TBH BLOOD DOG TRACKING, TRAINING, & RECOVERY Thread

[AntlerCollector]

Sorry. Ok this is the pup I started today.

[Froggy]

Advice for folks starting youg pups

Most of my experience is with Beagles. I've noticed that young pups, less than 6 months old really don't have the skills and focus yet to be proficient in blood tracking. They are like we were as young kids and teenagers. Bouncing off the walls and acting like idiots.

My advice is to not rush them. A short mock trail once or twice a week is sufficient. Make it fun and rewarding. Lots of praise.

At about 5-6 months things seem to start to click and they understand what you are trying to teach them. Then it's time to make the blood trails more difficult with widely spaced blood drops, turns and loops.

Once they start really developing that "hunt" you need to learn to read, understand and trust your dogs behavior. After your blood tracker matures and locates game, start "listening" to him/her and they will become the trainer.

[TUCO]

Most of my experience is with Beagles. I've noticed that young pups, less than 6 months old really don't have the skills and focus yet to be proficient in blood tracking. They are like we were as young kids and teenagers. Bouncing off the walls and acting like idiots.

My advice is to not rush them. A short mock trail once or twice a week is sufficient. Make it fun and rewarding. Lots of praise.

At about 5-6 months things seem to start to click and they understand what you are trying to teach them. Then it's time to make the blood trails more difficult with widely spaced blood drops, turns and loops.

Once they start really developing that "hunt" you need to learn to read, understand and trust your dogs behavior. After your blood tracker matures and locates game, start "listening" to him/her and they will become the trainer.

Good info and advice. Thanks Froggy!

[East Texas]

Following

[AJMag]

I just read a tip I think I liked about starting a dog. Said to soak a sponge in blood and hold it in front of the dog's nose, then every time they smell it, give them a treat to help them associate that smell with a reward, thereby giving them incentive to search a trail for treat. Recommended doing this for a week or so before laying a trail. Good idea, or see any negatives about this?

I found some negative responses elsewhere about my chicken blood thought, so I'm back to trying to locate a blood source and hope I can make the time to get some if I find one.

[TP3]

This is Belle. She will be 6 in November. Trained 100% using the Jeanneny book.
As soon as she sees her gear bag and harness she knows it's business time.

Get anyone on your lease to let you track their animals, even "easy" ones.

Haven't lost many dove at all since I've had her either.

Oh, and she is partially blind in one eye due to scarring her cornea as a little pup. She does fine though.

[Old Bald Guy]

Well she hasn't worked her first trail yet but my teenage son says she's an awesome chick magnet.

[TUCO]

This is Belle. She will be 6 in November. Trained 100% using the Jeanneny book.

As soon as she sees her gear bag and harness she knows it's business time.

Get anyone on your lease to let you track their animals, even "easy" ones.

Haven't lost many dove at all since I've had her either.

Oh, and she is partially blind in one eye due to scarring her cornea as a little pup. She does fine though.

That is a great photo Trey. Is that your family?

Well she hasn't worked her first trail yet but my teenage son says she's an awesome chick magnet.

That is a cool looking dog OBG. I would love to see some more photos of her.

Is your son on TBH? If so get him to post up some more pics of that good looking pup!

[Tex]

Hey, Jared, here's Mickey's brother, Gunner. He was the little male runt out of the litter you got Mickey from. High Octane also, but smart as a whip. He scent trailed okay the first couple times but now he knows there's food at the end and just goes running downwind scenting for the food. I'm gonna have to get innovative with the trails. Just doing damage control most of the time now.



[ATTACH]630549[/ATTACH]



[ATTACH]630550[/ATTACH]

Change up your reward. Sometimes the reward can be a good game of tug o war. Or you can put the liver in a container so that he can't smell it.
Dogs typically only wind if there is enough odor for it to be easy for them. If there isn't they will go back to the ground and search for scent.
There have been lots of times when my dogs catch a scent from wind and go to it. Sometimes it is a much more direct line to the animal but sometimes the wind changes and the get lost so you have to go back to a "hot spot" so they can track again.

[jared_bays]

Just ran 2 trails with the Dog Bone hide with a couple of squirts of their blood tracking scent on the hid and a couple at the beginning of the trail and Mickey did great on both. I drug the hide about 100 yds on each trail and put a chunk of liver at the end of both and he did great. We had a pretty stiff crosswind and he got a little off track on the first and when he realized that he had lost the scent he stuck his nose in the air and came right back to the trail. I would be out there everyday doing this, but itbs too dadgum hot. I had my daughter video but shes not the best videographer. I'll have to work on that too.

[Ballcoach10]

Just ran 2 trails with the Dog Bone hide with a couple of squirts of their blood tracking scent on the hid and a couple at the beginning of the trail and Mickey did great on both. I drug the hide about 100 yds on each trail and put a chunk of liver at the end of both and he did great. We had a pretty stiff crosswind and he got a little off track on the first and when he realized that he had lost the scent he stuck his nose in the air and came right back to the trail. I would be out there everyday doing this, but itbs too dadgum hot. I had my daughter video but shes not the best videographer. I'll have to work on that too.

That's great man!

[Lawhorn]

Just did a 100 yd mock trail with my new pup under the cover of darkness and I think I am going to have to start putting him on real animals. He is making short work of these "games". He comes from two working parents so I am excited about his potential.

[TP3]

That is a great photo Trey. Is that your family?

Thanks a lot. That is my family. From left to right belle, myself, my dad, and my brother. My nephew is up front with his first deer ever.
Fairly short track but zero blood, maybe 40 yards. Small caliber (.243) with no exit. I think she smelled him from the 4 wheeler as he was pretty rutted up.

[JANSLEY817]

Sure am loving this thread. Ive been making my pup work for his food a couple times a week. I drip a liver water mixture trail and at the end is his food. Little sucker is getting pretty quick at it.

[Texas Tracker]

Great post! I believe any dog can be trained to track some better then others and some more aggressive then others. A dog with high drive takes to it faster and food is not the only reward you can use. Bella is crazy about her ball so at the end of a track she get to play ball. What ever will motivate your pup. One thing that was the hardest thing for me was to not out track you dog. Thinking the track goes one way and pulling your dog off HER track. My dog ground scents and air scents so a lot of times she will get off the blood and take what I call is her short cut to the deer. Let your dog work! I run her on a lead and when I pull it out she knows it time to work. We did not start her on blood we started her on human scent. My wife and I would take her into the woods and play hide and seek. Using one of my wife's shoes and painters tape. Kim would mark the trail with the tape and go hide then I would let Bella scent the shoe and off she would go. It was a big game to the dog with a treat at the end with lots of praise. She found her first deer at 12 weeks an easy track but she would go from blood spot to blood spot until she found the deer. It kinda freaked her out because there was a big old dead buck instead of a dog treat at the end of the trail. She has only lost one track only because we did not have permission to cross the fence. She is now Texas One Blood tracking certified and I am looking forwards to the next blood track and her next test given my Our own Paul Coffman AKA K9 Trainer.