shed hunting dog ?

[hoytguy08]

I have a black lab that I'm tryin to train to find sheds, but I'm not really sure how to do it. I've been havin herfetch a small shed and am tryin to get her used to antlers.Any tips ???

[OHdeerguts]

Congrats on your new dog. i myself am doing the same thing with my black lab pup. I'm also trying to train him to be a bloodtrailing dog. I have some deer blood and a hugh chunk of fur from my my deer last year. so far i let him watch me drag it around the yard. and he trils it. recentally i have been setting it up about 15 minutes before I put him on the trail and he still find it so to say the least I'm excited. I take him shed hunttin with me but no luck as of yet. but it is fun watching him run around the woods.

[dkbs]

Hello
I can't help with how to teach your dog to find sheds. I just got an english setter pup which I thought about training for sheds and bloodtrailing. I thought about giving her sheds as chew toys and hopefully she'd find her own new chew toys once in the woods.
This is the problem I see as far as teaching a dog to find sheds and blood trail a wounded deer. Once taught to track the deer, will she take off on a non wounded deer trail once unleashed while looking for sheds? I would think so. So it seems to me the two don't go hand in hand. Secondly I come to the conclusion for the few times a bloodtrailing dog would come in handy, more that not it may become a hassle. This hassle I see coming from every Tom, Dick and Harry who would ask you bring the dog to trail their wounded deer. Which would be ok once in a while, but bowhunting is my favorite past time. I basically, eat, work and bowhunt. I don't especially want to be tracking other peoples deer to interrupt my habit. Naturally one could say no to those people not close to you, but even the late night phone calls could be annoying.
Sorry that I couldn't help with the question you asked, but I thought I'd just add my two cents. Anyway my dog seems to really want to be a bird dog since her parents were trained hunters. So maybe I'll have to change my habit to eat, work, bowhunt and every so often bird hunt. (boy is she going to be dissapointed when she hears the bang and the bird just keeps on flying)
Well good luck with your pup.
dkbs

[wildlands]

Hoytguy I have a blood tracking dog that I am half hardly training to also find sheds. I do not go to the woods specificlyfor shed hunting just think it might be fun for her to find antlers while we are out walking in the woods. how I am going about it is. She has antlers here in the yard to play with. I will put her in a down stay and then go off and hide the antler. I then come back and tell her to find the "Bone". Because of her trackng ability I have to throw the antler at the end of the trail or she will just track up to were I went. She will search a long time till she finds it which is probably about 70% of the time. We have been out once and looked but did not find anything. I hope this gives you some ideas.

As far as the concern about her running off after unwounded game that is not a problem. I work with her on her come command, but if the temptation is to tough to ignore and sometimes it is when the critter jumps up right in front of her, I always have a back up plan and that is her shock collar just incase she does not listen. I take calls from other hunters to track wounded game. This is the only way you can get enough work on your dog to truly make an exceptional blood tracking dog. You can get calls at all hrs I have been out at midnight before tracking because someone called me at 9 pm. The only number people have is my cell and when it gets late I just turn it off. I check it the next day and if they want me to still come out I go then.

Trained right I do think you can have both a shed finder and a blood tracking dog.

[Rob in VT]

Good thread. I currently have the same idea with my new lab, shed hunting and leashed tracking of wounded game. There is a book which is excellent on tracking. It's called "Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Game" by John Jeanneney. Cover the subject from A to Z. Tracking is taught on a very specific scent, deer blood. When a dog is out for a walk or looking for sheds, it shouldn't take off after a live deer as there shouldn't be any blood on a healthy deer - again they are looking for a specific scent. As far as sheds go, I think you have the right idea. Leave a few out on the lawn and take the dog out. Tell it to "find the bone or antler". Say the same phrase and praise it when it finds it. Once it gets good on the lawn, start hiding them. Then hide them in a field or woods and wait a day or two so your scent isn't there any more and the dog is scenting the shed and not you.

Here are a few pictures of Remi:





Have fun . . . Rob