Blood tracking dog

[Michael Arnette]

OK folks, I've decided I'm going to get a blood tracking dog and try training. I'm tired of having white knuckle situations and spending hours tracking...even on good hits!
What breed should I be looking for? Any books I should look at? I'm looking for ideally a small breed

[Bladepeek]

Check out the United Blood Tracker site. Lots of good advice and a great book recommendation.

I'm no longer tracking except for myself, but if I were looking for another tracking dog I'd get another dachshund. Small, manageable breed that are real tigers on a track. I'll pay you to take mine - he uses up too much of my bed    

[oldgoat]

Tracking Dogs for wounded Deer by John Jeanneney. This is the best I've found

[GRAYBEARD]

I have been thinking of the same move, thanks for posting it.

[deerfly]

I cut my teeth as a kid hunting with dogs since that's what my dad and his friends did most in my youth. This was of course conventional hunting with dogs, but these dogs trailed wounded and killed game equally well.

The mix was generally blueticks, black and tans, beagles and walkers. But you can train a poodle to track wounded game. Its just that some breeds require more effort while the conventional hound choices generally train you. After a while you begin to realize they knew what they were doing long before you got involved.  

I've seen retrievers, pointers and plain old mutt's used to successfully track wounded game though. The specific breed doesn't matter so much. You just want to start them early on real animals, not trailing dummy's and store bought scent concoctions.

During the dogs first 2-3 years you should be spending more time letting it track game than hunting yourself. Tell everyone you know that hunts that you have a dog you want to train for blood trailing and have them call you for every kill you can get to. Even if they found the animal already, guide your dog along the trail with you and give him some attention and/or a little treat when you get to the downed animal. Give the dog a piece of hide or hoof to chew on too.  

It won't take many of these episodes and the dog will know exactly what you want him to do. Your problem then will be getting out of the house or camp without him/her to go hunting. In order to shut it up your significant other will either sedate the dog or offer to kill it for you while your gone...

[Crittergetter]

Michael, one thing I did when I got my new pup was I contacted the local game warden and let him know I was training a pup to track. He gave me permission to pick up a road kill if I found a fresh one. It took about a month before I found one. All I had to do was contact him when I did. That gave me access to fresh hide, blood, and feet for training purposes. That got me throught the off season till deer season.

[countrygirl]

Deerfly!! You dog,We have not seen you in years,are you still making bows?

[chase perry]

Deerfly,

I loved reading your post, especially the line where you say "after a while you begin to realize they knew what they were doing long before you got involved."  A well crafted statement that was as much a pleasure to read as it stands true!

Michael, I'll be reading this thread with great interest.  Our Jack Russell, Timber, is now 15 years old.  I give him a hard time about not being able to track a Milk-Bone through the laundry room.  However, when I met my wife he was already her 7 year old spoiled prince...  He's a great friend, though was never enlisted as a tracker as my Father's dog was always the capable General of such occasions.  Having said that, I have seen the Jack Russell track with great skill through the South Texas brush.  Deerfly is right that you can "train a poodle".  However, the Jack Russell is worth strong consideration if you're looking for a resilient breed of friend and ally that can ride on the center console to your hunting grounds.    

Best Regards, Chase

[Tedd]

In my experience the breed is very important. If your intention is to have a highly specialized deer recovery dog then some breeds are far superior. WHD (wire hair dachshund)  and bavarian mountain  hound are two that excel as leashed blood trackers. I'm sure there are others.  The desire to follow blood is so strong in them that you can not break them off until you pick them up. Where other breeds will lose interest and lack the little traits the lead to a recovered deer. Beware of the the dog that "will track anything". A good deer recovery dog will only ever track one thing.
With a dog from the specialized breeders and a little training as a pup their abilities are amazing.
I would say just as important as the breed is a understanding how to handle them on the line. Patience and teamwork are needed. You have to know that scent can blow off to the side of a blood trail...etc. I never had enough patience or time to get the most out of my dog.
Chances are you have other duties in life and like to hunt a lot, so your dog time will be limited. You can easily have a good tracker with a WHD but the breeds are so good that non hunting dog handlers can take them to another level. Don't worry about getting to that world class level. Just find your own deer!    
My dog is now 14, very slow and out of shape, a bit off from lymes disease, and has a urinary infection. But she would track to exhaustion if I would let her and out find most dogs.  She has never reached her full potential as a blood tracker because we had a low deer herd for most of her her life. But we sure did find a few that were just amazing.
When not in tracking mode she is a great pet and overly attached to humans. When she is tracking or has recovered is a different animal. She will guard "her deer" like a pit bull. Someone not used to her should not approach if she is guard a deer or pc of a deer.
Get John Jeneaney's book. My dog is from his bloodlines.

[Tedd]

Guard duty after recovery. She had the shakes real bad. Ever since lymes disease she gets like that.    

[Tedd]

http://i1347.photobucket.com/albums/p714/tas0323/Mobile%20Uploads/BB831967-E732-4729-80D5-4DE0E7E12B50_zpsccxf1d9p.jpg

   

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Michael - we've been seriously tracking with our standard sized smooth teckel (dachshund of European ie hunting, bloodlines) for 7 years.  I've posted a lot.... and have answered your questions from my perspective a few times... search Oskar (our dog's name) on powwow or my posts on here and you'll get some info to read.

