"Track or treat" night: Winnie and Jared's first track in pursuit of a wounded deer

Some tracks are more memorable than others but most likely every handler remembers their very first track. This week we received email from Jared Brueggeman, who got a female pup from our only 2016 litter. Winnie (Yola von Moosbach-Zuzelek) was born on July 3, 2016 so she is just turning 4 months old tomorrow.

My neighbor shot this doe on his land at approximately 5:45 pm Halloween evening. He said he heard the arrow hit but was unable to locate it or any blood at the shot site.  A few hours later Winnie, myself, the hunter and two friends took to the field. We started tracking at 9:15 pm.  It was difficult to locate the first blood as there was none at the hit site that we could see. We tracked for quite a distance.  Some heavy blood fading to some light blood and back to heavy.  After several hundred yards and it was apparent that the deer was still alive as we were finding fresh blood that was not dried like at the beginning of the trail.  We never found a single bed.  We pushed the deer to make her bleed and we ended up through the large block of timber where the deer crossed the road.  We located a few drops on the road and Winnie was anxious to push on. Shortly after crossing the road Winnie came upon her first real deer.  The deer was dead and Winnie realized what she has been training  to do. She went right over and started licking the blood and eventually she latched right on and was biting the deer with all she had. She showed no possessiveness as last night I think Winnie realized that we are working as a team.  All of the other people and the lights in the woods were a distraction at times as this was only her second time in the woods at night, once on an artificial line and then this actual call. I would reassure her with a calm tone that she needs “find the deer” and she was back to tracking. We recovered the deer at 11:28 pm. The deer was shot quartering away hitting the gut, liver and a single lung. There was an entrance and exit wound, however, the arrow was still in the deer. She had not been dead long as there were still bubbles coming out of the exit hole near the lungs. The track totaled just about a mile in distance. The Halloween deer that Winnie found will be one I will never forget. Winnie did get on Halloween a little treat of her own, a few slices of fresh deer heart.

On the track there were a few times where I needed to reset Winnie on the last blood found and then she was back on track. She persevered and did great. I was very proud of her as you know she is not even 4 months old yet! I am on cloud nine right now and I have the itch to get back out there and let the sniff hound go find another!  Thanks for being a part of all of this. 

Sincerely, your friend and now fellow tracker,

Jared Brueggeman

Another deer recovered by Mossy Brooke (Viola von Moosbach-Zuzelek) from Georgia

Mossy's recovery #29 for the season took place on Sunday night, the last day of hunting. As it turned out it was not her last track of the season but we will have another post about that. A big thank you to Judy Catrett, Mossy's owner and handler from Georgia, who reported:  

The hunter had shot a doe quartering to him and had found blood and hair, 3 foot diameter area, at the site of the shot. The most hair I had ever seen at a shot site. Mossy tracked the blood trail easily into the woods and through a swamp for 200 yards with visible blood being seen by me as we tracked. She then tracked for another 600 yards, total of 800 yards, with me seeing no blood the last 600 yds. Craig was with us on this track, having stayed at the truck, so I called for him to pick us up and let Mossy start over. She again tracked 200 yards, but at this point went in a different direction than our initial track and within 100 yards, I began seeing blood again. She tracked for 300 more yards into a clear cut with thick briars.  

She jumped the deer which I could not see, but could hear. We then tracked very fast thru the briars which were chest high, with me seeing blood the entire time. I had shortened her leash to 6 feet so that she would be in no danger of again coming up on the deer without me seeing it and being hurt by the deer. Within 100 yards, the deer had bedded again and was unable to jump up and run. I was able to dispatch the deer with my pistol.  

This deer had sustained an open wound to the left side of its abdomen and had run 600 yards per GPS from the shot site with its stomach and intestines hanging out. I really had empathy for the suffering this deer had already endured and was so glad that Mossy had found it so that its misery could be shortened. Evidently, no major arteries had been hit and the deer could have lived for a while longer had we not found it. The deer had made several turns, so I am not sure how far she actually was able to run with this massive injury, probably 700-800 yards as GPS showed 600 yds straight line. Deer are very tough animals, being able to exert this type of energy with this injury.  

