Has anyone tried using cow blood to train blood dogs to retrieve deer,beer,moose...?Ive got a one year old lab i want to blood train but have not kept any blood from last falls deer.
Any tips?
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Has anyone tried using cow blood to train blood dogs to retrieve deer,beer,moose...?Ive got a one year old lab i want to blood train but have not kept any blood from last falls deer.
Any tips?
You are a little over one month away from archery season. Might better wait till there is a carcass you can scavenge from. Won't make a difference in the dogs preparedness this season. And fresh deer liver and blood is the best.
To a dog, honestly - blood is blood is blood. I did 90% of my training with Misty on cow's blood, that being said however she was exposed to deer blood on a thinned level. She was trained to track blood in a 50:1 ratio of water:blood - I think it builds a stronger nose, then when she's exposed to whole blood she knows exactly where to go and what to do.
Exposing your dog to blood is only a small portion of training. Obedience, learning your dog, and how he handles in the bush is another thing all together.
Furthermore, liver - while containing the most blood is not a substitute for blood in my opinion. Albeit - it will work, just not as well; You are training your dog to track blood after-all, not liver :)
If you think you've got the obedience down pat, and the dog will listen to your commands without hesitation - you're ready to move on to the next step. It's quite simple really - run a short line of blood in your lawn, 20 feet or so and see how your dog reacts to it. You can sweeten the pot by adding a small treat at the end of the line, however the treat should really be a hunk of deer hide or something like that.
Keep increasing the distance and the amount of time your blood trail sits before tracking it. At this point, it doesn't matter whether or not you know where the track is, the purpose is to teach your dog to follow the track you've laid for it. Keep putting it back on course, and it'll eventually get the idea.
I'm sure I've missed quite a bit in this post, feel free to PM me with any questions you may have. Remember however - there are MANY ways to train a dog, there is only ONE way to train your dog. You need to find what works for you, using these methods as a base or starting point only.
Good post.Quote:
Originally Posted by jweese
X2. I have used thawed ground elk meat which I placed into a bowl of water and steeped for an hour or so. Then I strained the slurry and saved the liquid. My dogs are just fine tracking it, but I will try to keep some deer blood (and feet) from the upcoming season. We have had some success tracking a 5 hour old foot only(no blood) track left by mule deer on pasture. I was very pleased to see how easily the dogs got onto it, and kept on it.
Excellent - keep it up for sure. Misty has been trained to track both blood and track - obviously, she tracks blood much better, but on the hoof in the absence of blood she is able to track as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by marysburg
Glad you are making some progress, please keep us updated.
Last evening, about 8 of us got together to run some tracks. Two fellows went out early to lay lines that would be aged 4 to 6 hours. It was great to see all the different breeds work. We had a border collie cross, an Irish water spaniel, 2 large muensterlanders, a bloodhound cross, and 2 Brittanies. The tracks were about 400 yards long, had a couple of turns, but no wound beds. The cover was short grass, long grass, light woods, and shrubby wet areas.
It was great to hear comments, suggestions and feedback from the group, and very useful practice for us all. We're going to soldier on and see how it all works out.
yes, you can use cow blood, some people train with cow (sheep etc) blood and test with deer blood, say it's more exciting.
ppl liquefy liver in a blender - look it up.
There are decent articles on the net how to train blood tracking.
I have used it with the Dogo in the last few weeks after defrosting his raw food.He has no problems following the blood trail but it is pretty heavy, he appears to be able to cheat as he "air scents" as he trails and will take a short cut right to the source. Dont know ifQuote:
Originally Posted by domination
he will stay at this over the long course and longer distances but a few hundred yards is a good start.Of course he relates the blood to his meal ticket and I run him before his supper.
Apologies to all the Large MUNsterlander and Small MUNsterlanders. I misspelled Munsterlander in a previous post, and I should know better.