Originally posted by The Night Stalker:
I wanted a wire hair dauchound for years but they are hard to find. You would think there was more breeders with the German lines.
Tell me about it. I have been involved in the search for a well bred dachshund over a year. There are several great breeds out there but this dog was chosen for the small size. He will pretty much live with me in my truck traveling to my Canada bear camp and deer/hog camps.
For those interested in getting one of a well bred tracking dogs out of strong working lines, you will need to do some serious homework and know that you have to get on a wait list to get a pup. I would do it now as there are just a small handful of breeders in all of the US and Canada. Be prepared to go through a process akin to adopting a human baby, lol. Most breeder will only breed in the spring.
A little clarification here... Many dogs can be used as tracking dogs where you are talking about running a hot line of less than 4-6 hours old. For most folks that is more than enough. In these cases the scent is hot, there has been little confusing scent laid down by other animals in that time so the dogs has many fewer problems to work through. If your dog will be used solely by you and a close circle of friends, most dogs with a decent nose and a little training will be fine.
Every dog, however, would benefit from training. Sooner or later you will be faced with some greater level of difficulty than just going from point A to point B. A deer with no blood on the ground, non-targeted deer, rabbit, squirrels crossing the line in front of you, streams/lakes, open fields and roads are just a few of the many distractions. Training at this point will often make the difference between success and failure for you. Besides, it is fun! Just save a few deer legs (with the tarsal gland) and some blood from this season and you are set for training for the year. One of the most important aspects of training is learning to read your dog. Knowing when he is on the right track vs just investigating another deer track is something that can only be learned by the tracking team (you and him) training together.
When you move on to complex tracking situations such as cold lines of 30-40 hours, dry and windy days and working through and area where 5 rutting bucks have chased a doe around in circles for 2 hours, etc., that is where these dogs bred for this purpose will do what is nearly impossible.
Again, the book "Tracking dogs for finding wounded deer" will take you to a new level of understanding about every aspect of choosing a dog, training him correctly and most importantly understanding the complexities of scent as it relates to the dog.
I could write about this subject for days. If you know me, you know I write a great deal on the subject of string trackers and their value in the recovery of wounded big game and turkey. The loss of any animal just about crushes me. I can honestly say that given the choice between having 25 well trained human blood trackers and a single well trained blood dog on the trail of a wounded buck, I will take the dog every time.
Topic: Dogs for recovering wounded game (Read 2763 times)
