Tell me about blood tracking dogs

[Bobby Urban]

I have blood and organs in the freezer as well as a lower leg and couple of deer hides.  I am ready to train and have the time to do so - just need to pull the trigger on a dog.  I am aiming towards early spring to get a pup and will continue to look into a breeder but I am really partial to rescues even if they have there possible faults.  I may even work with a rescue group to foster some puppies.  I have fostered before and this way I could work with them and see which one(s) are more into the tracking.  I also plan on working with my 8 year old rescue just to see what he can do.  He certainly has prey drive and has been with me to find deer but he has never tracked one and he is very feral and independant so I am not sure he has the consentration.  It will be good practice for me training.  Keep the imfo coming. thanks
When we have found deer together in the past he likes it!
this pic has been up here in the past but it shows you what I am working with.
 

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Bobby, that rescue organization pulled a fast one on you, they have you fostering wolf pups, obviously for release in Montana to control the elk population!  That's a pretty guy (and pretty intimidating) right there.

I'll PM you the email of a breeder, I don't think she has any pups right now, but she is a great resource for all things tracking dog related and may have some thoughts for you.  Beware, she is a dog person first and foremost!

We've had to redirect Oskar from the head of the deer to the back end on his finds.  He has a tendency to get fired up and strip off double-handfulls of deer hair on "his" deer!  I don't think hunters would appreciate seeing the head of thier trophy bucks stripped naked by the blood dog.

Ryan

[Kevin Dill]

Timely topic for me:

I just put a down payment (first pick of litter) on a Deutsch Drahthaar puppy. I don't ordinarily get too excited about hunting-related stuff, but I'm thrilled about this! I have been searching for a top-line Drahthaar for about a year, but haven't connected. I was sitting in my treestand last evening when a noted kennel owner called me and made the offer. This kennel has always been my absolute top choice for a puppy...so I'm now pinching myself.

[Hess]

-Wildgame,

That dog of mine is a yellow lab I shipped out from KS...she is pretty young in the photo and being a british lab she probably won't get more than 45-50 lbs.  She does have a lot of black skin on her muzzle, belly etc.

Before I got her I saved blood from a few deer and elk last fall.  I carried a turkey baster with me all year and a few zip locks so I could suck out the goodness for the dog I got this spring.  Worked great.

[Gatekeeper]

I have a Lab/Rottweiler mix (Angus) that my wife and I got for free at a farm store. He has been very interested in deer parts since about 6 mouths old. To keep him interested we give him deer legs to chew on each year. Although never formally trained for tracking, he followed a short blood trail last year to a deer I shot and never skipped a beat. I’ve never put him on the track of a deer that I have lost, but I thinking he could probably get me close to a lost deer or take me right to it.

He can be several yards away from the house with the wind blowing away from him and pick up my scent when I walk out the back of the house. Pretty damn amazing! Sometimes I call him the Nose.

[2treks]

I had agood time this morning. I shot a big doe and she landed about 80 yards from the stand. I field dressed her and went home and got our new dog(we got him about 3mo.ago). I leashed him up and he went right down that blood trail and found the deer. he must be related to Ryans dog as after the initial smells had been made he latched on and wanted to eat. my BURRDOCK is about 60pounds so he can eat more than Ryans dog though,LOL. He was VERY excited. I was tickeled about the whole thing,shows me some promise.

[Kevin Dill]

While this topic is still warm...

What are the titles of THE best books or CDs on training blood-tracking dogs? I'd prefer to buy just one, and nice to know which one is trusted.

[Jim Dahlberg]

I bought the book "Tracking Dogs for finding Wounded Deer" by  John Jeanneny when I decided to train a new pup.  Lots of information about breeds but it has good info on when and how to start and keep a dog interested in blood trailing.  I started Tumo (a bonafide mutt) at 8 weeks old.  By the time he was 6 months old he had been on over 20 blood trails.  He is now 4 years old and last fall followed an elk trail in 70+ weather for over 2 miles.  Jeanneny says that the earlier you get a dog started the more the olfactory glands develop for the particular smell you want them tuned to.  Seems to have worked for Tumo.
Hope that helps.

