Other Activities > Shed Hunting
Shed dog training?
rainshadow1:
Another thought, from the same practice of getting my dogs to fetch random things… is spotting one, sending the dog, directing it in, encouraging the grab, bringing the enthusiasm on the fetch, then praising to the skies!
You know the dog just saved you a little walking, but the dog thinks it did it all on its own.
blackveltbowhunter:
I am far from a dog training expert. So take this for what its worth... But I do have one that will bring them to me if she finds them. :chuckle:
I break it down into two categories, dogs that bring you sheds and shed hunting dogs. For the most part the handler is the difference, not the dog.
Scenario one: Shed hunter out west, or maybe coastal BT with low buck density and lots of range between properties. At times its fairly open sage, or timber. Shed visibility is not terrible. Maybe you are also looking for elk sheds improving the odds of seeing them, areas with sheds could be any slope, beds in huge timber stands, or miles of ridgeline. This is my world for the most part, covering lots of country is the name of the game and the best dog in the world cant bring you anything if its not there. A guy could spend hours working a single ridge or 100 acre reprod patch with a dog and not find anything you wouldn't have picked up on your own. In this situation I want dog to bring me sheds, if they run into one. But taking time to hunt over that dog is not my priority.
Scenario two: You are working an urban environment, private ag, or maybe a texas ranch. Heavily populated with animals. Cover, although limited is very dense and critters especially your bigger bucks spend a lot of their time in it. Enter your shed hunting dog. A 20 acre heavily wooded plot, ( mile long thick creek bottom surrounded by open wheat, or thick stand of mesquite in a box canyon). you are relatively confident holds animals. It is much quicker, easier, and more thorough to sweep with the wind in your face commanding your four legged partner. Most videos and tutorials I have watched this is the type of scenario they are using. Like bird hunting, the hunter is actively working the dog. The dog understands how to hunt, it just needs to understand what you want it to find.
I have played with both methods, and honestly think the latter is the easier to train of the two. My current dog is trained to work, with formal bird and retriever training by a pro( not me :chuckle:). But for the vast majority of what I do she works off association. She is nuts I mean nuts for tennis balls and fetch, I noticed she would bring me random tennis balls. I simply transfer that association over to antlers. She brings me antlers I produce a tennis ball and three or four throws, voila she is picking them up and bringing them when she finds them. BUT 99 percent of the time she doesn't actively seek them out, because I am simply moving way to fast. She knows what to find and can "find a horn" and "hunt em up" when I want to send her in to a certain thicket, but to do that I must be engaged in the activity with her. Its a much slower methodical approach, hunting so she has wind, and gridding an area encouraging the activity. My experience especially with BT which is where I hoped the dog would pay off in spades is that they are just too random as far as location. If I am in big timber, or maybe very confident about buck being in a certain area I will try to keep her in the wind and slow down. This has helped. But my best luck with that style is hunting small private woodlots. Known to hold bucks.
A couple observations I have made hope they help...... Unless the dog is wild about sheds ( so far I have not found any that are. Even from puppy they may start out crazy, but will graduate to cooler stuff as they get older, especially if the dog is a hunting breed and used dual purpose). I would withhold them from "free feeding" Just to keep some of the attraction.
If your dog is trained to fetch, make sure its a force fetch and they complete delivery. My wife nearly ruined mine by not wanting to get her hands slimy and using a chuck it. she learned it was ok to drop it and even drop it short. Needless to say we have worked on it to fix and the wife just washes her hands now. :chuckle::tung:
rainshadow1:
--- Quote from: blackveltbowhunter on March 24, 2022, 03:57:07 PM --- If your dog is trained to fetch, make sure its a force fetch and they complete delivery. My wife nearly ruined mine by not wanting to get her hands slimy and using a chuck it. she learned it was ok to drop it and even drop it short. Needless to say we have worked on it to fix and the wife just washes her hands now. :chuckle::tung:
--- End quote ---
SOOOOOOOOO hard to get some people to accept slime fingers in order to keep a dog sharp!
TeacherMan:
I train my pups to lock on them like a pointer. I’m running Australian shepherds.
idaho guy:
Some great replies. Thanks everyone for posting
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