There were 5 other deer in the field when this deer was shot, and I assume that Mossy, in her haste to find the wounded deer, took the track of one of the other deer initially after 200 yards. I knew after 800 yards and no blood that we were probably on the wrong track, so we tried again and she straightened herself out. She is still very young in her tracking career, and things of this type are to be expected. She continues to excel in her tracking abilities.  

The picture is not pretty with all of the blood involved and Craig burst out laughing when he saw me in the picture. He said I honestly looked like I had been dragged through a swamp. Mossy was the only one who endured this track without any change of her looks. She is always rewarded with the tongue once she finds the deer. She swallowed this tongue whole, but is doing fine this morning. Could not believe that she just gulped it down as she normally chews them. She also supplied heart for supper for herself, Pache, Tiny Tink, and Buddy. Her sibs love having her around so that they can all feast on heart when she comes home from tracking--something they have come to expect when we get home from a track.

Finding wounded deer with tracking dachshund Mossy Brooke

Huge shout out to Judy Catrett from Georgia and her tracking partner Mossy Brooke (Viola von Moosbach-Zuzelek) on their 28th recovery of this tracking season. Mossy is going to be two years old in April, and she is a daughter of our Tommy (FC Tom von Linteler-Forst) and Tuesday (FC Tuesday von Moosbach-Zuzelek). Judy and Mossy recover deer faster than I am able to post about it.  Judy wrote:

What a day Mossy and I have had. We received a call last pm from a hunter who had shot a 6 pt. buck and asked if we could help him. As he was over an hour from us, and it was already dark, I told him that Mossy and I would meet him at daylight. Isaac had actually shot the buck at 4:30 PM yesterday and we arrived and started tracking at 8:00 AM.

When we arrived, Isaac was very helpful in showing us exactly the spot the buck was shot and Mossy was asked to find a dead deer and blood. She tracked without difficulty to the last place that Isaac had been able to find blood, approximately 50 yds from the site of the shot. She continued to trail in a light rain and around 500 yards later she ended up at the edge of the head of a pond. Mossy tried to swim into the pond, and at this area the pond was only 50 yards wide, but deep.

We made our way to a crossing that was not above our boots and I asked Mossy to try to find a dead deer and blood as we were then on the side the buck should have exited. She immediately went to the area she had tried to swim into from the opposite side. She again tried to swim into the pond. I did not let her do this on either side as it was cold and I did not want to take a swim this early in the morning. I told Isaac that Mossy was telling us that the buck was in the pond. We looked for any floating objects, but did not spot any.

I then asked Mossy to make a big circle of the area hoping she may pick up on a track of the buck exiting the pond. She made the circle and again led us to the exact spot on the edge of of the pond. Again, she wanted to take a swim. No, Mossy, I am too old for a swim at 8:00 AM in cold weather. I told Isaac that Mossy said the buck was in the pond--he agreed. I advised him to check the pond later for a floating deer. He had to leave to go home 6 hours away in just a couple of hours, so I suggested that he check with the landowner thinking that he would probably check the pond for Isaac.

As we were saying our goodbyes, Isaac asked if he could have his picture taken with Mossy to show his wife. Mossy, of course, obliged. Mossy and I had been gone appx. 5 minutes when Issac called. He had checked the opposite end of the pond near the dam and had seen an unusual object which on closer inspection turned out to be his buck. Mossy and I returned to celebrate with Isaac. I don't know who was happier--Mossy, Isaac, or myself. What an asset Mossy has been to my life and it continues to amaze me the new friendships created because of her. We left Eric skinning his deer with him assuring me the meat would not go to waste now--because of Mossy.