[Shaun]

I am on my way to pick up a pup related to Ryan's dog Oskar. Nothing beats a good dachshund and they are wonderful companions and pets during the off season. Best ones are from good hunting stock and reputable breeders. Second choice is a "pet" quality dachshund.

There are some other breeds that do good work, Jagterriers, Drathaars, some lines of Jack Russels. But most of these breeds take more training and handling skill.

I believe Mrs Kwa is planning another litter for late winter. Check out true-teckles.com

[Bonebuster]

If you have a long, difficult blood trail, you need a long dog.

This is Pumpkin..."PUNK" as we call her. Smart as they come, and kind to her core. You won`t go wrong with a Daschound. She has yet to experience a DIFFICULT track, but I have no doubt she will come through when she does. Her daddy was black, and her momma was red.  

I had a Basset named Bart, that died about ten years ago, he could trail wounded deer as if he was on a string attatched to them. If the deer was dead, Bart found it.
Bart was BIG, and rude, and stinky, but he loved it when he knew he done good.

I started my Basset on bloodtrails by accident. A friend had hit a nice buck a tad too far back.
The blood was good to the first bed, but coyotes had jumped it. He heard them yipping right where the deer went. Why they didn`t get his deer, we never figured out.

We looked for hours after we lost blood. As a last resort we went and got Bart. He got a nose full of the good start of the blood, and walked right to the deer that we had walked by repeatedly. The deer was about 400yards from the hit location, and about 250 yards from the first bed.

The next trail was a doe that I watched go down. Good blood all the way. After number two, it was old news to him. From then on he was a trailing machine. When he got in the pick-up, he KNEW what we were doing. When I first got married in '94, my wife hated me going out tracking deer so much. In a small town, word gets around. I learned a TON about wounded deer because of that dog. I did not train Bart to follow wounded deer. He figured out it was what I wanted him to do, and he lived to get a treat, and some praise.

Daschounds have all the same traits of a Basset, except the "big, and rude, and stinky" part. The ones we have love to please, and figure out what it is they need to do so they DO please you.

Ours was a rescue of sorts, and we paid NOTHING for her.

You didn`t get to meet our dogs Bobby, because my wife had a party of sorts for about a dozen little girls the day you were at my house. They were all still in a bedroom, because the last girl to be picked up was terrified of ANY dog.

Ever heard the saying, "the more I learn about people, the more I like my dog"?

Good luck in your search Bob.

Wahtever dog you choose will have a great home with you, I`m sure.  

[Bonebuster]

The framed picture over my left shoulder is one my wife recieved as a gift, and it is Jesus, with a Daschound by his side, and one in his lap.

Really neat.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Shaun

I heard you were going to Ohio to pick up the pup.  If I remember correctly Enyo and Eris (Oskar's mother) are sisters, so Oskar and your pup would be cousins.  Drop me a line if you want to stop in on your way through Indiana.  If you come through on 74 you'd be about 1hr from the house if you come through on 70 you'll be 10 min away.  You are welcome to stop in and get a home cooked meal.  You might have to fight my wife to keep your pup, though!

Great news about another litter!  Her dogs are something else.

Ryan

[LoweBow]

I started my GSP on bloodtrailing when he was a pup......at 3 he amazed me by tracking down a coyote I shot last week.  Yote was shot at 8 am and started tracking at 8pm.  He has matured and slowed his tracking, the puppy excitement is almost gone and he knows the difference between play and work.  He "went to work"!!  I stopped him more than once to double check the trail as I thought for sure we were going in the wrong direction, but upon closer inspection found micro drops of blood each time.  I couldn't have been a prouder dog owner!  Haven't run him on any other blood trails this season, but will get pics up when we do as I have no doubt in his abilities.
GSP's are versatile dogs bread to hunt and track just about anything.  Interesting read about their breeding.  Gully is my 1st GSP, but deff won't be my last.  Best breed by far for my family and my outdoor lifestyle.

