The Quiet Damage: What Repeated Gunfire Does to a Gundog's Ears

Gunfire is the soundtrack of a working gundog's life. It is also, quietly and cumulatively, one of the things most likely to take the edge off that life. We spend a lot of time talking about steadiness, drive and delivery, and rather less about whether the dog can still hear the whistle at forty yards in a crosswind. Hearing loss in working dogs is not a dramatic, overnight collapse. It is usually a slow subtraction: a missed note here, a puzzled head turn there, a dog that seems to have gone a bit headstrong when really it has gone a bit deaf.

That matters in the Cotswolds as much as anywhere. Our shooting is often close and intimate: hedge lines, beech woods, stubble fields and stone-wall corners where a twelve-bore can feel very loud indeed. A spaniel hunting tight cover may be only a few feet from the muzzle. A retriever sitting at the peg may take repeated exposure across a driven day. A pointer or setter working wider may seem safer, until you remember that sound carries and that multiple guns across a field add up.

The sound you stop noticing

Dogs hear differently to us. They pick up higher frequencies, they read whistle tones and voice inflection, and they rely on sound in ways that are easy to overlook until it fades. Noise-induced hearing loss is typically gradual. The delicate hair cells in the inner ear do not grow back. A single very loud bang can cause damage, but so can a season of smaller, repeated exposures that never seem dramatic at the time.

The tricky part is that dogs cannot tell us about ringing ears or muffled hearing. They adapt. They watch our body language, follow the other dogs, or drift closer without anyone noticing. By the time a handler says the dog has gone selectively deaf, there may be a genuine physical reason behind it.

Early signs that get put down to being steady

A dog that misses a stop whistle at distance is not automatically disobedient. If it happens more often in windy conditions, from behind, or when the dog is quartering away, consider hearing before you consider the training lead. Other things to watch for include a dog that no longer turns to a familiar call, that seems startled by everyday household sounds, or that becomes clingy and withdrawn after a noisy day.

Physical signs matter too. Head shaking, pawing at an ear, tenderness when you handle the ear flap, discharge, odour, or a persistent tilt of the head all warrant a vet visit. Not every ear problem is noise-related. Infection, wax build-up, grass seeds and age can all play a part, and a proper diagnosis is far more useful than guesswork. If your dog is due a pre-season check, ask the vet to look in the ears and talk through any concerns about gunfire exposure.

Spaniels, retrievers and pointers: different risks

Spaniels often work close and low, pushing through cover while guns are active nearby. Their handlers rely heavily on whistle and voice to keep contact, so even a modest high-frequency loss can look like a training problem. A spaniel that starts hunting its own line and ignoring the whistle may simply not be hearing the cue reliably in noisy cover.

Retrievers at the peg face a different pattern. They are often sitting still while multiple guns fire, sometimes with the muzzle relatively close. The exposure is repeated and hard to predict. Add wet ears after water retrieves and you have a dog whose ear health deserves regular attention anyway.

Pointers and setters tend to range wider, which may reduce close-range blast exposure, but they also depend on distant whistle commands and often work in open ground where wind and distance already complicate hearing. A pointer that fails to turn on a whistle at range should be checked, not just corrected.

No breed is immune, and no working role is entirely safe. The question is not whether gunfire is loud, but how much of it your dog is getting, how close, and how often.

What actually works in the field

Dog-specific ear muffs are the most familiar option. They need to fit properly around the ear canal without clamping painfully or slipping into the eyes. A loose pair is little more than a fashion statement. Custom ear plugs, made by a vet or audiology specialist, are another route, but they require a proper fitting and a dog that will tolerate them.

Cotton wool is not ear protection. Nor is a pair of human foam plugs shoved in at the tailgate. Poorly fitted protection can irritate the ear canal, trap moisture, or simply fall out at the worst moment. If you are going to use protection, use something designed for the job and check the shoot or trial rules before the day.

Muffs are not a magic cloak, either. They reduce exposure, but they do not erase it. Distance from the gun, the direction of the muzzle, the number of shots and the shelter of the ground all still matter. A dog should not be parked beside a gun line simply because it is wearing protection.

Getting a dog used to muffs without a drama

Acclimatisation should start long before the first shoot. Let the dog see and sniff the muffs in a quiet room, pair them with food and praise, and build up in tiny steps. Place them near the ears for a second or two, then remove them. Do not force them on a worried dog and call it training.

Over several short sessions, build duration, then add gentle movement, a lead, and a simple retrieve. Only when the dog is relaxed should you introduce distant gunfire with a helper. Keep sessions brief and stop while the dog is still comfortable. If it never settles, do not turn it into a battle. Consider plugs, a different role on shoot days, or simply more distance from the guns.

When the kindest call is a different job

There is a difficult but honest conversation to be had about a dog that cannot cope with gunfire noise. If a dog shows distress, repeated startle, inability to settle after a drive, or a clear decline in hearing and responsiveness, forcing it through a full season is not fair. That does not mean the dog is worthless. It may mean picking up in quieter corners, working rough ground with fewer guns, doing more training days, or retiring from the peg altogether.

A vet assessment should come first. Hearing loss may be partly manageable, and ear disease may be treatable. But if the conclusion is that the dog is struggling, the welfare answer is usually to change the job rather than toughen the dog up.

A Cotswold season checklist

Before the season, check the ears, note how the dog responds to the whistle at different distances, and decide whether protection is realistic. During the season, dry ears after wet cover, avoid cotton buds, and watch for the small changes that add up. On shoot days, position the dog sensibly, keep it away from unnecessary gunfire, and never let safety take second place to appearances.

We ask a lot of these dogs. Protecting their hearing is not mollycoddling them. It is part of keeping a working gundog working, and keeping the partnership honest for as long as possible.