Blood tracking training: setting objectives and record keeping

One of the puppies that we raised this summer was Rilla von Moosbach-Zuzelek, a Joeri/Gilda daughter, who is now 15 weeks old. Her new owner Stan Kite has been in frequent communication with us and has been sending us updates on the pup and her training. Stan is the kind of owner that a breeder hopes for!

I have been most impressed with Stan's training records and would like to share them as they might help other handlers. Training records are very important as memory can fade quickly and can't be relied on. I asked Stan where he got the idea for his system, and it was Darren Doran who shared with him his own records, which he set up this way. Note that Stan has objectives for every training line that he does with the pup.

So here we go and we will start with Rilla's first training line:

Rilla--Training Line #1 --Age 11 weeks

8/10/10 Our back yard
Wind SSW 5 mph dry conditions Temp near 80, humidity 79%
Set line @ 7:00 am, run line @ 8 am.
I will try 100 yds w/2 turns, using blood & liver blood, sponge and whipping stick w/sponge, occasionally touching liver to ground for short distances .
Age will be 1 hour.

OBJECTIVE: merely to get pup to the end. If this is accomplished, I will praise her LAVISHLY, let her eat a bite of liver and play with hide for at least 10 mins or so.

RESULTS: Set line at 7:30, ran at 8:30, exactly 100 yds, about 6oz blood, drug liver intermittently first 70 yds, then blood only for last 30 yds. Performance was near perfect. I really don’t think she was challenged at all. Had a small piece of liver, which she ate, in the 1 ft piece of hide. Let her play with hide while praising her, then put her in pen with hide, which she chewed for another 10-15 minutes until she grew tired of it. Very successful first outing! Lee videoed the entire sequence.

Rilla-Training Line #2

8/14/10 Freas’ Alfafa Field
Wind East 5 mph Temp 73 humidity 65%
Set line at 8 AM, run at 10 AM
Two hour aging, 150 yds with 4 turns
Squirt bottle, 4 oz blood, liver drag intermittent
(Ran out of blood the last 20 yds—dragged liver—I’m learning, too!)

OBJECTIVE: Challenge pup to longer, older line with less blood, observe to see if line should continue to get more difficult, stay the same, or back up a little. Also add the distraction of a large piece of farm machinery (hay rake) and much higher grass (hay field).

RESULTS: Very good performance once again! I had to assist some at a couple checks, but others she worked perfectly. Once I guided her back, she hit the line running, with great enthusiasm. The hay in this field is almost a foot high, and she worked very hard to get through it, but showed awesome drive, right to the end. The hay rake was a great distraction—line ran literally underneath one side of the rake, with briars on the other side. She was a bit timid at first, but worked right through it after a few seconds. On the second turn, she did not even go three feet past, corrected herself and went on. I am totally amazed at the ability this pup is showing at her young age! She loves the liver at the end much more than the hide; I will leave more for her to eat, and chew on the next time.

Rilla-Training Line #3


8/21/10
12 ½ weeks old (1 week since last line)
Wind NE 5mph Temp 75 humidity 62%
Freas’ alfalfa field
Set at 8:30 AM Ran at 12:30 PM
4 hour aging, 300 yds w/ 3 turns
~6oz Blood w/hooves clamped to pipe

OBJECTIVE: Move up to 4hr old line, add simulated tracking shoes (2 hooves hose-clamped to a long pipe to be used like a walking stick), much less liver scent, Double length to 300 yds. Will add a couple liver bits along line to help enthusiasm on longer line, also more chunks at end. Add tail at end along with hide to see if different scent sparks more possessiveness.

