My ex "peppered" the tail of my beautiful little Brittany spaniel on purpose once when I was not along on the quail hunt. I was furious and looked into how to go about legally peppering HIS tail.
She wasn't really hurt, but according to him, that's how they train the dogs not to get in the line of fire. If they get peppered once, they'll stay out of the way. Poor little thing was only 6-7 months old and was a very well trained bird dog camp graduate, already.
Anyway, it never happened again, but I always wondered if that was why she was such an incredibly fast bolter and runner, so much so that everyone always commented on it!
Actually, I had a guy (not a hunter, a poacher and lowlife) tell me that's how he trains his bird dogs.
I made the mistake of hunting with him once, and he saw my sweet little 60 pound setter (awesome dog) in the field and decided he'd steal her (kept offering to buy her and I told him she was NOT for sale, any price, and I wouldn't sell him a dog anyway).
Finally, I put her in the house, I worried so much about this asswipe with my dog. One day, I let her out in the front yard (had a picket fence) and was watching when he drove by, slammed on his brakes, and pulled over in my yard.
Just as he was headed for my fence, I stepped outside and told him "That dog is NEVER outside without my watching her. She lives in my house, and the only way you'll get her is to come into my house, and I WILL shoot your ass when you do."
And I meant it.