Puppy introduction to Deer scent?

[aboynamedjim]

Hi all,

My pup is only 9 weeks old and I am following the big game indicating blue print for training. I want to train her to indicate & track deer and find truffles. (plentiful where I stalk)
I'm hearing conflicting views on introducing deer scent this young. Some say to let her chew on some fresh hooves in the crate, and to do simple playful skin drage across the lawn, others say to *only* work on recall and basic training, and anything else will ruin her.

All opinions welcome!

Mmay thanks,

Jim

 

[deerstalker.308]

@stalker.308

 

[sh1kar]

@cookingfat

 

[stalker.308]

I dragged a rear hoof, some skin and a little blood at 4 weeks old at the breeders place, and continued weekly there and when home carried on in the garden until vaccinated. Did it do much positive? It certainly did not do any harm and she is a brilliant tracking dog now. At time she was interested in other things a little more so I would end a track sooner and just play with her. Sometimes I would put her dinner at the end of the track, other times put some treats at regular intervals on the track.

By the time mine was vaccinated and could go wider, we were on to tracking shoes and blood only. Great times and thoroughly enjoyed the early stages.

 

[aboynamedjim]

Much appreciated, thank you!

 

[fallowfellow]

Mine chewed on deer legs and ribs from before I even had her. A roe foreleg used to last a week or two and I’d chuck it due to the smell. Now they last and hour or so.

Also blueprint trained, albeit with a fair few compromises. She is very keen on deer and if let her lead we almost always find them. Cold tracks of 12 hours are quite straightforward for her ( set with dragging legs, will graduate to tracking shoes soon).

She has always been quite an intense wee thing but is gradually calming down while stalking. Perhaps I introduced her too early on the real thing but our circumstances changed and I ran out of time to train her and hunt separately.

If I was doing it again I would get past the teenage revolt of 6 months where it all went out the window while still doing the turns etc away from live game and stick with programme on skin drags, sit to shot etc.

kennelling definitely meant she was wired to ‘on’ anytime she was out. Now moved inside we get to enjoy more chilled time and we skipped the ruining the house phase.

It does give a great dog but she is still a work in progress and will be two in Aug. Any deficiencies are just part of our learning curve in training her.

 

[Keith Edmunds]

What breed is she and how is she bred?

 

[LarryLightFoot]

My wee man just turned three months last week, taking it easy and just working on basic obedience at the moment . Don’t have any hide or legs at the moment and can’t get back out till end of the month when I’ll be able to take him to my permission and start introducing to all sorts of scents ( he only knows his urban garden ) aim is to get some Munty’s cleared asap and then use the legs and hide to introduce him to their scent .
He’s a BMH x Lab .

 

[NullMac]

I took mine with me when I went stalking, left him in the car. When I shot one I went and got him. I dragged the deer back to the car with the lab riding on its back !

I never needed to do anything else other than get him to be steady. He will indicate and track just fine. No harness required, just restrain his enthusiasm a bit by voice and he will track 2 meters in front of me. Not 100% reliable ! I am not a fan of him tracking loose on antlered deer, I like my dog and dislike vets bills.

He was older than yours. Plenty of time. Let her be a pup for now. Give her time to learn at her pace. I don't buy the rigid view on the right way and wrong way to train, let the dog develop naturally so it is sociable and understands what is expected of her in various situations. Most things a dog will work out for itself if you introduce them safely. I also take the view that I don't want to overtrain a dog, I want to rely on its natural skills not train that out of them so it is looking to me for instruction.

 

[Dave RG]

What does the blueprint suggest you do?
That's not a dig, genuinly interested as I plan to train my next dog up using this method.

 

[aboynamedjim]

What breed is she and how is she bred?

She is a Lagotto and bred from scent work lines (mostly for truffle)

 

[aboynamedjim]

What does the blueprint suggest you do?
That's not a dig, genuinly interested as I plan to train my next dog up using this method.

What does the blueprint suggest you do?
That's not a dig, genuinly interested as I plan to train my next dog up using this method.

In the BP, I think he introduces scent work around month 5. I'm in right at the early stages as she's only 10 weeks

 

[John Gryphon]

If the pups are reared in a yard a suspended part of a deer whether hide or lower leg can really interest pups in their games of chew,tug,swing etc and what`s ever better is to feed them deer with the hide on,let them peel the meat from the hide. Refresh with new hide when possible...there is no denying wtf that scent is to them when they are in the field.
I consistently maintain its never to young an age to introduce pups to their future. I actually shot a stag one morning from the Kubota with the 7mm (laying on the seat.) They never moved a muscle as they knew "bang means fun time." Other rifle is the trap .22. They were immediately taken to "find the deer" down the hill and weren't they as proud as pi$$ too.




Another day another deer. If you want deer dogs train them on deer.

 

[hendrix's rifle]

Mines 4 months now, working well on tracks. It started with hide drags with a drop of blood, now he is quite capable of a single hoof and no blood which has aged a few hours. I'm gradually increasing time and distance. He's getting there slowly and knows what the score is. He will point and air scent at live deer however I'm still learning his 'tells'.
When I got him at 8 weeks he was fed a piece of roe and played tug of war with a piece of hide.

On the flip side, my shepherd was introduced properly to deer later on in life and she turned out great. She's found me a good number of live deer so hopefully the pup will too

 

[Keith Edmunds]

She is a Lagotto and bred from scent work lines (mostly for truffle)

Thanks, I have absolutely no first hand knowledge of the breed, as such, very hard to give and advice on timings of training - good luck and regardless - have fun

 

[cjm1066]

Scenting is an instinct that needs developing, I started when mine was 8 weeks, tiny bit of liver on a string across the lawn.

 

[Heym SR20]

our Hound very quickly got the idea that deer blood equals lots of yumminess. She is a little on the keen side so I stalk with a long leash on the floor so can just stop her with my foot if needs be.

My biggest challenge was lockdown, when I effectively lost two years both due to restrictions and suffering with Covid itself so I didn’t get the 3rd and 4th years of training into her. She is a family dog that is also a great hunting companion with lots of character.