Lets see a pic of your dog.....
12-20-2006, 10:36 AM
#51
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location:
Posts: 180
RE: Lets see a pic of your dog.....
ORIGINAL: Cara
Two of the terrors I share my house with - Ladybird the Bloodhound and Kodiak the Black Lab/Golden Retriever.
Two of the terrors I share my house with - Ladybird the Bloodhound and Kodiak the Black Lab/Golden Retriever.
01-20-2007, 09:54 AM
#60
Spike
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: TX
Posts: 77
RE: Lets see a pic of your dog.....
inhuntr, sorry it took me so long to reply, I haven't checked the board in a while. It's scary how little work it takes to get a Bloodhound to track. I am involved in Search and Rescue with my dogs, and Ladybird and I got off to a bad start with a trainer who didn't know anything about the breed. I thought she was pretty much useless as a trailing dog and didn't want to work, but it turned out the trainer had confused her and she just didn't know what she was supposed to be doing. Within a week of working with someone else, I had her trailing 3/4 mile in NM's worst country and wanting more. I don't know how yours generally acts, but mine doesa good job of holding down the sofa at home. When I pick up her harness though, she changes into a completely different dog. Bird will bay and tear around the house, then block the frontdoor until she knows sheis going. She loves to work now that she knows she is doing a good job, and she is far better than me.
The best way to start is to harness the dog (so it associates the harness with going to work, rather thana collar which it might link to going for a walk), and put iton a long line ofat least 30'. You don't want to make any kind of correction to begin with when the dog starts working, otherwise it may stop following the trail. Get someone else to make a big fuss of the dog, feeding it a couple of really good treats (like human food, e.g. cheese, hotdogs) that it doesn't get at any other time. Then have them run off about 20' in sight of the dog, dropping a scent article a few feet ahead of yousuch as a sock or handkerchief (something you can carry easily),then hide behinda tree. They should call the dog's name as they run and continue to get it excited. Don't let the dog start to follow until the person is hidden, buttry to get it as excited as possible. Atthis point,walk the dog to the scent article and pick it up, andtell him to look atit, or whatever command you usually use if you have something for the dog(they will generally sniff at it). Seeing the person run away helps them to associate the article with the person to begin with. Nowgive the dog the command you want it to associate with trailing (e.g. find, where is he, go get him). He will probably be eager to lead you to the person with food, and he will start working with his nose to the ground as soon as he can't see them. At this stage you must let the long line be loose so that you don'tcorrectthe dog.Depending on your dog, you will either need to run to keep up, or offer more encouragementby walking faster.
When the dog leads you into the person, you bothneed to make a fool of yourself praising the dog, giving it more treats, and keep this up for a couple of minutes! Don't under-do the praise. The dog will probably think it is a genius for the nexthror so! Mine gets a proudkind of wiggle to her walk when she has found someone. Then put the line/leash back on the collar, so it knows that it has finished working. You should do this between trails too.
After a few times of doing this, the person hiding can just leave the scent article with you as the dog knows that it needs to find something that smells the same. Don't ask me how though, it must be instinctive! It scared me to think I had an animal that big and that smart living with me when I realised she could think like that. You can start to work the dog when it hasn't seen the person leave, just be sure in the early stages that you know where they have gone so you can correct the dog if it starts to follow something else or just takes you for a walk. It is also easier in the very early stages if you work the dog somewherewhere there aren't many other trails, i.e. out in the country rather than in acity park. They advance so quickly when they catch on, though, that you can soon try it all over.
I'd say the most important thing, like with training any animal, is to end on a good note. If you've tried something too advanced, finish with a very easy trail, so that the dog will remain motivated. I think Bloodhounds must be lucky in that they've never been over popular and over bred, so nearly all of them can trail. Mine was a $40 pound dog, and the first Bloodhound i'd ever met, so there was no science to picking her out.
I've tried to keep this short, I hope I haven't confused you. Feel free to message/e-mail me ([email protected]).
The best way to start is to harness the dog (so it associates the harness with going to work, rather thana collar which it might link to going for a walk), and put iton a long line ofat least 30'. You don't want to make any kind of correction to begin with when the dog starts working, otherwise it may stop following the trail. Get someone else to make a big fuss of the dog, feeding it a couple of really good treats (like human food, e.g. cheese, hotdogs) that it doesn't get at any other time. Then have them run off about 20' in sight of the dog, dropping a scent article a few feet ahead of yousuch as a sock or handkerchief (something you can carry easily),then hide behinda tree. They should call the dog's name as they run and continue to get it excited. Don't let the dog start to follow until the person is hidden, buttry to get it as excited as possible. Atthis point,walk the dog to the scent article and pick it up, andtell him to look atit, or whatever command you usually use if you have something for the dog(they will generally sniff at it). Seeing the person run away helps them to associate the article with the person to begin with. Nowgive the dog the command you want it to associate with trailing (e.g. find, where is he, go get him). He will probably be eager to lead you to the person with food, and he will start working with his nose to the ground as soon as he can't see them. At this stage you must let the long line be loose so that you don'tcorrectthe dog.Depending on your dog, you will either need to run to keep up, or offer more encouragementby walking faster.
When the dog leads you into the person, you bothneed to make a fool of yourself praising the dog, giving it more treats, and keep this up for a couple of minutes! Don't under-do the praise. The dog will probably think it is a genius for the nexthror so! Mine gets a proudkind of wiggle to her walk when she has found someone. Then put the line/leash back on the collar, so it knows that it has finished working. You should do this between trails too.
After a few times of doing this, the person hiding can just leave the scent article with you as the dog knows that it needs to find something that smells the same. Don't ask me how though, it must be instinctive! It scared me to think I had an animal that big and that smart living with me when I realised she could think like that. You can start to work the dog when it hasn't seen the person leave, just be sure in the early stages that you know where they have gone so you can correct the dog if it starts to follow something else or just takes you for a walk. It is also easier in the very early stages if you work the dog somewherewhere there aren't many other trails, i.e. out in the country rather than in acity park. They advance so quickly when they catch on, though, that you can soon try it all over.
I'd say the most important thing, like with training any animal, is to end on a good note. If you've tried something too advanced, finish with a very easy trail, so that the dog will remain motivated. I think Bloodhounds must be lucky in that they've never been over popular and over bred, so nearly all of them can trail. Mine was a $40 pound dog, and the first Bloodhound i'd ever met, so there was no science to picking her out.
I've tried to keep this short, I hope I haven't confused you. Feel free to message/e-mail me ([email protected]).