[S. Brant Osborn]

I have 2 beliefs on tracking dogs.
1. Some breeds are naturally better trackers than others
2. Any breed with a nose can be trained to track

Last year some unscrupulous person stole our bloodhound. Let me tell you that was one great dog. That being said. I will never have another.  She was huge, could jump into the back of a truck with tailgate closed and not only was she fast but she could keep it up for a long ways.  All of those atributes are not necessary for a traker.  A smaller breed can be more managable. 2 beast trackers I have seen were a german shepard and a rat terrier.  Another season and our Sadie would have surpassed those two.
Brag:  was awakened about 11 one night last year. A guy that knows someone I know needed help finding a deer. It is almost mid ight when he picks us up and he shot before dark.    We go to the 1st blood and off we go her pulling like a D-9 dozer (reason 1 for small breed) and doing that funny little whine she made.we stop at a deep creek and. Now she turns it on like only a blood hound can. Had you been outside you could have probably heard her.  He said that he had allready been there looking and saw nothing.  She had probably smelled a coon.  Well she and I were both ofended so she bails off into this creek with my hand wrapped in her lead.  2 lessons learned here don't wrap lead Rround hand and big dogs will drown you in water.  We did find the deer down ther and thankfull it was not still alive.  The guywas pleased and even made $100 donation to her yearly upkeep.  He came calling again this year when a friend of his needed help and was sad to learn she was gone.  I think I will go and have a little cry now.

[buckster]

Here is a picture of Chowder. This ain't your Grandmaw's Dachshund!  He is 25 lbs. of pure fun & still a puppy, as he will actually turn 1 year old on 12/6! He is from the same bloodlines/breeder as Ryan's Oskar.  

Chowder has done extremely well on the artificial tracks that I've laid using 10% deer blood and 90% water.  Even though I have shot a couple of deer this year, unfortunately I didn't have Chowder along either trip.  I've taken him on about 4 other trips.  But me, nor my hunting buddies actually drew blood on these outings.  So to date, he hasn't had his first real track, so I can't say for sure just how good he is.  
With our season in full swing and going until Feb. here in AR, I am hopeful to put him to the test soon.  

I looked at ALL the other breeds and possibilities and decided that the Teckle was the best choice for me.  I did a lot of research on which breeder I wanted to go with and I am glad that I picked Sian Kwa from N.C.

He fits right in with our other 2 males (Poodle and Pug) but he is all business when I take him to the woods.

[Zbone]

Hey Bob - I have a eight week old Yo-Yo-Poo (3/4 Yorky, 1/4 poodle) pup for sale right now...8^)

[Bonebuster]

Beautiful dog(s) Buckster.

I see a couple beds in the background for them, but if they are like ours, they all pile on one.

I don`t know about the European Dachshunds, but the American ones sure do like to dig holes. I forgot to warn Bobby about this. My "Pumpkin" can dig a hole faster than a mini excavator built by John Deere. I don`t care much about a perfect yard, but you will twist an ankle in the hole that was not there just a few minutes before. She just can`t help it. She knows she is not supposed to, but...

One more thing, they kinda think they are a bit better than the other dogs. Smarter, stronger, faster kinda thing...and they ARE!

I`d like to see a picture of Oskar...all grown up.  :D

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Bonebuster

We need to get some good current pics...all I have from this Fall were tracking for compound guys and I won't/can't post the wheelie bows here.

Here are a couple from this Spring.  Yep, Dachshunds were REALLY "Born to Dig"!

"C'mon, Daddy, I KNOW that mouse is around here somewhere!"

 

Checking out the Old Well.  I have a stand hung about 10 yards from this spot just waiting for the late season travel between the bedding area and the cut corn field.

 

Ryan

[Bonebuster]

The heart of a lion!!!

If those eyes don`t make you love him, his personality will I`m sure!

Thanks Ryan...he is a beauty!  

[Bud B.]

My advice would be to get whatever breed you decide but get a pup.

I have two Brits. One I got as a pup, the second as a rescue. Libby was the pup. Training her was easy. She really trained me. I just call her back and am the person she brings the birds back to.

Beacon on the other hand has been difficult to train as I think he was possibly abused.

I plan on taking Libby out for some quail while I try out the longbow on them. I'm working on gettng her to bring back Flu-Flus now. I guess she thinks they're birds flying.

As sensitive as her nose is I would think Brits would be excellent trailing dogs, but, their energy would wear you out. She's three and still on turbo run.

If you do get a pup, also get a rescue as a companion dog. Libby and Beacon are almost inseprable.

You can gain alot of dog info at  www.gundogforum.com