Shed dogs???

[bowtech721]

Anyone on here have a shed hunting dog? I have heard of people that train them to shed hunt but just online kinda stuff no real evidence. Sounds like a cool idea just wonder how hard it is... 

[Pathfinder101]

check out the "photo of the month" winner...

[cackle]

i just had a batch of future shed hunting puppies there is one left unclaimed

[OneHorn]

My dad's friend has one that he is still teaching but i believe he has already found about 15 sheds this year

[huntnphool]

there was another thread on this a while back somewhere

[boneaddict]

By th e looks of your last thread Miles, you have a well trained shed Dawg.   Good luck getting him to hand over the sheds once he retrieves them though.

[boneaddict]

I've played withthe notion...but

[Skyvalhunter]

You have to pick a smaller shed that he would be willing to pack around a while!!

[WDFW-SUX]

What happens when the shed dog is pissed at you because he thinks you went shed hunting without him and decides to get the big ones off the wall

[boneaddict]

She finds them well enough, I mean unbelievable well...but then all she wants to do is sit and chew on it.  Haven't quite bridged the gap of bring to daddy and get a treat.  Apparantly th ebones taste better.

[ICEMAN]

I am often finding snakes in where I shed hunt, and would worry about fido...

[huntnphool]

What happens when the shed dog is pissed at you because he thinks you went shed hunting without him and decides to get the big ones off the wall

 

[Skyvalhunter]

Once the evaluation process is completed, the actual training begins. The dog needs to be “nosey” without a doubt, but a wide range of breeds may be suitable to the task if they fill the requirements listed above. At the time of this writing, master dog trainer Roger Sigler, the dog trainer responsible for the information contained in this article, has a Labrador retriever, a German shepherd and a pit bull in his stable of trainees. Currently, the pit bull is at the top of the class.
In the early stages of training, the antler dog is worked much as if he were a bird dog. Roger uses a method that involves retrieving a ball that has been skewered with the tine of a deer antler. As training progresses, the ball is gradually reduced in size until only the antler is left. The dog’s play drive is then directed toward antlers.
 


In the beginning, the dog can be worked inside on a lead. As his ability and desire grow, the training sessions can be moved to the yard, a field, unfamiliar terrain, or even old outbuildings or barns. The change of location brings variety to the training experience and helps the dog’s ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand.

If the dog loves to tug, tie the antler to a rope. This way, the antler can be swung overhead as a tease before being thrown. The play drive of the dog is rewarded, and the handler’s fingers are safely unavailable to the overly excited student.

As the dog grows in ability and as his enthusiasm increases, with encouragement the animal will begin to hunt for antlers in a given area. It is vital early on that the dog be allowed to find antlers often and that he receive high praise for his efforts. As time goes by, and as the animal increasingly identifies with his job, the search areas should be expanded.

Now comes what Roger believes to be the biggest obstacle in training an antler dog. Antlers rarely attempt to run away or escape. For this reason, Roger has developed what he calls his “antler trap.”

Radio-controlled and easily positioned in a search area prior to the dog’s arrival, the trap can remain passive, loaded with an antler, and ready to go. Just as a dog will pay more attention to a live bird than a dead one, an antler dog in training will be more excited about his job if he perceives that the antler might escape. As the dog nears the trap, his handler can, using the remote radio control, cause the trap to catapult the antler into the air and away from the dog. The animal’s play response is then thrust into high gear. The dog, now with an element of risk that the antler might get away, and a chance to satisfy his need to pursue, becomes even more emotionally involved in the training.

From experience, Roger believes that patience, spaced repetition, rewards and praise can combine to the training of an antler dog. He also believes the addition of a few remote-controlled antler traps can shorten the training period significantly and create a more focused, more enthusiastic animal. Five or six of the traps in a field, with only three or four of them loaded to make sure the dog keys on the antlers and not just the traps, is ideal.

This situation can be improved even more if someone other than the handler loads the traps as much as a day before the dog enters the field, and if the antlers are freshly washed to reduce the handler’s scent level.

Many other factors come into play in the training process. Finding the type of reward most important to the dog is very important. The time of year the training is being done is also very relevant. Temperature, humidity, pollen or mold count, whether you are in fresh fescue or old wheat stubble, whether the dog is rested or fatigued, and the severity of the terrain are but a few of the factors that affect the training. The variables are nearly endless and, to a large degree, are out of the handler’s control. That is why consistency in those things that are in the handler’s control is so vital.

Above all, the dog should enjoy his job. Boredom must be avoided. If the training process is fun for the handler and fun for the dog, it creates a partnership that can accomplish almost anything. When that type of relationship happens, everybody wins and antler dog training becomes very rewarding for both man and beast!

[MichaelJ]

Great info, funny thing you mentioned the pitbull...  I did an experiment with my dog on sunday, she is a 5 year old full pitbull and has always LOVED antlers.  I had a set of fresh 4 point sheds from that morning so I took them and a really old set of 4 points that have been in my bedroom for over 2 years (not very much 'antler smell') and threw them at various places in the brush off to the side of our driveway...

Took some treats out and turned her loose, she found the first right away and brought it to me and got a treat.  She didn't realize there were 3 more, but once I got her focus off the one in my hand within the next minute she had found and brought all of the other 3 antlers to me... she would run around and around and then pass within a few feet of one, stop and start sniffing the ground until she found it!  I treated her and praised her up real good!

Then I locked her in the garage, and went onto the sage hill where we keep our horses and threw the antlers into and around some brush and took her out again.  She found all four within 2-3 minutes and brought 'em back to me!

Just wish I could keep her here at school and had more time to get out and work with her on this!!!  I've always kept a shed or two around for her and she loves playing fetch with them, and loves to chew on them.  Before sunday she hadn't seen a shed in 6+ months and I've never really worked with her before, so seems like she's got the knack for it!!  However I wouldn't take her out in the field with me unless I had a shock collar, would be too scared to have her chase any deer left on the winterrange...

Michael

[croix]

I've been reading a book by Scott Haugen (Trophy Blacktails: The science of the hunt) and he has a whole section of the book dedicated to shed hunting dogs. A friend of his uses Pudelpointers exclusively for shed hunting, but apparently there are several breeds that make good shed hunters.