Awesome, thanks for the tips! I think I have a good bit of ground near by that would work for the suggestions here. cant wait to get started.Great start for Taff!
Moaky, unless you want your dog to track rabbits, use deer legs or skin to make drags to start with. You can set up air scents with skin set up on a stick and bring the dog in from downwind.
As it gets better, move onto tracks with hooves making steps using tracking shoes or out the hooves on the end of a stick.
To train a dog to follow one deer, I’ve read that you should use matching hooves… it does seem logical. How else are they to learn to pick out a single track from many. Similarly, the blood is said to be best matching the animals from which to hooves came. Not difficult to achieve. Just bring a water bottle on a stalk, scoop blood into it, I also water down and add salt to help stop congealing too much. I freeze the bottle with the matching hooves in a plastic bag together.
Build up to laying tracks the night before and going out in the morning. I sometimes leave a leg or ear etc at the end of the trail… but if a risk for the overnight ones but good to have a natural end to the track.
I did a lot of following deer tracks/ air scent with our dog. Just go some where deery, walk across the wind until they pick up a scent and then let them follow it. See how close you can get. Train distance and discipline while doing it. If ranging? I found a sit command effective as it doesn’t break the direction of travel.
I take her on every stalk, every shot deer is tracking practice with a great reward at the end
All of my training was with a longline either as a slip lead or onto her collar. One thing I have noticed is if the dog is a bit speedy/ excitable, hitting the end of the line can be interpreted as a command not to go that direction by the dog.
Recently, with the dog now a little over three, we have done a few off lead. One in particular with an injured deer approx 4 hr old track and with it seen headed towards a boundary. I felt it crucial not to influence the dog so let her off lead and range a bit. Made her sit if getting too far. Track was close on 1km and I had given up thinking the dog was messing about especially after crossing a stream twice but then just after second crossing she dove into a clump of grass and there was the deer. Very gratifying. The training does pay off!
Good luck Moaky. Jagare, sounds like you are onto a winner, do keep the updates coming!
The start of tracking training
- Thread starter Jagare
- Start date
LlygodenFawr
Well-Known Member
Fantastic
so happy to read this.
Jagare
Well-Known Member
I had a Spaniel many years ago called Bronson. He was my spaniel of a lifetime even though I've had good spaniels since. Taff is giving me the impression that he is going to be a labrodor of a life time allowing he is the only Ladrador I will have in my lifetime.Fantastic
Lead training, walking perfectly on the lead with no pulling from day one. Sitting to command, no problem. He sits to whistle and hand signal. Sitting while I walked away, in very short order I could walk a hundred mtrs away from him and he would not move an inch. Each time I would walk back to him to release him from Sitting. So I decide to go back to 10 -15 mtrs and call- whistle him in. Would he move from the Sitting position? Not a chance. We have made progress with me whistling without a whistle kneeling down and plenty of encouragement. I can stop him on the whistle and call him back if he's too far out looking for a dummy.
Dummy training, he has great style and nose to the ground also marking the dummy. He comes back full speed to deliver the dummy to hand.
Still a lot of training but plenty of time before next year's duck season.. so no great rush with the training.
LlygodenFawr
Well-Known Member
His sister is coming along too 
Richardmcgrath
Member
I've trained and ran gundogs for years, ran in tests and trails. But I'm now training my 1st lab for tracking deer.
cookingfat
Well-Known Member
Good to see, Track training is not difficult just takes up a little more of our precious time but if you've trained gun dogs you will understand this.
I'm on my fourth tracking dog and this young one is a Lab.
As you know no two dogs are alike and you have to try and bring the best out of what you are working with at the time.
I have high hopes for my latest dog but time will tell.
Good luck with your training and keeps posted on your progress
Tony
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