Can you train a 2 year old lab to track.

[Moray]

Hi guys I’ve been offered a 2 year old lab, it’s trained to retrieve and it’s not gun shy, I do a lot of deer contracting and was wondering you think it would still be possible to train the dog as a tracking dog with it already being 2? It will be my first dog as I’m just starting full time and I’m only 17 so my experience with training dogs is fairly limited.
Thanks for the help.
JP

Never to late . If its got it between it ears . Will never look back

 

[Tracker-Man]

Shoot deer, walk lab down wind until it picks up the scent. Walk lab to deer open deer, feed lab with liver bits.
Sorted, one trained deer dog.

Yeah...if only it was that easy.

 

[sikadog]

Yeah...if only it was that easy.

With one of my labs it was.

 

[Bowland blades]

Folks are way over stating tracking training ! Experience is the most important part , get the dog out with you as soon as its old enough for the ear membrane to fully form , its still a good idea to rewards the bang as we do ( or should do ) with regular gundogs ( after a very minimum of 6mnths ) . Take out just about any dog and it will track pretty much out of instinct and the fact that its the dogs primary sense !
Folks over think dog tracking training , its a lot harder for a dog to find a goose that can maybe fly a few yards and can swim and dive maybe still have some flight . Indeed we mostly are not training we are facilitating what is natural when we speak of dogs and deer
Fenton ! on my god Fenton ! No Fenton! Fenton stop ! Like i state all natural Fenton just had to learn control before he was let off leash . The owner never taught him , but i bet he would have tried to pull one down or Bay like crazy for a hand with the kill .

 

[Bowland blades]

With one of my labs it was.

On my second tracking dog was never trained for it - i simply started him when I couldn't find one ( he already new deer and was an experienced wildfowling dog) . My current was meant for game / rough shooting but i lost the old one so he stepped up . He got to rag at a few dead deer, fed slots and venison regular well previous and was put on the right spot to learn hold them safely , took him out on the real thing . He is totally not interested in birds now
My very first deer dog ? A GWP , i did not get the tracking off the blood trail at first as a true air scenting dog that threw me at first but TBF i do like the Labs a lot more to live with and to work . No special deer dog lines required required in the Labs btw i just get good strong working lines