RESULTS: Once again, a very solid performance. Hoof/pipe rig didn’t work as intended—hooves slid up pipe…but I was still able to use it. Only used liver blood (<1 oz) at the beginning; no liver dragging at all. She was very enthusiastic. Worked close sometimes, fast other times. Had to be helped at first check(left turn); I suspect deer had walked through there this morning, since this turn was at an opening between alfalfa and soy bean fields. She went the wrong way, but appeared to be scenting something. After correction, she followed the line well, and worked the next check (right turn) perfectly, only overshooting by a few feet before correcting herself. Last check (left turn), she went too far and I helped her again. This leg of track went directly into the alfalfa (first, second and third legs were along trail/field edge). Alfalfa 12-18” high—she had to hop to get through it, and did so with GREAT DESIRE! Wind was at her back, but it was like she knew she was nearing the end. She laid down at the hide/tail as if to guard them. I petted and praised her with no growling. Ate liver bits after I exposed them from inside the hide. She really didn’t want to play tug of war with the hide or tail, but growled when I reached to pet her again—told her “Yes, that’s YOURS, isn’t it”, and petted her anyway. No more growling. Dragged the tail as we left, with Rilla biting and playing with it for about a 100 yds or so when she lost interest.

This seems to be great work for a pup of this age; love the drive and enthusiasm. I hope my assistance at checks, when needed, will show her that when she loses the scent and circles back, good things happen. When the scent is strong and in a straight line, she likes to run. I like the desire, but I may need to encourage her to stay slow and steady to decrease the odds of missing a check in the real world. She did not act any differently on this 4 hour old line; reacted just as she has on the fresher lines. Two interesting distractions this time--first was several overturned white bleach bottles stuck in ground hog holes by landowner. She approached with interest, but I told her NO and she returned to the line. Second was a small butterfly right in front of her face. Normally she would chase and attempt to catch--this time she just looked at it and quickly went back to the task at hand.

Training Line #4


8/27/20
13.5 wks old
Reading, Pa

Took Rilla to Andy Bensing’s to attempt a UBT-I Test. Three other dogs went first. Line was 7 hrs old by the time we got on it. (UBT-I says at least 2 hrs) Conditions were hot and dry ~85 degrees. Andy said he laid the line at 6:30 AM; we were tracking at 1:30 PM.

Rilla, once started, did well for the first 50-60 yds. The track was up a loooong hill in a hay field. She had to be coaxed back on the line several times, and began to lose interest, sitting down and looking up at me. Andy advised calling it off, so we did.

I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed, but shouldn’t have been. She will be more prepared next time, and I predict it won’t be long before she can NAIL this test. The stress of the 2 hr ride, the long wait to be tested, many strangers in close proximity, riding in the back of a pickup with strangers, the long hill, and the building heat were all factors that contributed to this young pup's problems today.

Training Line #5

9/4/10
14.5 wks old
320 yds, 3 hrs old, 3 turns
Our woods in Carney’s Point

OBJECTIVE: This will be Rilla’s first track in a woods setting vs. a field. This will make several new challenges for her—different terrain, patches of tall weeds, etc.

RESULTS: Changed the aging to about 3 hours due to windy (15-25 mph gusts) and severely dry conditions. (Originally I was going to age 4 hrs) Started trail on main logging road, made a left at first skidder trail, then a right turn into the woods which led to another skidder trail, which ended back on the main logging road with a slight left. 320 yds total, 5 oz blood, and a makeshift “tracking pipe” (inserted one leg into pipe this time, and another on the outside of the pipe, with an array of hose clamps). This one worked fine, but the motion of continuously moving it to make tracks was not comfortable on the arms. Tracking shoes will be purchased ASAP!

If I didn’t know this was the same pup that couldn’t do a UBT-I a week ago, I would swear it was a different dog. She started strong on dry leaves, then onto patches of packed dirt, through high weeds for about 70 yds to the first turn. She was on her game, making it look effortless. Worked very slowly with nose to the ground. Overshot the first turn, corrected herself, found the line, then veered off again just as I was about to praise her. She wandered about 10 ft before swinging back, hit the line and continued her nice slow pace down the skidder trail. At the right turn, she overshot again and I put a little tension on the lead as she neared the end of it. She swung around quickly and found the turn. (Note—Next time out, I’m considering dropping the lead when she overshoots to see what she’ll do with absolutely no influence from me). Now we were in undisturbed woods, with broken sticks, branches and other obstacles everywhere. She continued, up, over, under or around whatever was in her way with ease and great drive. We went through the woods for about a hundred yards, and she worked very well. As we hit another skidder trail, the track veered left, and she followed perfectly. This trail led back to the main logging road, which at this point contains 2-3 foot high weeds. She stayed under the growth, tracking wonderfully. I dropped the lead so it could drag on the ground behind her without hanging up. All went well right to the skin.

