spiroxlii
Member
I'm not a hunter, but I recently became the proud owner of a young golden retriever. I'm normally pretty good about wearing ear protection when I shoot, but a couple of days ago I scared myself when I went out shooting with my .22mag revolver. I realized I didn't have any earplugs on me, but I figured it would be fine since it was just a .22. After firing a couple of shots, I could almost feel a physical shock within my ear, and I started to hear an annoying ringing sound. When my ears were still ringing two hours later, I was afraid I had given myself tinnitus like I've read about here on THR. Fortunately after a good night's sleep, my hearing was fine again.
Now I'm interested in protecting my dog's ears. Any time she sees me getting my guns ready to go outside and shoot, she comes running to go with me. She sits next to me and looks downrange, and each time I fire, she tenses up and hops a few feet down range like she wants to go check out whatever I shot and bring it back to me. Unfortunately for her, I'm usually shooting at paper or soda cans. She looks at me after each shot as if to say, "Man, you suck. Whatever animal you were shooting at must've gotten away." After a mag or two, she gets bored and lays down beside me.
Dog ears are more sensitive than ours, right? She's not hard of hearing. She responds to even the smallest noises around the house. I just worry that with me shooting hundreds of rounds near her unprotected ears, I'm going to hurt her.
Is that silly? Do you hunters protect your dogs' ears in the field?
Now I'm interested in protecting my dog's ears. Any time she sees me getting my guns ready to go outside and shoot, she comes running to go with me. She sits next to me and looks downrange, and each time I fire, she tenses up and hops a few feet down range like she wants to go check out whatever I shot and bring it back to me. Unfortunately for her, I'm usually shooting at paper or soda cans. She looks at me after each shot as if to say, "Man, you suck. Whatever animal you were shooting at must've gotten away." After a mag or two, she gets bored and lays down beside me.
Dog ears are more sensitive than ours, right? She's not hard of hearing. She responds to even the smallest noises around the house. I just worry that with me shooting hundreds of rounds near her unprotected ears, I'm going to hurt her.
Is that silly? Do you hunters protect your dogs' ears in the field?
