Training a deer tracking dog
Beowulf asked for tips on training a deer for tracking. So here is training a dog Swedish style.
In the picture there are the things i use when training. first the blood. I buy mine from the supermarket (cow blood) and i water it down 50% with water. I put it in a washing up liquid bottle and keep it in the freezer.
The hoof on a piece of string for laying the scent of deer.
Then there is the harness. I like the harness better than a collar as i think it does not restrict the dogs breathing like a collar does.
The tracking line. I have a fancy one in leather but i always use the plastic one as it slides over obstacles and does not get so snagged up on branches and bushes. The tracking lead is so usefull as you have control over the dog. If you have ever tracked a gut shot deer or one with a leg wound with a free running dog you will know how the deer will keep getting up and running on. With the dog on the long lead it is possible to get a shot at the deer before it runs of again.
The bits of coloured tape on plastic cloths pegs. These are used to mark the start of the trail and which way the trail go's. I use two tapes of different colours when i make a rightangled turn with no blood. If you are like me a forgetfull old git its easy when you come to do the trail, 8 hours later to remember where you started and which way you went.
Then we have the tracking device as advertised by a firm that sells tracking gear in the UK. Great bit of kit if you are hunting deer with a dog like i do. But a waste of money for tracking.
Teaching your dog basic obedience you can learn from any gun dog training book. Basic obedience should be taught the same as if you were training any other gun dog.
Deer carcases and deer skin have no part in the training of a tracking dog till the very later part of training. So eat the deer and make your something nice in buck skin with the skin.
A good thing is let the dog have a deer hoof as a play thing for a short period every day. Not letting him eat it.
To start training the pup to track take the blood and sprinkle plenty of blood at the start of the trail. Dragging the hove with the string behind you lay a 50 yard strait trail dripping blood as you go. When you get to the end of the trail tie the hoof to a bush or something so that fox and the like can't run of with the hoof. I hold my finger over the nozzle of the washing up liquid bottle so i can easily regulate how much blood you let drip out. Get the puppy and sit him down a bit away from the trail. put on the harness and lead. Take the puppy forward to the start where you have sprinkled the blood and say go seek or what ever command you choose. Give plenty of encouragement and the pup should follow the trail.
let the puppy play with the hoof when it finds it. after a short while say dead to the pup and take the hoof away. I put the hoof back in the freezer and they can be used many times.
After the a while you can make the trail longer and more complicated but don't rush the pup. It takes months to get them up to a good standard.
You can put rightangle turns into the trail and just drag the hoof and use no blood for 10-15 mtrs. Also the period between you laying the trail and tracking can get longer and longer. Within 4 months of training your pup should be doing 500mtr tracks 8 hours old.
In Viltspår (tracking) trials they use 1/3 of a Ltr blood over 600 mtrs. Ive got my little taxen bitch up to the 600mtrs and i use just a fraction of that amount of blood. It pays to use less and less blood as the pup gets better at tracking. That way they are more focust on the scent of the hoof.
Hopefully you will end up with a real tracking dog and not a dog that will find deer that you could have found your self.