One other nice feature of tracking in our woods is the nearby gun club—there was a lot of shooting going on as we tracked. The range is several hundred yards from our location, but that was good. Rilla never paid any attention the gunfire.

This was a very uplifting experience for me after last week’s mild disappointment. I was a little skeptical of how she would perform due to the wind and extreme dry conditions, but as soon as I set her down, it was obvious I had nothing to worry about. It’s just amazing to watch this normally playful pup get into a totally different zone when she’s working. She rarely even looks back at us, which shows she’s concentrating on the task, and isn’t distracted easily.

Lee videoed again, and commented that she “made it look easy”. This track took her 16 minutes, with the extra time needed due to the conditions. An antsy dog would have had a tough time, IMO, but she kept the slow steady pace, which really impresses me!

UBT 20-Hour Blood Tracking Test

Last Saturday, on September 4, 2010, the United Blood Trackers held its first 20-Hour Blood Tracking Test in Berne, NY. John Jeanneney (chief judge), Andy Bensing and I were the three judges. For the rules of the tracking test go to http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/ and click on tracking tests.  The track prepared with the maxium of 8 ounces of blood is to be at least 1000 yards in length and must incorporate three 90-degree turns. The track should be at least 20 hours and must be laid in game-rich areas.

The conditions on Saturday were tough because of dryness and strong winds. Unfortunately this was the day when the Hurricane Earl impacted the weather in our area.

Four dogs, all of them wirehaired standard dachshunds out of European hunting lines, were entered in the test. All these dogs are trackers of wounded deer and moose in Quebec, Canada. Three of them were under the age of three years, and one was eight years old.

In the morning we all met met in our parking lot and handlers drew the numbers assigned to individual blood tracks.  Alain Ridel and Theo got track 1, Steve Durocher drew track 2 with Whiskey and track 4 with Quenouille, and Guy and Cochise drew track #3. I should mention that Steve was accompanied by his partner Stéphanie Marcoux.  After the first two tracks we broke for lunch, and then continued with the last two tracks.

The main problems that the dogs had to deal with besides dry and windy conditions were hot and warm lines of deer in the area. While it is not very difficult to read a dog when he gets on a hot line, it is harder to do it when a line is warm. Multiple piles of fresh deer droppings indicated abundance of deer. In Quebec, where the three trackers use their dogs for tracking wounded deer and moose, the density of big game is lower than what they encountered during the test. It is hard to train a dog to ignore hot lines when there are no hot lines to deal with. In the end only one dog, Quenouille handled by Steve Durocher, passed the test with the score of 57 points and Prize III. She got through partly  thanks to the excellent rapport she had with Steve. A talented handler, Steve gave her extraordinary support and encouragement, especially in tough spots when she needed it, and she never gave up. It was a great pleasure and learning experience to see this team working together.

All in all it was a great weekend! On Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon we discussed challenges of tracking wounded game in Quebec and breeding wirehaired dachshunds for blood tracking. We made new friends and the common interest in blood tracking broke the barrier caused by different languages we speak. Thanks to John's French and Stephanie's ability to speak English we managed to communicate well. Below there several pictures taken during the test.

John Jeanneney (left) and Andy Bensing (right) were two of the three judges of the test. I was also a judge, but since I took pictures I don't appear in them.

A short instruction about the blood line was given by the judges, and then it was Alain and Theo's turn to track. 

Theo was put on "stay" next to his handler's knapsack while Alain inspected the hit site (below).

Alain and Theo made a quick progress on the first leg of the track.

Alain terminated the track when Theo ran out of gas. He spent too much of his mental energy on dealing with hot lines.

Steve Durocher with Whiskey

Steve and Whiskey found the wound bed.

Guy Harvey and eight-year-old Cochise are getting ready for their test.

Guy and Cochise successfuly made the first right-angle turn.

Guy and Cochise take a water break. Conditions were dry and windy and the dog had to work very hard.

Steve Durocher is giving a hug and encouragement to Quenouille before the start of their track.