Jolanta, I have tried to let Mossy track every deer possible this year, easy or difficult. I had some concern that the easy tracks may make it more difficult for her to concentrate on a more difficult track. She answered my question today. She has such a desire to track that she has learned from every opportunity at tracking as have I. She and I definitely have the connection that Bear and I had. I do talk with Mossy while we are tracking--as I do when we are not tracking--the communication between us continues to broaden as Mossy's vocabulary increases. Don't think that we are quite at the Darren and Theo level, but we are making progress. If all of your pups are of Mossy's quality, you and John have reason to be proud.

A busy Thanksgiving weekend of deer tracking for Judy and and her dachshund Mossy Brooke

Mossy has had a busy week again this past week.  The only problem has been that most of our tracks have ended up with no dead deer being recovered, much to Mossy's disappointment.  The majority of these have been after a front leg shot, having found bone consistent with an upper long bone of the leg at the sight of the shot.  The areas these deer were shot were so thick that Mossy on leash dragging me could not move fast enough to catch the deer. And, at this point in Mossy's career, running off leash is just not yet an option.  We are getting closer to that point, but this will probably take a few more seasons of tracking. She is too vulnerable at this age to the dangers she has no idea exist, and she can move too fast.  When I was tracking off leash with Bear, he could make a deer with a leg wound move fast enough that it would usually bed down or stop and stand to defend himself once Bear had run it a mile or more, giving me time to get to them and dispatch the deer. Same scenario on a couple of occasions last year when Mossy ran off leash. As she became older and more sure of herself, she would venture further away and I am now concerned about her safety--highways, coyotes, wild dogs, snakes, etc--so on leash she will be for a while longer.

This young man, Jason had been deer hunting on several occasions, but had never had the opportunity to shoot a deer.  I have a stand that I take kids and have had a camera on it, but deer were coming by only during the night with an occasional doe during the day.  I explained to Jason that we could go and if we were lucky, we might see a deer. And, so we did.  After being in the stand for an hour with Jason sitting perfectly still and quiet, this 8 point walked out.  On the way to the stand, I had gone over the things we should and should not do to keep from spooking the deer.  His actions in the stand were those of a young man who had listened to everything we discussed and then followed through with them. I was very impressed.  When the deer was broadside, Jason took the shot. The deer hunched as if it had been hit.  When we walked to the site of the shot, my heart dropped when I saw bone--thinking--oh NO, another leg wound.  On closer inspection, the bone did not resemble a long bone.  So, I called Craig to bring Mossy as we could find no blood or the deer.  Mossy to the rescue.  She immediately picked up the trail--going in a direction in the woods I knew the deer did not go--but I allowed her to continue to track.  Glad I did because she had found Jason's deer very shortly. The deer was hit low in the brisket, but caused enough damage for the shot to be fatal. 

So, Mossy's and my Thanksgiving weekend turned out perfect.  A young man with his first deer and Mossy finally finding her reward at the end of the track. Life does not get any better for a WHD than this.  She guarded this deer with her entire body, but allowed Jason to act like his was his for a few minutes. 

*****

Mossy Brooke received another call this AM.  The hunter had shot the deer 3 hours previous, had found blood for 50 yards and then had lost the trail of blood.  He and his buddy had walked in the woods for 2 hours searching for the deer.  They then ran into another hunter up town who told them about Mossy. We arrived and after talking with the hunter found that the deer was quartering toward the hunter who had made an app. 150 yd shot with the deer going down on his front legs, then jumping up, crossing a fence, and running off. The hunter had gone down to the site the deer was standing when he shot and found blood.  He heard a crash about 75 yds to his left and assumed this was the deer.  

Mossy started on the blood trail, went directly uphill and then to the right. The hunter advised me the deer did not go that way--he heard him crash to his left.   "When will she ever learn?"--were Mossy's thoughts at this point I am sure as I pulled her off the track and took her back to the area of the crashing noise. She appeased me for a few minutes and then we were off on Mossy's track again. 

