I know there are quite a few that have dogs trained for shed hunting. What is best way to get them trained? I have been reading a bit, but figured i wud ask those who have actually done it. Really hoping i can just get my pup out in the woods with me and not goin crazy. She is 5 months and will likely try and get her out once we get past the dead of winter.
I'm assuming its not the one in your avatar pic lol? Be hard for it to even pick up a shed. Just messin, I don't know anything about training them but hopefully you get some good advice.
I bought the Dog Bone Shed Kit with the rubber antler and some scent to use with it, and it seems to be working well. I would play fetch with the antler after work everyday until my shepherd got use to retrieving it and then I turned it into a hide-n-seek game. After he started using his nose and finding the fake shed I swapped it out with a real shed. I feel like the first step is getting the dog use to the general shape of "Sheds" then the second step was him using his nose to find real ones. Combination of home training and getting the dog in the field is your best bet.
Have heard a lot of good things about the Dog Bone kit. I will definitely try using that whenever I get a puppy. I've done a lot of reading and most everyone suggests using that kit or something similar since it's rubber and wont poke the dog in the eye, chest, etc.,. and make him nervous about picking a shed up.
I trained my Shepherd when he was just about a year old with the dog Bone shed, plus taking him out in the woods with a real shed and it could get pretty aggrivating. Just takes a lot of time and patience. After a few months you could tell he wanted to find it but you always had to get him going first. Now he is two and just this past weekend he started using his nose and running patterns down wind. It was pretty cool to watch and hopefully will be rewarding this shed season.
Any dog that has a good nose and wants to please can be trained to find sheds. You just need to invest the time with him !!!
TIME TIME TIME. It is a great reward when it finally comes together. Have lots of treats in your pocket. I use RACK WAX. It comes in a chap stick like container. My dog has picked up on it well using a real shed with this stuff smeared on it.
It really doesn't take that much time to train a dog. What it does take it patience over a long period of time. Puppies attention spans are very limited. Training starts during feeding for 5 minutes, 2 times a day. Obedience, although not near as exciting is very important early on.