Quenouille with the successfully recovered "deer" at the end of blood line.

It was an emotional moment for Steve and his partner Stéphanie Marcoux.

From the left - Andy Bensing, Jolanta Jeanneney, John Jeanneney and Steve Durocher. To the right - Guy Harvey and Alain Ridel.

Exhausted Quenouille was about to take a nap next to "her deer" after having worked for over  two hours in hard conditions.

Video - Steve realized that Quenouille had found the deer hide at the end of the track. He praised her lavishly. According to the German tradition  both Steve and Quenouille were presented with small tree branches, and Andy played a traditional German hunting tune indicating the successful ending to the track.
To see this video in a high resolution click here.

The Value of Efficient Training Lines - Part 2 "The Star"

by Andy Bensing

A "Star" is nothing more than an obstacle you put in a training line where the line just sort of becomes jumbled up and the dog must learn to figure it all out and find the exit out of the confused area. The pattern and size of the star is dependent upon your dog's experience level and what you are trying to teach the dog that day. I had somewhat randomly worked Eibe on a few stars in the past. This particular exercise was the beginning of what was to be a concerted effort to systematically teach the star at ever increasing degrees of difficulty. When you make a star on a training line it is important that you know the outside boundaries of where you walk so you can tell how the dog is working it. Memorizing boundaries if fine if you are good at that but I prefer to have an easily seen marker. I use pieces of cotton balls scrapped onto the bark of a tree or wedged into undergrowth. Your dog won't pass every marker for you to be able to pick them up so using something like cotton you can remain environmentally friendly without having the inconvenience of going back to pick up your flags. Cotton balls will fall to the ground and decay or most likely end up in a bird's nest.

On this training line I made a 30 meter diameter star as diagramed above. I put a wound bed in the middle with my thoughts being to encourage my dog to think about the "center" of the confused area and work out from there, much like I do when I am teaching efficient check work. The black line in the diagram shows the path my dog took to work the star out. As it turned out, this star configuration was not much of a challenge for my dog. As soon as she went out the other side (1) she treated it just like any check and went right back to the last point of contact with the line and treated it like a turn. Because of the way I configured the star Eibe was able to simply work the perimeter around the confused area until she encountered where she had originally entered the star (2). She retraced her steps through the wound bed and this time she turned left at the check (3). She worked the perimeter again in that direction until she found the single exiting line (4) and off she went. The whole thing took maybe 2 minutes, which was great on her part but in a way I was disappointed. I had expected it would be more difficult and she would really have to think about how to get out of the confused area and in the process perhaps learn something new. I don't think she learned too much on that exercise but I know I did on that star and the next star I ran the following week.

On this second star I did not put a continuous perimeter on the confused area hoping to cause the dog to struggle a bit more but again she aced it to my surprise. Both these exercises were of course good for the dog but I think I learned the most. I had always thought of confused areas for a dog to work out as a skill to be taught or learned separately just like a dog learning sharp turns or backtracks. But what I realized in watching my dog work these problems areas out is that it all falls back to fundamentals.

In a previous post Journey to the Win I talked about teaching my dog to be more efficient in her check work / search patterns and teaching circles a deer might make. I haven't written here about it but I also have spent time in the last 6 months getting her to master backtracks. Well the reason I believe she has had such success on the stars mentioned above is because the confused area is really just a combination of backtracks, checks, and circles. Look closely at the diagrams and you will see what I mean. On the first diagram (1) is just a normal check. As the dog travels from (1) to (2) to (3) it is just an overlaping circle. At (3) it is another check and simple tracking to (4) where she finds the exit, which is a skill previously taught when she learned about circles. In the second diagram you can see she simply worked it as a series of backtracks until the line exited. I certainly have to give my dog great credit for her ability to keep it so clear in her head but the basic skills used I think are obvious.

Just as I believe teaching a few basic obedience commands like down and come make for a solid foundation for you and your dog's relationship, a few basic skills well learned in tracking work make a solid foundation for the more advanced and difficult tracking scenarios. Here is a diagram of the next star I am going to try but at this point my guess is that she will ace it as well.

