tracking deer

[gold medal 2]

looking for a bit of advice please on how you would train a lab to bark once it has tracked and found a wounded deer,i know of guys who use bells and a tracker but just wander if anyone can help??

[Dan Newcombe 58]

In that case E Cook, how do you get a teckel or a pointer to bark when then have found a deer?

 

One way is to hold them back off the deer and somethimes this makes them bar out of frustration.

 

But

 

Assuming that you are following up shot deer! I would tend to keep it on a long line which will negate the need for the barking. The benefits are that you keep an element of control while not distracting the dog (as you would if you were calling it back all the time)

 

This means thatif you are following up a 'runner' there is a chance that you can locate the deer and have a second shot.If it isnt a runner you are still going to get to the deer if its dead.

 

If the dog is running free then it will always bump the deer and then a chase will ensue (this can go on a surprising distance) and then the dog will have to engage the deer, potentially causing injury and even worst you will have to get very close with a knife because otherwise the dog might get shot.

 

If the worst comes to the worst then the dog can be slipped to run the deer down but its nice to have the choice.

 

As always this is my opinion and is just what i would do!

 

Dan

[Foxy09 3]

slipped to run the deer down? would that not be illegal??

[Mickey Finn 3,081]

In that case E Cook, how do you get a teckel or a pointer to bark when then have found a deer?

 

One way is to hold them back off the deer and somethimes this makes them bar out of frustration.

 

But

 

Assuming that you are following up shot deer! I would tend to keep it on a long line which will negate the need for the barking. The benefits are that you keep an element of control while not distracting the dog (as you would if you were calling it back all the time)

 

This means thatif you are following up a 'runner' there is a chance that you can locate the deer and have a second shot.If it isnt a runner you are still going to get to the deer if its dead.

 

If the dog is running free then it will always bump the deer and then a chase will ensue (this can go on a surprising distance) and then the dog will have to engage the deer, potentially causing injury and even worst you will have to get very close with a knife because otherwise the dog might get shot.

 

If the worst comes to the worst then the dog can be slipped to run the deer down but its nice to have the choice.

 

As always this is my opinion and is just what i would do!

 

Dan

 

I agree. The long lead is the way to go. It's the law over here. But I'd do it anyway. If your really against it. You could try what the germans do. Use whats called a bringsel. A leather tab that hangs from around the collar. When the dog finds the deer. He grabs the tab and comes back to guide you to your deer. This is taught secondary to force fetch usually. As for teaching it to bark at down game. Mine does it naturally. (dead game bayer) How you would teach it. I'd like to hear.

 

ATB

[hiluxmk3 1]

looking for a bit of advice please on how you would train a lab to bark once it has tracked and found a wounded deer,i know of guys who use bells and a tracker but just wander if anyone can help??

On a serious note regarding your question...

 

you can do this at home encourage your dog to bark on the command SPEAK... once he has mastered this, give him a treat every time he barks on your command to speak, he will soon learn that if you tell him to speak he is rewarded with a treat, (got the picture)

 

Take the dog with you when stalking and once you have shot the deer (you know where it is)let the dog find it,praise him and command him to speak and give him a treat, after a few times doing this he will learn that when he finds the deer if he barks you will give him a treat once you arrive on seen....

 

this will not happen overnight he has to learn, this method of training was used by an old sheperd i knew a few years back, who trained his collie to bark when it found lambs hidden or lost in the rashes on a farm i used to shoot at, so i would think this method would work on your dog when finding deer you have shot.

 

Regards hiluxmk3

[gold medal 2]

looking for a bit of advice please on how you would train a lab to bark once it has tracked and found a wounded deer,i know of guys who use bells and a tracker but just wander if anyone can help??

 

personaly i would just buy a teckel or pointer.

 

 

come on then e cook lets hear your wisdom on how you train your pointers and teckels? unless you actually dont have any and live in a flat somewhere in the middle of a town

[jacrabbit 0]

get an Elkhound they are born to it. will track and bark and hold for you.

[kiwi 4]

for the most part you are starting off with the wrong sort of dog, if you intended having a dog to bark at deer then a teckel or gwp from good german lines may have been a better bet, they haven't had to trait bred out.

the only way i could advise is to seek out another dog that already barks on command and try and train it in by barking them up together, nz huntaways are natural barking machines and this is how we do it on the farm.

[waidmann 105]

the method you describe is "totverbellen" or dead barker.you can teach this to a dog by making him bark for his food.the command speak is a good tool as mentioned above.

the use is when a dog finds dead during a free search( a lab would not be hard enough for free searching( this should only be done if sure of a killing shot placement(sighn on the ground/undergrowth not shooters staement!!).

the lab would be a good "bringsel verweiser" as this is based on the retriever instinct( i cant bring the deer so i take the bit of wood around my neck.).be sure the dog is sound in retrieve first.

 

as said above the lab is prob not the best choice of dog for following up but exceptions prove rules.

whether he will stop,hold,kill you must know.

 

the first rule is know the dogs and your own limits,the second is the dog is always right!!!

good luck.

i would be interested to know how you get on.

[Jabali 0]

I would recommend that you get a copy of Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer by John Jeanneney. It's American but the principles are identical. There are lots of books written on the subject but unfortunately are predominantly written in German.

 

To be honest you could train a Shitzu to track a shot deer. If you've ever followed up a wounded beast on snow you'll see just how much blood trail they leave. The knack is to train your dog to differentiate between old healthy deer traffic scent and your shot one!

 

Good luck. Does anyone reading this have a good wiry haired Teckel up for stud?