We are getting a pup for our daughter for her burhtday. We are getting it the end of Feb. We are getting a Chesapeake. I have always wanted to try to train a dog to shed hunt, and I am thinking she might be a good dog to try. I was wondering if anybody has any tips on good training methods.

Thanks,
Dan

The more you can take them the better. Give them sheds to play with as pups. Take them shed hunting and if you find horns get them to pick the shedsup before you touch the horn and contaminate it with your scent, then reward them when they pick it up.

I am just now starting to train my 5 year old mut to do this. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but we will see. She is extremely smart, energetic, and inquisitive. She is always trying to figure things out, so I am confident I can teach her. And she is very interested in antlers.

So far I have just got my hands on a few antlers that I don't mind losing or destroying. I started by just teaching her to fetch them as I throw them. Then I would tell her to sit and I would walk around a few trees with the antler in my hand and hide it somewhere, and then give her the command "find the bone." Then I started doing it with more than one antler per turn, my thoughts being that she should understand that there isn't necessarily just one out there. Eventually I will leave her in the house as I go out and hide a bunch of them.

My biggest problem so far is that she always wants to lay down and chew them, probably because she associates them with the rawhide bones I've give her before.