Next installment.......A water backtrack

Note: Before I finished writing this installment, I did get Eibe out on a training line with the type of star diagramed above. From the results of that line and much of the other work I have been doing with her it is becoming quite clear that she has been learning much more than I thought. As she entered and passed through this 40m meter star she seemed to immediately recognize that the best way to handle it was to get completely out of the mess and work it from afar. She very systematically went right out the other side and searched around it's perimeter, uncharacteristically far off the line for her, a good 30 meters away, until she found the exit. She actually reacquired the line almost 60 meters away from the star. She wasn't lost or just being inaccurate. It looked as though she just figured it made sense to get away from the mess. She spent almost no time in the middle of the star.

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Brian asked: Andy excellent info. Do you use tracking shoes to train and are the diagrams you show from a Garmin Astro? Thanks.

Andy's response:

I almost always use tracking shoes to train. I use my GPS for all my tracking activities both real life and training but these diagrams are hand drawn, not from a GPS. The accuracy on any GPS would not be good enough to show the detail needed when you are dealing with short distances like 40 or 50 meters.

I don't know if Jolanta can do it or not but I will try and have her post here what the GPS map of the first diagram actually looks like. Where I actually walked is very much like the diagram but you will see that the GPS made it look quite differently and not as well organized as it truly was.

Just Beagles! The New Scotland Beagle Club SPO Trial

John and I are members of the New Scotland Beagle Club in Feura Bush, NY, and we have spent the last three days at the Small Pack Option Beagle Trial organized by our club. Below are some snapshots taken during the trial. I love beagles! True, we have only one beagle, Rip, who is now over eleven years old, but I have the utmost respect for the breed.

It was a pleasure to meet and talk to Sarah Harrington who together with her husband Ralph has been running Better Beagling magazine for over a year now. This superb publication is a great resource for the beagle field trialing and hunting community.

   

 

 

 

Related posts:

http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2008/10/blood-tracking-with-beagles.html/

http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2009/08/field-trial-beagles.html

Blood tracking testing for NJ handlers

I received the info from Andy Bensing, who administered the testing over two weekends. We wrote about the first weekend at click here. Below is Andy's report about the second weekend of testing.

On Friday August 27, 2010 five NJ hunters traveled to Reading PA to take the United Blood Trackers UBT-I evaluation in hopes of qualifying for the Special Wildlife Management Permit researching the feasibility of the use of leashed blood tracking dogs in NJ. Four of the five passed the evaluation. Sam Palumbo and his drahthaar, Axel, John Drahos and his Labrador retriever, Kelsey, Harry Katon and his wirehaired dachshund, Duncan, and Darren Doran and his wirehaired dachshund, Karl all will be on this year's permit. Unfortunately, Stan Kite's dog Rilla was not able to qualify. Rilla is a very promising 3 month old puppy and Stan was taking a shot to try and get on the permit yet this year. Rilla is too young to do much real life blood tracking right now but by later in the season she will be 6 or 7 months old and if she could have qualified now, she would have been an asset to the permit then. I am sure she will make it for next year.

Dog Handlers left to right: John Drahos, Stan Kite, Harry Katon, Sam Palumbo. Andy Bensing, UBT Judge, standing in the middle in the back.

Darren Doran with his dog Karl passed the evaluation later in the day separate from the rest of the group. Darren is the coordinator for this year's NJ permit and without all his volunteer efforts, there likely would not even be a permit this year. Darren showed up later in the day in Reading PA because he first traveled from his Central Jersey home to NY state in the morning to take the NY State Leashed Blood Tracking License exam then had to drive home to Jersey, pick up his dog, and then drive 2 ½ hours to Reading for the UBT-I evaluation. Darren is quite a busy and dedicated guy.

***

In addition to the NJ trackers coming to PA to take the UBT evaluations, two non-new Jersey trackers recently took evaluations in PA as well. Andy Pedersen and his wire haired dachshund, Ruby, from southern Maryland passed the UBT-I and Troy Wallace and his wirehaired dachshund, Maggie, passed the more advanced UBT-II. Troy tracks in DE and MD but lives in PA which is a non-tracking state. He has been actively involved in helping to legalize tracking in PA and is hoping to be able to track in his home state by next year (2011).

