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Scared of bangs

399 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Ian246 
#1 ·
I have a 2 year old beagle. We live right next to woodland, surrounded by fields and this is where we go on our walks everyday. There must be some sort of shooting going on somewhere close and quite often. But whenever she hears those gun shots, she gets SO scared and will pull out of her harness and run all the way home. Is there anything I can do to help her overcome this fear?
 
#3 ·
It’s going to be hard now to get her used to gun shots. I’d start by trying to find out what they shoot in the woods there (each quarry bird type has a season - the pheasant season is over now, as is partridge, I’m pretty sure.). Then you can avoid the area when they might be shooting. Or is it a clay shoot? If I recall correctly there should be no shooting at this time of year. If it’s a clay shoot, you could find out when they’re open - clay shoots are very tough for dogs because there is SO much noise and it’s far more continuous than game shooting.
How is she with fireworks, out of interest? You could approach this like fireworks, playing recordings in the house while she eats, at low volume initially, then raising the volume as time goes on. If she shows any distress, take the volume back a bit and start again. It takes time. You can find recordings of fireworks on YouTube (so, visual entertainment for you as well.) Id try and play them over something with a ‘half decent’ sound reproduction - ideally a laptop or tablet with an attached speaker(s). I don’t think some scratchy sound from a phone will do it. The issue is that gunshot is a particularly loud crack. With my first puppy I slammed cupboard doors and such things while she was eating to get her used to loud noises (and she had no problems at all, so it may have worked) but you’re really beyond that now.
Honestly, though, I suspect you’re going to have to manage it. And find a better harness? She shouldn’t be able to wriggle out of her harness. However, if you do get a better harness, you really should not try and drag her along if she’s obviously frightened - turn around and get away as fast as you can.
 
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