Within 100 yards, I began seeing large pools of gut shot blood, then thru a thicket losing my glasses, and across the creek.  Now, Mossy is pulling hard, I have lost my glasses and cannot see very well, and the hunter has gotten behind. I am calling him to catch up so he can be my eyes and shortly Mossy is standing over the dead deer.  Thank goodness the deer was dead as without glasses I did not see the deer until she was touching it. Three blows from the whistle and the hunter comes running to us. Mossy is awesome, awesome, awesome. And, I have learned that along with extra batteries, flashlites, etc., I will have an extra pair of glasses.  Another awesome morning with my little Mossy Brooke.

Mossy Brooke finds a doe completely covered with pine needles and leaves by a bobcat

On Sunday we received this tracking report with some pictures from Judy Catrett. Judy is tracking with Mossy Brooke, an 19-month-old daughter of Tommy and Tuesday.

Mossy Brooke has been very busy these past several days. She has made several recoveries and we have not been able to catch up with several wounded deer. We have had two leg wounds, with bone fragment at the site of the shot.  We were not able to catch up with either buck even though she tracked with all of her might. The blood trail finally ran out on both, and after 1/2 mile with no blood and briars so thick, I could take no more, I stopped Mossy.  

Unsure as to whether I made the right decision, I came home, picked up John's book, Tracking Dogs For Finding Wounded Deer, and read the chapter on leg wounds. I often refer to his book when Mossy and I have failed to recover the deer, and usually I am reminded of things I could have done better. I am convinced that it is at times impossible to catch a 3-legged deer.  

We have had one buck shot high in the upper, anterior aspect of chest with an arrow.  Basically, same story as above. Tracked blood for 1/2 mile and then another 1/2 mile with no blood thru briars so thick Mossy had difficulty getting thru. She finally asked me on this track if I would carry her. This let me know that she had not had scent of blood in a while.  So, she definitely was ready for a reward at the end of her tracking.  No big bucks, but to Mossy a dead deer is a dead deer.

She has found 3 does this weekend. Fairly good blood trail on all 3 and better than anything for her, a dead deer at the end of the trail.  One of the does had been dead for only 1 1/2 hours when Mossy found it. It had been covered completely with pine straw and leaves as I have seen Mountain Lions out west do.  We left part of the deer and put up cameras---this was done by a large bobcat, not a Mt. Lion, much to my relief.  Mt. Lions in this area have not been documented.  

Mossy is one happy and tired tracker today--she is napping in hopes of being able to track again later today.   WHDs--Trackers, they are.

Mossy Brooke, a tracking dachshund, recovers a deer for newlywed hunters in Georgia

Judy Catrett from Georgia owns Mossy Brooke whose registered name is Viola von Moosbach-Zuzelek. Mossy is a 19-month-old daughter of our Tommy (FC Tom vom Linteler-Forst) and FC Tuesday von Moosbach-Zuzelek. This is Mossy's second tracking season. She gets a lot of tracking opportunities at a hunting plantation managed by Craig, Judy's husband. I get a lot of pictures and stories from Judy (thank you Judy!) and will try to share some of them here. This one came yesterday.

Mossy and I have been so busy tracking wounded deer this past week, I have had very little time to email. She has recovered 15 deer so far this year and most of these have been for hunters in the area who have heard about Mossy Brooke. The majority of her recent tracks have been more difficult--ranging from several hours to 24 plus hours old. 

The buck in the picture was several hours old.  This young lady was just engaged 2 weeks ago, was shooting her new rifle given to her by her future husband, and could not find the buck she had shot.  Mossy Brooke to the rescue.  Mossy was shown the site at which the buck was shot, and she immediately picked up the track and started through the woods.  The lady told Craig that she did not think the buck went the way Mossy was tracking. Craig assured her that Mossy should be allowed to track the direction her nose was leading her.  Mossy continued with confidence and I began seeing blood. Mossy tracked to the edge of a beaver pond, which I knew we could not cross due to the depth of the water and I could not see a floating deer anywhere near.  Mossy then turned and began tracking up the edge of the pond.  Within a few minutes, Mossy had found the buck. Craig had already told Stephanie that 3 blows from the whistle meant that Mossy had found the buck.  Craig said that when they heard the whistle, Stephanie began screaming with joy and dancing. They made their way into the woods to Mossy and me.  

