Blood tracking - first steps

So, finally, today I took the time to "properly" train blood tracking with Ruudi. We have participated in several courses and trainings but I have been so lazy to do it properly myself. Well OK, I have done 10 m tracks with him for a simple treat but.... ...now I took the roe deer sking with a head (that I shot a week ago), marked down the track (by just dragging it on the ground) about 80 m total length with one change of direction about 80 degrees. The german Schweißhundstation said that the track MUST be at least 4 hours old but I have to admit that I used it after two hours. And it was visible that the smell was too strong for Ruudi. First I tried to command him with two separate commands "track" and "search" because he doesn't know the "track" command but knows the "search" command. But he instantly started searching and was even too fast and keen for a blood tracking dog. But I was so happy to see that he didn't only smell the air but also smelled the ground quite a lot. The next time I will let the track age at least 4 hours or more because there was still quite a lot of cent in the air but I want him to understand that in the "real life" he can get the reliable information only from the the ground. So he started searching very fast while being on a leash about 7 m. That 7 m leash seemed to be too short. Again, the German guy was right, the leash has to be very long - and it is the most important part connecting the dog and the master. It is like an umbilical cord. I realised it now - the dog can freely run in the perimeter but he still has the feeling that he has to work with you. It was a brilliant way to keep Ruudi "on the track" without guiding, commanding or telling anything that would ruin the whole meaning of searching. Basically Ruudi was a bit fast for a blood tracking dog but he was able to mark down the "resting place" at the turning and was able to follow the track until the prey. All in all I was very happy how he worked together with me and found the prey. I have to get myself together and start doing it every weekend. I will reuse the roe deer skin next weekend. Next weekend is also start of the moose hunting season - very interesting times. And I also have one wild board leg in the deep freezer for more difficult tracks.

From Blogi pildid