TBH BLOOD DOG TRACKING, TRAINING, & RECOVERY Thread

[pyrobow]

Lol

[Steve_243]

Daisy just tracked my bacon and eggs all the way from the stove to the table. She's a natural.

Good puppy

[JonBoy]

That’s it!

Awesome...I appreciate the advice!

[Ballcoach10]

I will try my hand at offering some helpful advice this morning.

From when I first started training kimber I created her a "work bag". Just like many have stated just something for her to associate its time to trail. I bought a big fanny pack as I figured it made sense, I can keep all her stuff in it and as I trail, I carry it on me With water , treats, reflective markers etc.. In it. When she sees it go to the truck she goes nuts.

Fanny pack



I keep her lead rope in it, her orange vest that she tracks in, my gloves and some treats

The fanny is especially helpful if you track on lead!

[Tex]

Ok i haven't had time to read all the posts so this may have been covered already but here goes.
The dog that I have now is the 4th tracking dog that I have owned but she is the first that has only been trained by me. The others were already started. I got her when she was 9 weeks old I believe and for the first 3 weeks that I had her she "worked" for every bit of food that she got. I would measure her food out each day and I used it to reward her for her basic commands (sit, come, stay, down). I would also roll her food across our large floor at the shop and have her "find it". I also played lots of tug-of-war with her early on.
I had decided based off of some of the problems I had with my previous dogs that if I ever trained one myself that I wanted them to search for whatever I put them on. Not just blood. Many times I have been called to track a deer that didn't leave any blood until its abdominal cavity filled up so you could go several hundred yards before you have the first sign of blood. Also alot of times you are tracking stomach juices instead of blood.
So once Libby figured out what "find it" meant I started having her track other things that I put her on. I would always reward her with food or some treat.

When she was 5 months old I shot a hog that I thought I had smoked so I decided to let her take up the "easy" trail. At this time she had never even been on a mock blood trail. I let her smell the bloody arrow and she took to it like crazy. Several hundred yards in, the blood trail had almost completely vanished. Just small drops every 10 to 15 yards. She stayed hooked and when we got to the pig it was still alive. I was beyond proud.
I can't remember how many deer she found this past year but she did a great job.

I still run her on Mock trails but I rarely ever use blood. I typically just drag something. I also play games with here to get her to use her nose. I hide her food all around the house and tell her to find it. I will hide tea bags and tell her to find them and reward her when she does. Just anything to get her to use her nose.

Some helpful tips. Learn to read your dog. You should be able to tell when she is "hot" on a trail or when she is "looking" for the trail. When they are "hot" don't bother them. When they are "looking" you can do things to help like circling back to the last place they were hot.
Everyone likes to see a good dog work but keep spectators way back so they don't contaminate the trail. If it is a hard track I don't let anyone go but me and one other person so they can stay at the "hot' spot if she gets a little lost.

[JANSLEY817]

I have a buddy that works with blood hounds. They do search and rescue type stuff. He told me that you want to teach a dog to track a scent not just blood. Just like Tex said the blood isnt always present, but there track is.

[TUCO]

Ok i haven't had time to read all the posts so this may have been covered already but here goes.
The dog that I have now is the 4th tracking dog that I have owned but she is the first that has only been trained by me. The others were already started. I got her when she was 9 weeks old I believe and for the first 3 weeks that I had her she "worked" for every bit of food that she got. I would measure her food out each day and I used it to reward her for her basic commands (sit, come, stay, down). I would also roll her food across our large floor at the shop and have her "find it". I also played lots of tug-of-war with her early on.
I had decided based off of some of the problems I had with my previous dogs that if I ever trained one myself that I wanted them to search for whatever I put them on. Not just blood. Many times I have been called to track a deer that didn't leave any blood until its abdominal cavity filled up so you could go several hundred yards before you have the first sign of blood. Also alot of times you are tracking stomach juices instead of blood.
So once Libby figured out what "find it" meant I started having her track other things that I put her on. I would always reward her with food or some treat.

When she was 5 months old I shot a hog that I thought I had smoked so I decided to let her take up the "easy" trail. At this time she had never even been on a mock blood trail. I let her smell the bloody arrow and she took to it like crazy. Several hundred yards in, the blood trail had almost completely vanished. Just small drops every 10 to 15 yards. She stayed hooked and when we got to the pig it was still alive. I was beyond proud.
I can't remember how many deer she found this past year but she did a great job.

