blood trailing

malc queen

Active Member
i am training a dog for trailing deer can i use pigs blood to train it as i can get this more than deer blood thanks for any help
 
i am training a dog for trailing deer can i use pigs blood to train it as i can get this more than deer blood thanks for any help

No is the short answer. The aim of training is to be as close to reality as possible so that the switch to real deer is hardly noticed.

What breed is it?
 
Yes you can use pig blood aswell as cow's blood or sheep blood, even artificial blood or aniseed scented liquid if you wanted

in reality trailing/tracking is all about scent association , but there is no real substitute for keeping it real and deer blood seems to hav a hidden extra to it that causes dogs to go up a gear or two when put on it , probably due to the strong scent it gives off
If you hav access to deer blood then use it, if you don't then use a substitute but don't expect the dog to be as good as you like or as successful on a hard trail for what the dog may be capable off
What does often ruin a good dog is skimping on the training
Hope this helps
 
Thats true stone but my wee mut seems to go even more in sain on a wounded hare sent . Now that might be the trail mans answer plenty of them buggers about.
 
As Barongcw says you are better with deer blood of the species you will encounter,I have known dogs brought up with roe and red show a complete aversion to sika blood,try as many different scents of deer as possible
If the majority of your stalking is roe,weld the dog to roe but don't blame the dog if he comes onto something different and then is not sure
Again better to stack everything in the dogs favour
Saying that I have had dogs welded to roe and found different species without training on that species,a lot would depend on the dog,ie sensitive or bold
I have also known lads who train with pig blood and it does work but as Baron says better to try and keep it real
ATB
 
From what age would you start training your dog to follow the blood trail and is this something that can also be taught to a more mature shooting dog?
 
I have always started pups with easy trails of about 10m in a straight line,around 3/4 months old,only do perhaps a couple a month and then step up the difficulty as you go,put in bends and right angles over greater distances in differing cover,then when the dog is more advanced I start leaving gaps and going over water,without blood too
Older dogs can be trained to do this but I've found your better with pups to end up with an absolute cracker of a dog,note I'm not saying an older dog won't make a good trailing dog but they may be more interested in scents that they are used to already
I prefer pups,mold them into what you want easier
 
i have started my Plummer on a turkey blood trail as that is the easiest stuff i can get, bits of rabbit or deer [if i have any] dotted along the line...it is only a start and i am sure as with everything it would be better to use deer blood but we can only do what we can. he has picked it up fairly well so far but this side of his training and work is not his main so this training is sporadic. not sure he will be patient and quiet enough to be a deer dog...although he is settling a bit now, but as a breed they have a brilliant nose and it may be easier with one from different lines and also if trained for this exclusively...
atb
 
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