Labradoodle as deer tracking dog

[RescueMe0007]

I am curious as to the experience other people may have had with Labrador/poodle crosses as deer tracking dogs? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

 

[wag]

The only way your going to find out is by lay a track . We can talk about for weeks but it's still not going to give you the answer. Only the dog knows. But I'm pretty sure if you drag a pluck about a Field and present him to it with wind behind him he'll just get on with it. That's the start.

 

[Bowland blades]

No reason you cannot employ any dog ( deer are the most natural prey of dogs ) . If you want to do this just go through proper acclimatisation to gunshot and do a few drags , the dog will soon show you if its up for it ! I would never buy a random bred anything and expect great things but that doesn't mean that it is not capable - half the mix inho is perfect for just about a premium choice for 90% of dog work tasks on the planet.

 

[Heym SR20]

Labradors are excellent dogs at retrieving and finding things

Poodles are excellent dogs bred for hunting

Both are very keen to please their masters

Cross the two you get hybrid vigour, lack of hair shedding.

Labradoodle and cockapoos are being used as sniffer dogs etc so no reason why the shouldn’t be a good deer dog. And they are intelligent enough to work out that “if I point out a deer and your are clever enough to shoot it then I can find and I get lots of yumminess and a fully and then fart for the next few days”.

 

[Bowland blades]

You "could get" you mean it can go either way LOL, That's why so many ended up in the pet trade .

 

[SikaSeeker]

Poodles aren’t a working dog in Europe or many other places. Why would you start with that breed. I’m sure the poodles bred in uk aren’t anywhere near a standard to think about using for hunting.
Someone mentioned dragging a pluck around, sure I could even follow the scent of that, it’s not a realistic situation.

 

[big ears]

Three years ago this old boy past at age if 13. Between 6 and 9 he found so many deer. Never taught him he just picked it up himself. I’m sure it was aided by the fact he got a kidney as a reward.
He was a family dog first and foremost but had a fantastic nose which i underutilised.

Give it a go is all I say you might be surprised.

 

[25 Sharps]

Poodles aren’t a working dog in Europe or many other places. Why would you start with that breed. I’m sure the poodles bred in uk aren’t anywhere near a standard to think about using for hunting.
Someone mentioned dragging a pluck around, sure I could even follow the scent of that, it’s not a realistic situation.

Eh?

Poodles were bred originally as a water dog and are still used as such, they're also game, one of my landowners had a standard poodle that he said was the best dog on badgers (pre Badger Act) he'd ever seen.

 

[SikaSeeker]

Eh?

Poodles were bred originally as a water dog and are still used as such, they're also game, one of my landowners had a standard poodle that he said was the best dog on badgers (pre Badger Act) he'd ever seen.

Yes originally bred for work. But the stuff bred in uk is very far removed from any work. One man’s standard is different to another’s. Lots of people go on about their dog was great at the above but to what standard? What the poodle done will be different to what a black terrier will do. I’d take his comment with a pinch of salt. Not trying to come across as a dick but it can be hard enough to get a purpose bred dog to do what it’s meant to do. Look at the Wheaton terrier for example, it’s now a fluffy teddy. My uncle used to work/trial them back in the day.

 

[Bo Diddley]

Standard poodles.. I watched one this year rinse every dog in the "Scurry" at a local Country fair, it was quick and handled well, the lass that ran it had trained it well.

 

[co’den]

If you’re looking at a “pure” labradoodle, as in a lab x poodle or an F2 cross, I think it would have a good chance of being a really good dog.
If, on the other hand, you’re looking at a UK bred “Australian Labradoodle” then there’s no way of knowing what’s in the mix.

Here’s Frank, an F2, sadly lost a couple of years ago at 16. He was a cracker.

