No deer scent!

[foxyshane]

Hello all
This is my first post so please bare with me. I have recently secured some permanent stalking and I want to train my new lab pup to track deer. The problem is the stalking ground is quite a bit from home and my local ground has no deer on it, so no deer sent. When I'm laying my blood trails there won't be any other deer sent around. Will this be a problem when I evevntulally take him stalking and expose him to all that live sent

 

[Gazza]

At the beginning of training the fact that your local ground has no deer scent will not cause you any problems. There will be other scents there and your pup will learn to distinguish between deer scent laid by you and other scents. The fact that there is no other deer scent may actually be an advantage in that in the early stages you do not want him to become confused. As he becomes more confident you will want him to track where there are other deer present and I can see no real alternative but to take him to ground where you know there is deer.

Although I have experience in training and trialling human tracking dogs this is my first deer dog and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. My 11 month old dog has learnt more from live situations than I can teach and I sometimes feel that it is me who needs to catch up as to what he is telling me on a track. I now know when he hits on another deer track. He will investigate but you can almost see his reaction to his thinking "no that's not it" and will cast out again picking up the original track. I am sure as his experience grows he will learn to ignore the other tracks. I have found that in training you must know exactly where your blood trail is. If the dog does leave the trail to explore another scent just stand still and say nothing. Give him time to work it out and only correct him if he is definitely wanting to go off on another scent.

 

[foxyshane]

Hello
Thanks for the reply. I know every dog is different, but what age would you suggest introducing him to other deer scent? What sort of dog do you have?

 

[Gazza]

You have already answered your question. Every dog is different. I would not say that age has much to do with it other than the older the pup the bigger he is to cope with rough terrain. I am no real expert in these matters but training to me is a steady progression introducing longer tracks, different terrains etc always trying to maintain his enthusiasm for the job. Developing a tracking dog takes years of experience both for the dog and it's handler. Each stalk to us is different in some way and I have no doubt that each track we expect our dog to take on will have it's differences. Your own local ground may not hold deer but the ground you use to train on will hold the scent of many other animals therefore his ability to distinguish between your trails of deer blood and other scents is already being developed.
I would not be too quick to introduce your pup to serious live situations but taking him stalking with you and allowing him to "find" a deer that has dropped on the spot can really bring them on. Surprising how quickly they relate to their job. My young dog can be like a clown whilst out exercising with my other dogs but take him stalking and he is something else.