to an experienced lady took fright and bolted into the wire of the field where we were sitting. I caught her on route. I can assure you that line is FAR from gunshy in any way.
Having a well balanced dog depends on its environment and the first 6 months of its life, what happens later will be a little less damaging.
We never shoot a loud shotgun near by, and always associated with a bird thrown and whilst the dog is busy hunting.
And also always have loud noises whilst babies so they don't worry.
Interesting stuff...one of the things that drew me to Dionee as a puppy of five weeks old was that while her siblings were all asleep in various places, she was out exploring and I thought this is the puppy for me...I do agree that some are born less bold..you see it even in sheepdog lines, not just our gundogs; I have heard of a Labrador with no interest in field work at all...I guess they are as varied in temperament and interest as we are...I am not a bold driver, much to the frustration of some of my passengers but having worked in A & E in another lifetime (!!) and seeing the often ghastly results of people's rashness, I think I will stick to the speed limit!!
I often wonder if a puppy's drive or temperament has anything to do with their place in the birthing...Dionee was born first and was known to be a teat robber later on...!! Maybe she was just born with bad manners
_________________ "...amitie, respect mutuel et amour..."
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All puppies start with different social skills depending on how experienced their owners are and what they subject them to.( ie Victoria's breeder who had lot of noises)