Andy Bensing and Troy Wallace with Maggie

Blood tracking services in Alabama

Alabama Outdoor News has published a list of handlers who own trained blood tracking dogs and offer their services to hunters. For the full list click here. One of the handlers listed is Will Sims who owns a two-year-old wirehaired dachshund Roscoe (Frodo von Moosbach-Zuzelek). Will tracks in Tallapoosa County and surrounding area, and his phone number is (256) 749-2894.  This is a sample of Will and Roscoe's finds:

Deer Recovery of Pennsylvania

Deer Recovery of PA has been very active over the last few months soliciting support across the state for legalization of the use of leashed tracking dogs.  Legalization won't occur anymore this year but the stage seems to be set for big progress early next year when a new legislative session begins.  Their recently updated website includes a good video explaining blood tracking to the general public.  Go to http://www.deerrecoverypa.org 

Blood tracking in New Jersey in 2010

I asked Andy Bensing for a short update on the current situation with blood tracking in New Jersey. This is what he wrote:

NJ is again this year going to issue a special Wildlife Management Permit for the investigation of the feasibility of the use of leashed blood tracking dogs for finding unrecovered deer for hunters. The permit will allow trackers listed on the permit to use their dogs to help hunters recover their deer that they have been unable to recover themselves. There will be about 10 trackers across the state on the permit this year. A tracker can get on the permit one of two ways. Either he will have to have been on one of the previous permits issued the last 2 years or if new to the program, the tracker must pass a basic test of ability with his dog. All applicants must also be free of any wildlife code violation for the last 10 years.

On August 19th, two NJ handlers took a test offered by the United Blood Trackers organization near Hamburg PA. The United Blood trackers evaluation, the UBT-I, meets the NJ permit criteria to allow a handler on the permit. One of the two dogs taking the evaluation passed. Rich Stollery and his 1 1/2 year old bitch, November, passed with flying colors. I had the pleasure of judging this well coordinated team and treated them and anyone else within earshot to an instrumental announcement of their success in the finest European tradition.

Next week several more NJ trackers will be taking the UBT-I evaluation in hopes of getting on the permit. It is hoped that perhaps in the next year or two with the data collected on this permit, leashed blood tracking dogs will be legalized for any NJ hunter who would like to use one.

Andy Bensing and Rich Stollery with "Ember"

Fot more info on the UBT-I and UBT-II tests go to http://www.unitebloodtrackers.org/ and click on Tracking Tests.

Recent articles on blood tracking dogs in the deer hunting press - part 1

Carney Easter and Dinky at UBT

Trackfest  in Alabama, 2009

The September issue of Bowhunter magazine has a nice article  Lost and Found: Trailing Dogs at Work by Clay Newcomb. The article starts with a story about a wounded buck recovery by a blood tracking team of Carney Easter and his dachshund Dinky from Arkansas. When Clay Newcomb made a poor shot he called Carney for help. A two-year-old Dinky found the buck in 20 minutes, 14 hours after the shot.

We know Carney, who is a member of the United Blood Trackers, but we did not know that John's book Tracking Dogs for Finding Wounded Deer played a role in Carney's choice of breed. In Carney's words: "The book talked about all aspects of blood trailing game with dogs. The author stated that the miniature dachshund had retained much of his hunting instincts, so I went out and bought one. At first it was just a tool, but now it has just become another very rewarding aspect of hunting for me".

The second part of article is dedicated to the United Blood Trackers. Carney is quoted "Ihe United Blood Trackers is dedicated to promoting resource conservation through the use of trained tracking dogs in the ethical recovery of big game. We support recovery efforts afield, the education of hunters, the training and testing of dog handlers and their dogs and legislative efforts to promote blood trailing". If you need help with recovery of your wounded deer, go to the UBT website http://www.unitedbloodtrackers.org/ and check handlers in your area by following the link "Find a tracker". The United Blood Trackers is a national organization, which accepts members from all states. You can join online by filling out an application and submitting payment ($25). It takes just few seconds.

Congratulations Carney on such a nice recovery and many thanks to you and Clay for promoting blood tracking!

