jrbsr

This is advice for training dogs to find sheds in the winter:

"I didn't really read very much on how to train him to do this. I kinda came up with my own method. I started out playing fetch with an antler with him. After he got to where he really liked fetching the antlers I started hiding them around the yard. Because he was always looking for me to throw something I took a small deer antler and put a lanyard on it. I would pretend to throw the antler i had in my hand which would send him on a grid search. He would find all the hidden antlers I put out and I never hid them in the same place twice.

"Now I take him to the woods in a spot I want to check for sheds. Then I heel and set him to get him focused and I pretend to throw the antler I have the lanyard attached to. He will search every inch of that section of woods to find one to bring back to me. After he has searched for a while and come up with nothing, I have another antler in my pack that I will stash while he is out looking. I do this so he will at least feel like he found something every time he looks for it. It works! He found a matching set last year that scored 142" without the spread added in.

"Maybe after a while I will not need to fool him to get him to search for them. He seems to enjoy doing it, it may be because I get so excited every time I see him coming through the woods carrying one in his mouth."

What is your advice for training dogs to find sheds?

Information from deeranddeerhunting from an email from them.

http://forum.deeranddeerhunting.com/...nting+NL#93159

I hope you can use this.

PY Antlers

How old was he when you started training him like that? I have a female lab, and typical of Labs, loves to fetch and bring stuff back to you. Like yourself, I started throwing a shed for her (lil over a year old) and she will bring it back all day long. But she won't pick up a shed she finds and I'm thinking it's because she doesn't smell my scent on it, there for didn't throw it so she keeps looking. I haven't been training her like this for very long so maybe she will come out of it. Advice........?

Bucky145

I have a german short hair pointer id be happy if he would at least point them out I guess tha be asking to much but it is awesome your lab fetches them !

jrbsr

I wish it was my dog, but it's not.
I got this from deeranddeerhunting in an email, and thought I would share it.

Bucky145

Lee and Tiffany Lakoski have a blak lab that retrieves sheds I saw on there show they mentioned that he was going to be trained to sniff them out dont know if it ever happend still would be cool.I am going out and do it the old fashioned way by myself lol!

NJheadhunter71

I had a german shepherd that was bonkers when it came to finding rocks I threw. They weren't big rocks more or less 1" red landscape stones. I could throw it in a pile of other stones and he would always bring it back. It took me awahile to figure out it was my scent that he was locating on the stone. If I pretended to throw it he would look untill he would finnally figure out to sniff my hand. Then I hid it in my sock and he still found it! What I am saying it you have to have them search for the item and not your scent because you will never get the results when shed hunting.

On Thursday I am picking up a 8 week old Jack Russell for tracking deer and possibly training for shed hunting too. He comes from hunting/working linage and his mom it like OCD when it comes to tracking (fox & coons) and retrieving.