After some celebrating and pictures, Craig asked Stephanie's fiancé to help him pull the deer out of the woods.  Stephanie immediately interrupted and informed Craig that she would help him pull the deer out.  As it turned out, everyone had a turn pulling the deer.  This makes mine, Craig's and Mossy's day.  We helped load the deer on the 4 wheeler and then left the newly engaged couple in the woods celebrating. To make things even better, Bubba, Stephanie's fiancé had killed a buck that morning--much smaller than Stephanie's.

We have had about 5 tracks that we have not recovered the deer during the past week. Mossy tracked and worked hard, but after going about 1/2 mile without blood, I stopped her. I continue to learn from other trackers posts and definitely from John.  We plan to be quite busy this weekend as Craig has hunters and our little town is full of hunters right now.   I think Mossy has had 8 tracks this past week.

Mossy sleeps on pillow beside me every night like a little human pup. We love her so much. Thank you again for choosing us as Mossy's family.

Judy

Some of Mossy's recoveries from 2015.

First field trial for tracking dachshunds, Volt and Viva. Buster goes Absolute Winner!

It's time to slowly get back to blogging. We try to post information that might be useful for others, but we also post for ourselves as it is a good way of record keeping. This spring has been so busy that the blog got dropped in favor of Facebook, which makes sharing info and pics so easy. The interactive part of Facebook is hard to beat but its searching capabilities are seriously lacking.

Yesterday I got back from dachshund field trials that were held by Western Pennsylvania Dachshund Club at Cowansville, PA. When I was there a year and a half ago I was very impressed with the grounds. This time rabbits were not as bountiful, which made for long days of beating brush in the field. The weather could have been better too. It was hot and humid, and we had thunderstorms on both days.

This was my only trial of the spring trialing season so regardless of the circumstances I still had a lot of fun. It was great to see close friends and their dogs. It was not a great weekend for our own dogs as the only placement we got was Volt's second place on Saturday, but I am really glad I went and got to see Joanne Greer's Viva. Viva is a daughter of our Tommy and Tuesday (Vivica von Moosbach-Zuzelek), and I have not seen her since she left our place in June 2014. She is our Volt's littermate and looks like his better looking twin. She lives in New Hampshire and does not get exposure to cottontails there. Viva placed 1st in open stake on both days, and since she was in heat she could not run for the Absolute. I got goose bumps when I watched her on Sunday as she opened for the first time with a really nice voice. It is great to watch a young dog figuring things out at her first field trial. Thank you Joanne for everything you have done with Viva. I think you will have a lot of fun with her!

 

For comparison these are some of Volt's pictures:

The real highlight of the weekend was seeing Susanne Hamilton's Buster (FC Clown vom Talsdeich) in the field. On June 5 Buster is going to turn 13. On Saturday he was NBQ, and on Sunday he won the FC Dogs' stake, then was best of FCs and Absolute Winner of the trial. All those who stayed for the Absolute run will remember it for a long time. The weather turned really nasty at the end of the day, and we had to leave the field due to the lightning and downpour. Finally when we went back to the field there was a huge rainbow over the sky. I know that Susanne will never forget the day. Huge congratulations to her and Buster! By the way, Buster is Volt and Vivica's great grandsire.

Vonnie is starting to gain her handler's trust thanks to a good tracking job

This message from Mike Martien came on Christmas Day. Mike lives in Monroe, LA, and his puppy Vonnie came from our only 2014 litter of Tommy x Tuesday. In his message Mike refers to Waldo, who was bred by Laurel Whistance-Smith and was sired by our Asko. Thank you Mike!