More wirehaired dachshund puppies out of European bloodlines are on their way

Two and a half weeks ago, on August 2, FC Hexelein Pantel von Lowenherz "Hexel" bred and owned by Laurel Whistance-Smith was bred to our Tommy (FC Tom von Linteler-Forst). Hexel's sire is Henri Anons and her dam is Gabby Pantel von Lowenherz, CDX, TD, JE. This will be first litter for both Hexel and Tommy.

These are pictures of Hexel:

For more information about the upcoming puppies contact directly Laurel Whistance-Smith at manverspack@nexicom.net.

Then on August 15 another mating took place. This time "Pepper" (Pepper Berger von Arno Yergz) owned by Gail and Art Berger was bred to our Billy (FC Billy von Moosbach-Zuzelek, SchwhK, Wa.-T, BHP-1, BHP-2, BHP-3). This is a repeat breeding, which produced very good blood tracking dogs two years ago. Pepper was bred for blood tracking, and she a methodical tracking style of her grandmother Sabina von Moosbach-Zuzelek.

Pepper

To get more information about this litter contact Gail at grammyberger@dejazzd.com.

How we evaluate dachshund puppies for blood tracking.

Recently a breeder who is raising his first litter asked me "Are there certain things you see in the pups that help lean the odds in your favor when picking a top quality pup?" Eight years ago I wrote an article on how we evaluate dachshund puppies for their potential in blood tracking - see http://www.born-to-track.com/our-writing/jola/evaluating-puppies.htm  I thought it might be useful to include a slightly modified section of this article here. The article is somewhat dated; now we start working with our puppies earlier. One thing has been constant though - we test our puppies at ten weeks and this way we can compare not only pups within a litter but also we can compare various litters.

A dachshund used for blood tracking has to have a good functional conformation, i.e. conformation that will allow it function well in the field and woods. The dog has to be able to track for several hours in a thick brush and briars and withstand the punishing cover well. The dog may have to go through streams and swamps, may be asked to track during rain or snow. Stamina and endurance go a long way. A good working coat is a big plus. The dog’s temperament is important because in many cases it has to track with a group of strangers (hunters) following. Other characteristics of great importance are desire to track, line sense, intelligence, concentration and focus, good nose, patience, courage, initiative and desire to please a handler. Tracking wounded deer is a team effort and a handler and his dog interact during tracking a lot. A handler may see some other signs that a wounded deer left behind (smears of blood left high on the shrubs) and when a dog is in doubt a handler will help the dog to figure out the track. Hence, a dog’s willingness to cooperate with a handler and its desire to please are not to be ignored.

It is our breeding goal to produce dachshunds that can function well in hands of hunters and trackers, but bear in mind that in a majority of tracking homes these dogs are also family pets. This is one of the great appeals of the dachshund to a hunter and handler – the dog can be so useful in the field and at the same time, it can be a cherished and beloved family companion.

Most dachshunds are very good with kids but there are some individuals with dominant and aggressive tendencies that should not be placed with families with young children. A responsible breeder will know his puppies and which ones are suitable to live with kids and which ones are not.

We start observing our puppies from their birth. All puppies have ribbons of different colors around their necks and this way we are never in doubt about “who is who”. At seven weeks, we perform the standard puppy aptitude test, which can predict temperamental tendencies quite well, but is not error-proof. We have had our share of surprises. We make sure that puppies are exposed to a wide variety of noises like a lawn mower, vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, blender, a whistle, TV etc. Once puppies are up and mobile, we take them for walks in the field and woods so they are exposed to a variety of natural scents. It is important that they are accustomed to heavy cover, wet grass, drizzle, and that they go outside when it is dark. A mild stress is beneficial at this stage.

We start to work our pups on deer blood early. Usually when we track for hunters, we end up with a freezer full of deer blood and deer organs (liver and heart). They are excellent for testing and training purposes.