I still run her on Mock trails but I rarely ever use blood. I typically just drag something. I also play games with here to get her to use her nose. I hide her food all around the house and tell her to find it. I will hide tea bags and tell her to find them and reward her when she does. Just anything to get her to use her nose.

Some helpful tips. Learn to read your dog. You should be able to tell when she is "hot" on a trail or when she is "looking" for the trail. When they are "hot" don't bother them. When they are "looking" you can do things to help like circling back to the last place they were hot.
Everyone likes to see a good dog work but keep spectators way back so they don't contaminate the trail. If it is a hard track I don't let anyone go but me and one other person so they can stay at the "hot' spot if she gets a little lost.

Good Stuff!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and advice with us Daniel.

I hope to hear from many more seasoned trackers just like you.

[ROWDY]

Here is my now 7month old Redbone. Copper has been on some short tracks and seems to be picking it up better each time.

[AntlerCollector]

Good post Tex and will will make a fanny pack myself. I like the idea.

[Ballcoach10]

Thanks for the info tex!

[Buff]

I have a question as I did not really train mine, Jesse B did.

If you teach them to follow anything, and there is 6 deer under the feeder when one is shot, how do they know which one you want them to follow?

The reason I ask is that one of the things that make Bagley so special to me is that she can follow a track right through other trails with other deer and pigs jumping up in front of us.
Every other dog we have had try to work a track has really struggled with the scent and sight of the other animals running around.

Dont get me wrong. Bagley will trail a wounded deer that is not leaving a blood trail, we followed one the other day for 4 hours and found the Axis but she knows she is not allowed to chase unwounded animals and will lay on the back pourch while the yard deer are walking around.

[AntlerCollector]

I will try my hand at offering some helpful advice this morning.

From when I first started training kimber I created her a "work bag". Just like many have stated just something for her to associate its time to trail. I bought a big fanny pack as I figured it made sense, I can keep all her stuff in it and as I trail, I carry it on me With water , treats, reflective markers etc.. In it. When she sees it go to the truck she goes nuts.

Fanny pack



I keep her lead rope in it, her orange vest that she tracks in, my gloves and some treats

The fanny is especially helpful if you track on lead!

Is that a cut vest or just an orange vest for the dogs safety? I believe you use a lead so I was curious why the vest. Just looking to learn. Thanks

[Ballcoach10]

Is that a cut vest or just an orange vest for the dogs safety? I believe you use a lead so I was curious why the vest. Just looking to learn. Thanks

Yes it is a orange vest just for safety. I do run her on a lead and prolly don't need it. Lol But I used it mainly just so she knows if the vest goes on it's work time. I was hoping it would also keep her from getting cut up in thick brush and maybe even help in snake bite prevention in the chest area.

[AntlerCollector]

Yes it is a orange vest just for safety. I do run her on a lead and prolly don't need it. Lol But I used it mainly just so she knows if the vest goes on it's work time. I was hoping it would also keep her from getting cut up in thick brush and maybe even help in snake bite prevention in the chest area.

Thanks for responding. I was thinking of getting the vest just so my dog would see it and know it was time to go to work. I also have a small cow bell on the collar even though I use a lead rope. Never know when the dog may get away from me so I'd rather be safe

[Tex]

I have a question as I did not really train mine, Jesse B did.

If you teach them to follow anything, and there is 6 deer under the feeder when one is shot, how do they know which one you want them to follow?

The reason I ask is that one of the things that make Bagley so special to me is that she can follow a track right through other trails with other deer and pigs jumping up in front of us.
Every other dog we have had try to work a track has really struggled with the scent and sight of the other animals running around.

Dont get me wrong. Bagley will trail a wounded deer that is not leaving a blood trail, we followed one the other day for 4 hours and found the Axis but she knows she is not allowed to chase unwounded animals and will lay on the back pourch while the yard deer are walking around.

A scenerio just like you mentioned (6 deer under the feeder) is exactly why I wanted my next dog to track more than just blood. In my opinion most dogs can tell the difference in the smell that one animal makes over another so, just like Bagley, they can determine which is which. In the past, when no blood was present, I have had dogs start trailing any deer instead of the specific deer. In my opinion injured deer, even though they might not be leaving a blood trail, leave a slightly different scent than a scared deer. With time the dog realizes that they will be rewarded for finding the wounded deer.