Hope this message finds all well, and both of you enjoying Christmas.  Wanted to send you a quick note on Vonnie.  Things have been really slow for us.  Had 2 calls for tracking, and both of them came while I was out of town with my work.  However, we had the second live track for Vonnie this evening.

A good friend of mine, Mark Hoffman, was hunting with his daughter Gabby this evening, and knew I needed to give Vonnie more experience.  Gabby shot an 8 point, and when Mark found blood, and where the deer left the food plot, he did exactly what I wish all hunters would do, he marked the blood, and left to come get me and Vonnie.  Mark felt like the buck wasn't hit great, and wanted to wait a little while before taking Vonnie in, which was a good call on Mark's part.   

When I put Vonnie down on the blood she immediately started following it through the brush and down a steep hill.  I told Mark I wasn't sure she was still on it, while going down hill, but when we made it to the bottom, we found more blood.  She turned and dropped off into a small creek bed with steep, bluff sides and went 20-30 yards, when we hit a log jam in the creek and Vonnie started try to weave her way through it. I followed, but felt confident she wasn't on it.  Lucky for me though, after going through the pile of limbs that looked completely undisturbed, Vonnie stopped to sniff a leaf that had blood on it.  The bluff banks on this creek were now 10-12 feet tall, and nearly impossible for me to climb, but Vonnie made a 90 degree turn and tried going up it.  After two attempts, Vonnie came back down and went just a little further down the creek, where another drain came into it and started her way up.  While we were doing this, Clay Weeks and Mark shined their lights up the hill from where Vonnie had tried going up the bluff, saw the deer stand up, and finished it off.  Therefore, Vonnie has now earned my trust and I will follow her regardless of "what I think the deer did"...  The track wasn't very long, but thanks to Mark and Gabby Hoffman, they provided an opportunity for me to gain confidence, and Vonnie to prove her ability. 

 

I'm attaching a photo of Gabby Hoffman with her buck and Vonnie.  Please feel free to post the above paragraph and photo on your various sites.  It'll certainly help us get more tracking jobs, and make a little girl happy.  Vonnie is much more methodical in her tracking than Waldo was during his first three years.  She works the line slow and close, and hasn't blown a single turn on any of her 2 tracks she's been on.  Everyone has commented on how well she minds, and how well she reacts to being around numerous people.  I know it's still early to be making a call like this, but from what I've seen thus far, there's no doubt in my mind that she will probably be a better tracker than Waldo, and that's a strong statement, giving Waldo's accomplishments.  I honestly had hoped she'd just be as good as Waldo, but I believe she just might show me that it's actually possible to be better than him.  Many thanks to both of you for providing me with such an outstanding dog! 

Mike Martien's contact info is list on the UBT Find-A-Tracker site at  http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/tracker-profile/?user=222

A leg-shot deer gets away and a hunter harvests another buck...by mistake

 By Judy Catrett (a Georgia owner of  a seven-month-old "Mossy Brooke" aka Viola von Moosbach-Zuzelek)

This little girl, Mossy is addicted to tracking wounded deer.  We received a call yesterday from a hunter who had wounded a deer 5 hours earlier that morning.  There was blood at the spot that the deer was shot and an occasional drop for approx. 100 yards.  Mossy tracked from the initial blood and then continued on strongly after the point of no blood.  She was tracking off leash on this occasion.  

She was 100 yards in front of us when she started yipping. I told the hunter, Rod, that we had to hurry to her as she had just  jumped the deer.  When we got to the yipping, there were two bucks trotting slowly with Mossy behind them. Rod was about 10 yards to my right and both deer stopped. The deer in the lead and the larger of the two had a broken front leg. I knew that this would be our only chance to have a shot at the wounded deer and Mossy was not close enough to be in danger, so I told Rod to shoot the one on the left. He shot and immediately said I got it. I responded, no you didn't, the wounded deer just ran off.  

From Rod's view 10 yds from me, he never saw but one deer and did not understand what I saying about two deer.  He did kill the 8 point in the picture, and was quite proud of it, but was upset about having wounded the other deer. We loaded the deer he killed and got it out of the area. I explained to Rod that it would be very unlikely that the wounded deer was anywhere near and that it would more than likely live with the wound I saw.  

