Shed antler dogs

[THEBUGLER]

Just got a 8 week old black lab pup and Im gearing up to train him to find shed horns........Any tips

[Hornseeker]

Post this here too...

Labs and just about any dog can be incredible shed hunters. I know a guy in N. Idaho that kicks ass and takes names with his big black lab on moose sheds... this dog will dig 2 feet down through spring snow to get a moose antler!!

I'm training my springer to help me with sheds right now. He's 14 weeks now and I started when he was 7 weeks. Get a good fresh brown, smaller antler. You will want a little assortment of antlers eventually, whites and such, but start with a fresh brown as I think they likely have the most distinctive smell.

Just play with the pup with that antler and call it "shed" or "horn" or "antler" or whatever you choose. Everytime you play with the pup with it, use those words. toss it a few feet after they get riled up about it and tell them to "get the horn" or "find the horn"...

If you just keep doing this day in and day out the dog will know what horns are.... Then you put the horn out in the back yard and go out with the pup and say "find the horn"...walk along till they stumble upon it. When they find it, encourage them to pick it up and bring it to ya. Praise them for all you are worth if they do. If not, pick it up yourself...excitedly....

Over time (6 months or so) you should be able to tell them to "find the horn" and they'll go find it in the yard or whatever. I know this will work because with my past lab I could say, "go find a stick" and she'd go find me a stick to throw for her. I could also say, "wheres your dummy" and she'd go nuts looking for it. And, when we went hiking or hunting, Id say, "wheres the birds" and she'd hunt her ass off for a bit, then I'd have to tell her again.

Praise and praise them if they "find the horn" and bring it to ya! They love praise from you and will know if they can find a horn... they'll get praise!

I have zero doubt that my springer pup will find sheds.

I like finding them myself too Big Tine, but I also love to hike with my dog/s and if they can find me more horns.... sweet. And you wont here me calling to my dog... I dont hang around with crowds of other people when I'm hunting or shedding...

[ladyelkslayer]

everything that HornSeeker mentioned worked well when training my dog.  He would also recieve a treat everytime he picked up the antler.  He was not allowed to have treats or human food at anyother time, unless he picked up an antler during practice, which helped give him motivation to pick em up since he knew what was coming if he did.  We also didn't let him chew on them so that it was a special game, not just another toy.  I think the biggest trick is the praise and excitement.
  Once she understands the concept of picking up the horn, work on haveing him sit and stay while you throw the horn, then give the command "find the bone" (or whichever you pick).  Once she/he has the returning of the antler down, hide it around the corner of the house or in a hole/bush to start making it use its nose.  Once it has mastered the backyard, move to a new place (we would always to to a state park).  Start rinsing them off when you play with them to get the majority of the dog/human odor off of the antler, so it is a true antler smell. also using a rubber/latex glove when hiding helps keep your scent off.

Overall from my experience, the most important thing is to make it fun and exciting! Training my lab was one of the funnest times I've had with him!! Good luck!

[Hornseeker]

So is your lab finding sheds in the wild pretty good Lady? That is soo cool...I cant wait to see how Gunner does on this....particularly in these thick brushy areas along the Yellowstone River where I hunt whitetail sheds!!!

[ladyelkslayer]

yea hes doing extremely well.  He is two years old now, and this past winter was the second season he has been out, and hit the one hundred mark. I believe he is up to around 110 unassisted (I did nothing to alter his path, and I would have missed it if it wasn't for him) finds.  That includes whitetail sheds, elk sheds, and a couple moose paddles.  One day he found a moose paddle, elk shed, and whitetail shed while my boyfriend and I were out 4-wheeling, and we never got off the wheeler. Its extremely nice when you come across a thick brush patch, just throw a rock in and he dives right in bringing out a horn if there was one in there. I hope you dog can pick up on it too! Its such a good feeling to see them coming over the hill with a big freshie in their mouth!

[THEBUGLER]

Thanks for the reply's! I appreciate the tips.

[gwhuntr1212]

I have a choclolate lab that does really well at finding them... I bought a dvd off the internet on it and it was nothing special.  Basically when he was a pup I his only toys were horns, I would play fetch with them, he would chew on em, he basically began to love them... When he was about 3-4 months old he got a tennis ball n some other fuzzy dog toys, when he brought me the horn he would get a small chunk of treat, when he would bring the other toys I would play with them just no treat... At about 5 mos I would take 3-4 horns out in the yard and hide them in the a bush or tall grass or somethin, i would say get the horn, when he brings it back, huge praises n a treat... after doing that a few times I would take the horns out a few days to a week before takin him out, tell him to get the horn, same thing praise him... when we r out hiking i say get the horn, he doesnt always bring them back but always finds them.  Sometimes they are too big for him! 

[BENCHLEG]

nice looking chocolate.

[THEBUGLER]

gwhuntr1212, handsome Chocolate there!  Here's an update on mine.
 
  Ok, I sawed off the antler tips from a whitetail shed and he's been fetching those really well. He chews on the rest of the horn, but its too big for him to fetch. My wife took him for a short walk and he walked over to the side of the road and picked up an old faded, dried out pork chop bone out of the dirt that looked to be 10 years old and packed it around. I, might be putting the cart before the horse, but it seems he has the right intentions!   
-Dirk-

[gwhuntr1212]

Thanks!  Ya you will always get the randome bone brought back too!  Its kinda funny because since my dog has had them around all the time he knows what they look like!  He has spotted really really really old shed from 100 yrds away in the open and took off to get them!  The biggest thing I have done that I think helps a lot is always call the horn the same thing whether its antler, bone, ect... Even when I am at home watching tv n he wants to play i say get your horn, he takes off in the other room and brings it back, plus when he chews on them he has good breath and white teeth! If you need any other tips feel free to ask, its really awesome the first time you actually go out horn hunting with him and he finds his first unassisted! The one thing i still do is even if I see them first I still let him find it and praise him and give him a treat, he cant find em all! lol

[Fetch em up]

Anyone ever trained an old dog to find sheds?  I know the old saying, but is it true?  I have a 2-year-old lab, and never really took the time to train him on sheds- would I be wasting my time?

[Hornseeker]

Your 2 year old lab will learn it fast too.....just do what gwhunter described....

I am psyched about this too. My 15 week old pup will "get the horn" when we get near it... he wont actively go looking for it yet, but that doesn't bother me in the least. Couple more months I bet he will!

That is a great looking Choco... Lost mine 2 years ago now, Old Age...they are fun dogs.

[oldleclercrd]

Im sure its alot of work at first but rewarding when they finally find something.

[Maverick]

I'd really like to train my almost 2 yr old black lab as well.

[ladyelkslayer]

I have a friend who trained their 4 year old lab to find sheds....they just did the same steps as you would when training a 6 month old pup, and the dog picked up the concept w/ no problems! Just have to be patient and put in time, and i think any dog can learn to find sheds.