Five-week-old puppies enjoying a deer liver

First, we thaw out the deer liver and we drag it across the lawn. The liver is placed at the end of line, which at the beginning is just about 20 yards long. We age the line for 15 minutes and then we test puppies individually. If you let all the pups come to the line in a group, there is just too much commotion, play and competitive racing. It takes time, but pups have to be tested individually. We score their performance on the scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being the best. We pay attention to such questions as:  

• Is it nose oriented?
• Does it concentrate or is it easily distracted?
• What kind of line control does it show?
• What working style does it demonstrate?
• Can it finish the line without help?
• How does it react to the liver or other deer parts at the end?

We do this kind of conditioning/testing around two-four times a week. Notes and records are kept on each puppy’s progress. The scent line gets longer and is aged more with every week. One can say a lot about the puppy by the time it is 12 weeks old, not just its natural tracking ability, but also its intelligence, focus, courage, sensitivity to noise, self control. At the end of the testing session we let all the puppies play with the deer hide and observe them as a group and how individual puppies interact within the group. We watch if the pup is possessive of the hide. Does it growl at other pups? Is it determined to claim the hide as its own or does it walk away from it under pressure from other puppies?

What kind of performance would we score as a ”10”? We would like to see an intense interest in the scent of deer blood. A puppy should be able to figure out pretty quickly that there is a line of scent i.e. scent leads from point A to point B, and be able to follow it. If a puppy gets off line, it should be able to correct itself and get back on it. We like a relatively calm and slow pup, not a speed demon that overruns its nose all the time. Focus and intensity are very important. A pup that gets very easily distracted by other things around and cannot focus on the track is a rather poor prospect. We like to see a pup showing interest and some aggressiveness towards the parts of deer left at the end of line. The pup that acts fearful or is turned off by them does not score very well. Not all good tracking dogs are intensely interested in the “find”. There are some that just love tracking and do not care much about what they find at the end of line, but they should not be afraid of a piece of deer hide.

Some pups are very precocious and at 9-12 weeks show an amazing aptitude. There are also some that, even though not precocious, show a steady progress. And then, occasionally, there are puppies that do not show any promise at all and in this case, we sell them as pets.

In a 2002 litter, one of the six pups was apprehensive when approaching the deer organs and hide, and even though he tried to follow the line, he was all over the place and was getting distracted very easily. At 14 weeks, we sold him as a pet and received a letter from the buyer few weeks later: "The last week with Gipper has been just great. He is eating well, playing boldly, and only showing occasional stubbornness on the leash. He takes to the water very well, and has seen and smelled his first deer. I think the only thing limiting his tracking ability is his concentration--he gets distracted very easily." Most likely, this lack of focus will stay with Gipper for a long time to come.

We keep in touch with the buyers and we get a lot of feedback on the dogs we have sold. This really helps to evaluate our breeding decisions. Since we, ourselves, can only work with few dogs at a time, we rely on what we hear back from the hunters. In many cases, we make a hard decision not to keep the best dog for ourselves because we know we would not be able to realize the full potential of the dog. Such a dog would be better off with a hunter, where it would be the only dog and would get a lot of work. In cases like this, we usually arrange to keep breeding rights on the dog and ask not to neuter/speay the pup.

The testing system described is not carved in stone; it evolves constantly. We have not invented it all by ourselves – it is derived from what we have learned from others plus our own experience. It has been serving us rather well. The records are also very helpful when it comes to planning future litters.

Related posts:
http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2010/06/liver-drags-for-puppies.html
http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-start-blood-tracking-puppy.html
http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/2009/07/video-of-blood-tracking-wirehaired.html

Related videos:
http://jola.smugmug.com/Video-clips/Puppies-5-8-weeks-old
http://jola.smugmug.com/Video-clips/Puppy-training

A new generation of blood trackers is born

During the night of August 7 a new generation of blood tracking puppies was born. Mariel von Munterkeit owned by Gentian and Beth Shero whelped a litter of six healthy, vigorous puppies - 2 girls and 4 boys. Our Billy is a proud papa. You can read more about the breeding and whelping at http://www.doxielink.com/

Both parents are of dark wild boar color, and puppies seem to be very dark too. This is a very attractive color and in Germany it is called dunkel-saufarben. Pups' weights were  from 9 to 11 ounces (not too big and not too small), and they have gained some weight already. We are excited about this breeding and are looking forward to many reports on them. Congratulations to Mariel, and of course to Gentian and Beth.