I again asked Mossy to find another dead deer. There was no blood, but I knew the direction the buck had run.  It took Mossy 10 minutes to straighten the track out, but she then started strong on a track. She trailed for 600 yards at which time I called her back.  I explained again to Rod that this wound would not be lethal and the deer could travel miles on 3 legs. Craig had a hunter at the plantation wound a deer last year in the same fashion. The deer was killed out of the same stand 3 weeks later. The front leg was completely severed except for being attached by hide on one side. Basically, the deer was carrying a necrotic leg which was a burden to him, but he was alive and working scrapes.

So the deer in the picture was not the wounded deer, but for some reason was with the wounded deer. Mossy took us to the wounded deer, so I consider her as having done her job.  It was me who did not control the situation at that point as I should have.  I have learned from this experience that in the woods 2 feet can change a persons view and that should we run into this situation again, the hunter should be very close to me.

Off leash tracking is definitely different from tracking on leash. Had Mossy been on leash I do not think that we would have ever seen the wounded deer.  I think that the deer would have detected humans and would have immediately left when we got close to where it was bedded.  Because of Mossy's small size, she does not intimidate the bucks and most wounded bucks do not run from her. They stand their ground and look at her. She is a distraction to the buck and the hunter is usually presented with a shot.  I had the same experience with Bear due to his small size also. Mossy is intelligent enough to know that the buck could hurt her and always keeps her distance when baying, which I am very thankful for.  Bear would get a little closer to the deer than I  have observed with Mossy.  Don't know if this is a male/female --testosterone--issue or just the difference in the two pups. 

I will continue to learn from every tracking experience that Mossy and I have.  I counted  this as #23 as Mossy took us to the wounded deer even though the hunter shot the wrong deer.  I have never tracked a wounded buck that had a healthy buck with him.

Hope you don't freeze the next few days.  We are getting weather that is very cold to us, but probably considered warm by you.

Thanks Again,

Judy

Five deer recovered in one day by Mossy Brooke, an off-lead tracking puppy in Georgia

by Judy Catrett (owner of Mossy Brooke, registered as Viola von Moosbach-Zuzelek)

Jolanta,

Well Mossy had to endure a few days without being able to track--it was difficult for all of us, but we made it through the week.  Mossy had a very busy day yesterday--finding 5 total deer in 1 day.  She was exhausted last night for a couple of hours, but then was ready to go again. She is already following me around the house whining for her collar to be put on this morning.  She continues to amaze both me and the hunters--her love for tracking is astronomical.  I began to doubt Mossy last night when as we were running through the woods, she stopped, stood on her hind legs with her front feet on a fallen branch about 2 feet off the ground, sniffing the branch.  I told her we were not squirrel hunting and about that time I saw blood on the branch. Of course I offered my apologies to Mossy and we were off running again.  Shortly we found the buck. 

Mossy is one little awesome tracker.  I have watched her ability to track progress with each track she works. She is a very intelligent and loving pup as you will see in one of the pictures I send.

Mossy's total deer finds is now up to 19.  I consider myself so fortunate to have Mossy.  I have told the hunters that once she finds a deer from a 24 hour old track that has been rained in, she can join the elite trackers in her family---Tommy, Theo, Thor---just to name a few. 

Tell John that I have to agree that the WHD's noses are a bit better than the JRT's.  Bear was a great tracker, but had to work a little harder at picking up the scent than Mossy seems to.

Thanks again for Mossy.

Mossy enjoying her deer with one of the hunters.

Mossy thanking the hunter for killing the deer. 

Mossy with her 2nd buck for the day.  This is the deer that she was up on her hind legs smelling the branch. 

Mossy with the hunter who killed the 2nd buck of the day. I try to let each hunter hold Mossy so that she gets acquainted with a wide variety of people. She loves it.