Deer Dog blue print - how they train and use Deer dogs in New Zealand

Siggy

Well-Known Member
Hi,

I've been following this for a while and thought I'd share it. It's pay per view but I'm impressed by what I've seen so far (it's being released in instalments. The emphasis is on deer indication (i.e. pre- shot), so it is very different from scent hound training, but I think it is good to get a different point of view. It might be useful for those of us who stalk with our dogs. Might work better with HPRs than bavarians/teckels. The other interesting thing is the dog been used is a type of collie.


you can see the trailer at:

The Deer Dog Blue Print - Deer Dog Hunting Videos

Siggy
 
Hiya

Thank you for bringing to attention - I'm still training the cat to retrieve.........dont laugh it does work including drop to hand on 'its dead'!

L
 
I heard the guy is very good but I'll ask a stupid question - hasn't using English dogs to hunt English deer been done already?
 
I heard the guy is very good but I'll ask a stupid question - hasn't using English dogs to hunt English deer been done already?


Yes it certainly has been done! but I think the emphasis in Europe is what goes on after the shot, where as this looks like it weighted to what the dog does before the shot. There is a lot of good training books and trainers around for the European method. I think there is scope for both approaches and may deer dogs should be trained for more clearly defined roles. For example, if I lost a deer and wanted a dog to follow up the scent 24 hours later, I wouldn't hesitate to call up one of the scent hound/deer tracking organisation we have in the UK for them to bring up their dog which is specifically trained for that role. But if I was stalking large blocks of forestry I more likely want a dog that can indicate deer and stalk me in on them and then follow up a hot scent shortly after. I think the deer dog blue print is the most detailed training I have seen for that role. It's implied in lots of deer training manuals - e.g. by Guy Wallace, but trust me, it's not just a case of simply training a dog to heel, but this gives a detailed program of how to get the dog working in that manner, and by showing the training on vimeo, you get the insight of the little details that are so important which you would get by watch a experienced dog handler. The only thing you don't get is the feed back on your own training!

Cheers,

Siggy
 
I'd say save your money. Never had a problem getting a dog interested in deer, just need to make deer a pleasant/fun thing. Take Fido out about with you stalking. Praise/reward the behaviour you want. Show displeasure of the behaviour you're not so keen on. Simple!

But don't forget the basics. They're the basis of all the rest of your training and working relationship. Hell, they make general living with a dog tolerable.

Wolfie
 
I'd say save your money. Never had a problem getting a dog interested in deer, just need to make deer a pleasant/fun thing. Take Fido out about with you stalking. Praise/reward the behaviour you want. Show displeasure of the behaviour you're not so keen on. Simple!

But don't forget the basics. They're the basis of all the rest of your training and working relationship. Hell, they make general living with a dog tolerable.

Wolfie

I take your point, and I agree I do think this is a tad on the expensive side especially if when you tot up how much it will cost once the whole series is released, but I guess the guy has to make a living! And you're right, it's all about the basics but so there is a huge range of what people think the basics are and it's not always easy to understand from a book (I don't come from a shooting background so I've learnt mostly from books). I got my first two dogs trained to a reasonable standard, certainly they helped me find a few deer over the years, but I am sure I could train my dogs better, and watching this and this type of video gives me ideas of training methods and exercises I could try out.

At the end of the day, I like to see how other people work their dogs - if only to remind me of how much can be achieved. I learn more in an hour watching Norman Healy demonstrating deer dog training at a DI best practice day than I learnt from all the books I have read. I think this blue print has some ideas that are new to me, so I'm going to keep following the series. May be I'd be better off taking the time to training the dog and saving my pennies but I can't always be out in the woods!

All the best,

Siggy
 
Good luck with the training and I hope it works out for you.

Only other piece of advice I would give you is learn to read your dog. Some dogs mark less enthusiastically than others, but mark none the less. You may get frustrated in your training if you expect a dog to indicate in a particular way, when it would be easiest to let the dog mark as is natural to it, and you adapt. I've found training dogs for deer is very much an endeavour of 2 way communication, and not a 'slave and master' relationship. It's as much the dog training you as the other way round. Honestly.

All the best.

Wolfie
 
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