The main thing....get the dog that is right for YOU....just like a bow, one size does NOT fit all.  You'll track with him 3 months a year and live with him for 12....get a breed YOU and YOUR family can live with.

Don't get bamboozled by the salesmanship.... the REAL experience is in Europe, blood tracking with dogs is nothing new or magic, there is a thousand year history of tracking over there, the average hunter there knows as much about it as most of the "experts" in the USA.  Get a dog from proven bloodlines, with a good background of health history in the pedigree, with good prey drive and you are in business.  I would disagree that there are specialized breeds beyond a couple from Europe that are extremely difficult to import into the US (for instance proven Bavarian bloodhounds), the European type dogs used in the US - generally teckels, whether smooth, wirehaired, or long haired, or German wirehaired pointers (Drahthaars) are generalists, not specialists.... but they are smart enough to know what you want and what to do at a given time.

Ted is exactly right that the key is learning your dog - the reality is the dog knows how to do this instinctually...he trains YOU - not the other way around.  The teamwork is key - you can't just be a dope on a rope behind the dog.

John's book is a good primer, and a must have for someone getting started, but you also need to be sure you find a breeder with enough experience and "dogmanship" to support you in the training... the breeder should be the expert on their dogs and should be more than willing to spend the time with you that you need.

Be careful, too... blood tracking is a fad right now and I've heard of pet breeders selling "tracking dogs", if the breeder doesn't track that would be a red flag to me.

We love it, my wife is the primary handler, and Oskar has found right at 50 deer so far.  He lives to hunt and track, and we've made some great friends in this hobby.... also have avoided some sleepless nights with marginal hits.

It is a bunch of work, and takes dedication, but can add a whole new dimension to your hunting.  I owe it to my wife who is the dog person here..she developed Oskar to his current level.  She handled him in JGHV VsWP (blood track testing sanctioned and judged by the German breed club - this is how these dogs are registered) testing a few years back (he was 3 or 4 yrs old) and achieved Prize 1 performance in both the 20 and 40 hour tests.  As of then he was the only teckel in the United States to test to this level in sanctioned JGHV testing.  There is dog potential in the States, just be sure you find the breed that will make YOU happy long term.

R

[Ken Taylor]

I'm also very interested in what Michael asked.

Does anyone have experience with Chesapeake retrievers?

[The Night Stalker]

I bought a wire hair from John and Jolanta Jeanneney. It took a while to get on the list but Ximo is the real deal. He is always right and I have been wrong every time I doubted him.  He is going through his adolescence but it really has not affected him. He has drive and amazing to watch him work. As previously said, you got to learn your dog. Ximo found his first deer at about 12 weeks old if remember correctly.  There are some other blood hound breeds out there that do extremely well.  It is all about finding the right breeder.

[Westkyhunter]

I've got an almost two year old beagle/lab mix that was given to me when she was only a baby. Her name is Bella and her features and characteristics are all beagle. I taught her just like deerfly wrote in his post. She's only been on real deer blood trails, some where I knew where it was and most where I didn't. I told family and friends to call me since she was a pup so I could put her on any trail no matter how far or even if they knew the deer was down. It's worked out great for me and Bella and she absolutely loves it! It's amazing to watch her track without any blood or other liquid to go on if it peters out and know she's singled out that deer and is tracking by its foot scent left on the ground!! She seems to be born for it to since she's yet to take me on a false run or trail. Where I hunt it's truly like a jungle in most places and the odds are against you finding even a perfectly hit deer unless you see it go down. She definitely tips the recovery odds back in my favor: ) I've enjoyed reading all of your comments and posts of your dogs. Thanks

[Mr. fingers]

Make sure it is legal in your state to use dogs to track game. It is Illegal in Minnesota.
I found out after I used my beagle to find a deer I gut shot.
I did not get caught but I wanted to make sure it was legal. the way it states the law in the  regulations is no dog shall be used in taking game. I asked a game warden if it was legal to use them to track already dead deer and he said No! That is considered taking game.
So my beagle has a great talent that I can no longer use.

[Fattony77]

Michael, you should get a hold of Jerry Russell on here, too. I know that he has several vidoes on the subject on his YouTube channel, and I have no doubt that he would be willing to share his wisdom with you. I also know that he loves to share stories of his current dog "Bear" and he has every right to be proud of him, because he has had some amazing successful tracks that were tough, to say the least.

[Basinboy]

My vote is the wirehair Dachshund. Great trackers and awesome family pets.
 
 

[meathead]

We got a WHD from Jeanneney's this year.  He is 6 months old now and is a lot of fun to work with.  There are several breeds that will get the job done.  You need to get the one that fits you. Get Johns book.  They just came out with an updated version a couple months ago.  It has a lot of good info in it especially about breed selection.  When you do finally get a pup remember to be patient and have fun with the dog.  They become part of the family.

[oldgoat]

Thank about the land you will be tracking in. Here in Texas we've got lots of Catus and a short legged dog will have problems. Most of the people here use Leacy or Border Collies with some Curs. I want a dog big enough to bay a deer, look up Roy Hindes, ledegen in South Texas, his Blue dogs are big.