 

[pendle]

All dogs will work some better than others.
Get what ever breed or cross of dog you want
Weather it's a dog ,bitch and colour you want

 

[25 Sharps]

Yes originally bred for work. But the stuff bred in uk is very far removed from any work. One man’s standard is different to another’s. Lots of people go on about their dog was great at the above but to what standard? What the poodle done will be different to what a black terrier will do. I’d take his comment with a pinch of salt. Not trying to come across as a dick but it can be hard enough to get a purpose bred dog to do what it’s meant to do. Look at the Wheaton terrier for example, it’s now a fluffy teddy. My uncle used to work/trial them back in the day.

I’ve know of a standard worked on a shoot locally and it did well. Though the vast majority are probably no good there will be the odd throwback to the working riots that excels. A massive gamble though, I do agree.

 

[Bowland blades]

Yes originally bred for work. But the stuff bred in uk is very far removed from any work. One man’s standard is different to another’s. Lots of people go on about their dog was great at the above but to what standard? What the poodle done will be different to what a black terrier will do. I’d take his comment with a pinch of salt. Not trying to come across as a dick but it can be hard enough to get a purpose bred dog to do what it’s meant to do. Look at the Wheaton terrier for example, it’s now a fluffy teddy. My uncle used to work/trial them back in the day.

We need to keep in mind that a dog no matter the breed has far more natural ability to find downed deer than any human , even when it gets just a little training / experience . Now if we where talking cold tracking call outs and passing the DTUK standards etc with cold trails or the ability / motivation or physical ability to hold a beast at bay or physical restraint, that's totally another matter again. The majority of the dogs time it will be at heel or in the truck .
The guys that do regular call out under DTUK and there dogs will very well do more tracks in a year but it should be a very rare something actually goes wrong .

 

[8x57]

Irrespective of breed either a dog has the right instinct or it hasn't.
My youngest daughter has a "Labradoodle" it's only a pet but I can see that the dog shows some signs that it could be trained for work.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

This could go on for pages and we'd still be no wiser. Points to consider - as have been mentioned;

1.) How is the labradoodle bred?
2.) Is there an actual dog in mind or purely theoretical? If there is an individual dog in mind - that dogs character will be key to the answer
3.) What standard of tracking are you referring to - death run deer and hot trails or.....the difficult stuff? I would wager almost any breed could track 200 metre fresh trails.
4. How capable/dedicated are you as a trainer?

 

[RescueMe0007]

Thank you for all the input. Much appreciated for taking the time to respond. To answer a few of the questions. The animal in mind, is a female pup, 3 months old. Sire is a standard poodle, dam a labrador. Very healthy, lively pup, seems to have a sociable temperament. My daughter is very taken with her. It will be a complete punt on her. The dam was never worked on game, fur or feather. As to my capacity, experience and patience in training her, well I'll know more in about nine months!

 

[merlin]

The dog you can see in my profile pic was 1/2 lab, 1/4 standard poodle, 1/4 Irish water spaniel.

She is no longer with us, but she was a phenomenal gundog. Easy to train, obedient, fast, an outstanding retriever, happy to crash into undergrowth like a springer despite being 32kg.... She was brilliant and is much missed.

....and yet she was soft as a brush, hugely affectionate, and great with the kids as well.

Could it have gone the other way & been a disaster? Of course. But my point is that it is easy to write off crossbreeds, and there will be some that are rubbish, some that are great, and some between the two. A bit like springers, labs, cockers, etc really.

 

[lovelyloopystuff]

I've managed to get a rescue mongrel to do some pretty good tracking just by taking him along on stalks and giving him a feed on the successful ones when we find a carcass.
One day the penny dropped and they can now follow a blood scent a good way, helped me out a good number of times.

All dogs have a much better sense of scent then you or I, and they all like fresh meat, so trust them to help you find the deer!

 

[dogman56]

We 'rescued' a standard poodle x Golden Retriever from my ex daughter-in-law. The dog is 3/4 poodle 1/4 retriever. She is very good at tracking foxes, but is big, loud and can't swim but loves water if she can put her rear feet down. Near deep water she has to wear a buoyancy aid!! She lives with 3 spaniels and thinks of herself as a spaniel.
She is very fast on the retrieve probably due to her long legs and has good stamina. 10 mile walks across the mountains aren't an issue.