Training a non-sporting dog...

[Oddmott]

I've got a big super mutt (german shep, black lab, bernese mountain dog & st. bernard mix) that is a stellar companion. I love hiking and playing with her outdoors and I'd really like to start bringing her along on my turkey scouting & hunting trips - primarily to hunt sheds.

She would love to chase all the turkeys, deer, 'coons and other critters we see on our walks but she's been really good leaving them go whenever I tell her to sit/stay/leave it, so i'm fairly confident she'd be pretty chill to spend an afternoon in a blind with me without risking ruining too many hunts.

She's a fetching machine - well, not the bringing back part so much (she prefers to play keep away from our other mutt), but she won't quit looking till she finds the ball or stick that's been thrown. She'll even dive 2-3 feet under water in our creeks to pick up stones we toss.
Even in the house, we have put a ball away in a drawer and not touched it for months and the second she heard that drawer open 4 months later she completely perked on high-alert waiting for the ball to be thrown.

So i'm pretty sure she's got the prey/fetch drive required to interest her in shed hunting... i'm just wondering if her breeds would lend her to it & the training required (pretty sure the Lab & Sheps are great, but the others I don't know) and would she have the sniffer for it?

[welsh]

Well....

As far as nose goes, there's research on that (of course), and it tells us that (with the exception of breeds with crippling short-nosed breeding), individuals vary more than breeds do. Simon Gadbois, who trains dogs to sniff out endangered turtles and snakes, doesn't use sporting breeds. German Shepherds are one of the preferred breeds in police work and as cadaver dogs.

If your dog has all kinds of play drive -- loves a toy as a reward -- then it has the qualities the police & military look for in a working dog. Train it to find sheds instead of dead bodies or IEDs (a good idea, as the police get excited if you build your own IEDs, for some odd reason). The dog will probably do a great job.

[finsfurfeathers]

Well....
. Train it to find sheds instead of dead bodies or IEDs (a good idea, as the police get excited if you build your own IEDs, for some odd reason). The dog will probably do a great job.

I'd expect you'd get the same excitement if you make your own dead bodies too.

[welsh]

Well, the cops haven't found out about all my hobbies.

[Ugo]

You'd be surprised at what a smart dog, a competent patient trainer and lots of time can do with ANY dog.

[Oddmott]

You'd be surprised at what a smart dog, a competent patient trainer and lots of time can do with ANY dog.

Well... got the smart dog part down... likely SOL on the rest.

[Sharon]

You'd be surprised at what a smart dog, a competent patient trainer and lots of time can do with ANY dog.

I agree. I've got a rescued JRT right now who backs the setter ( was taught that).
The OP should decide what he'd like his dog to do and give it a try. You have nothing to lose.

[Ugo]

Sharon, is that JRT a male or female? I'm looking for a special dog and I think the infusion of your JRT to a setter could be the cat's meow.
Just think, if the hunter misses the shot the JRS goes right for his throat. Shooting would improve expeditiously once you got out of the hospital.
If you were out with one dog and a thief tried to take the other dog in your truck, you would return to find his digits near your tailgate. Hence, a reformed thief! It might be fun trying to find your JRS but isn't that what GPS trackers are for?
If you have your JRS on point and the other pointing dog failed to back......oh.....never mind.
Remember, I asked you first Sharon!!

[Marker]

By the mix I would say your dog would have a very good chance at becoming shed hunter. The first thing to do is find out what the dog likes as a reward, that can be food or a toy and use that ONLY for training/ shed hunting.

[Oddmott]

I've started training her already. After a fair bit of research i've decided to forego focusing on/worrying about scent. It seems like most experts end-game in shed hunting training is to switch the dog away from relying on their nose, and focusing on using their eyes more than. But they buy quite a bit of that antler wax early-on, to give the training antlers scent.

Well, since i don't go shed hunting during the time the deer are dropping their antlers (too busy with work and then maple syrup season) most of the time i'll be out the antlers will be weathered and mostly scentless.

So, I'm going to stress the visual training much more early on.