How did you get your brand new pup interested in tracking ?

[Ballcoach10]

Starting on my 8 week old GSP and she is not really showing much motivation on a blood line right now. Start with a liver?

Tell me your secrets ! Lol

[pigstika1978]

Let her eat some like a treat then make a game of it start out slow don't pressure her too much and let her see and sniff and lick the blood off of every animal you kill hog blood works well also had a blue healer that was a blood tracking machine but she went blind and is being spoiled by my mom now did the same with my blood hound and she loves trailing blood it was 2nd nature for her

[Uncle Saggy]

Making a GSP a blood dog is going to be interesting

[txpitdog]

With my first lacy pup I used a lot of blood on a very short track with treats she liked placed every 6" in the blood. Slowly expanded from there.

With my current lacy pup I just tell her to "check it" and pray I can hold on to the lead when she takes off like a heat seeking missile!

Also had a pit bull that would hunt possum, feral cats, and raccoons. Once he knew what they smelled like (and tasted like) his nose would go to the ground until he found em

[czechgrubworm]

Making a GSP a blood dog is going to be interesting

I am watching for selfish reasons...

[Playa]

Making a GSP a blood dog is going to be interesting

maybe, maybe not.... Their original german versions were versatile trackers.



My DD wasn't interested in blood initially, nor liver, nor soup or really anything i laid out scent wise. So i used cut hot dogs on my trail path. Initially just the hot dogs placed every few feet overlaid on my body scent path.

As she got it and began making 90 deg turns, I began adding blood with the occasional cut hot dog. At first the blood was a solid stream out of a squirt bottle (ketchup).

I gradually tapered the blood trail down to just drops and a hot dog maybe every 30 yards...... then to mist sprayed though a spay bottle.

What really set her off was the day a live rabbit was waiting at the end of that trail.... HOLY MOSES the dots were connected at that point. I mean literally the dots of blood were connected... she realized somewhere along that trail was prey....

[Ballcoach10]

Making a GSP a blood dog is going to be interesting

I've researched and read they can in fact be excellent trackers and part of their breed is tracking and trailing

[PSD Ryan]

With my lacy, I'd pour a little deer blood on his food every once in a while, give him deer blood soaked treats, and give him heavy trails he could lap up along the way. Then I progressed to letting the trails dry with blood soaked treats along the way. Then just a blood soaked treat at the end. He gets it now

[Ballcoach10]

With my lacy, I'd pour a little deer blood on his food every once in a while, give him deer blood soaked treats, and give him heavy trails he could lap up along the way. Then I progressed to letting the trails dry with blood soaked treats along the way. Then just a blood soaked treat at the end. He gets it now

Thanks for the tip!

[Sonnyboy]

Awesome inputs !!!!

[glen]

Some dogs just dont hunt. Have a Redbone on the porch right now that cant hunt anything but a foodbowl. I do alot with a pup before I pick one form the litter and I also pick a pup with working parents with what I want to do.

Do the parents hunt and track?
Get the dog interested in playing with something that smells of blood and see what type of drive the dog has.

[Bowhunter1994]

How did you get your brand new pup interested in tracking ?

Liver drags at first.... Feed them raw... Once they figure out what blood is, it should all click...

Mostly exposure is the main thing , put them in as many animals as you can. Let them chew on the animal/hide .
Dogs either have it or they don't... Plain and simple

[MySRT8U]

Making a GSP a blood dog is going to be interesting

I think they can be GREAT trackers. The key is keeping their attention though lol. They can be scatter brained

[EdO]

Getting a pup's attention is tough. Holding it is even tougher. All a pup wants to do is chew things up. All that said, If they have a hard mouth, a sock filled with steel wool will cure it real quick. They learn to have a soft mouth quickly. If it's a problem of just not paying attention, imho, I'd just let them be a pup until they get over the "chew everting in site" stage. It will happen. Like fine George Dickel Tennesee Whiskey, a little age is a good thing.

Really, don't get impatient. Take your time with the training. In the end it will be well worth the while.

[Steve_243]

I keep legs and hides and other deer parts in a deep freeze and use these to start a pup. I'll throw em en ear to chew on and start them on blood at around 2 to 3 months. Some have it and some don't.