Can you really fix a gun shy dog? You get a gun dog puppy. You can’t wait to begin hunting with him, but now he’s showing signs of gun shyness. You’ve probably heard a lot of hunters say that once a dog shows signs of being gun-shy, there’s no turning back. If you were like me, that probably scared the bejesus out of you.

Training your dog up to a full-blown bird dog, or “finished” dog, is a long process. However, training your dog up to a “started” dog comes down to these three things.

Recall is one of the most important skills a hunting dog can have. Here’s how you can start teaching recall to your young pup so it becomes second-nature later on.

You’ll want to wait a few months before training your new pointer puppy on birds. In the meantime, this command is the most important thing to teach him to make sure he’s ready for training.