New Jersey handlers promote the use of blood tracking dogs

On September 14 and 15 The United Blood Trackers had a booth at the New Jersey Outdoor Expo. This event is hosted by the Division of Fish and wildlife and was held at Colliers Mills WMA. The event was attended by 8,400 visitors over the 2 days. This is a 17% increase in visitor participation from the 2012 Expo. Together with exhibitors and volunteers, a diverse crowd of more than 8,700 people participated in this successful outreach event. The event is free and has a multitude of outdoor activities that are geared towards adults and kids that don’t necessarily have allot of knowledge about the outdoors.

 

The UBT booth was manned by members of the New Jersey tracking permit. Stan Kite and Rilla, Nola Wunderlich and I with Karl and Theo were there on Saturday. Rich Stollery and Ember, John Drahos and his daughter Rylee along with two new trackers Jeremy and Arthur Garey filled in on Sunday. This was pretty good considering this was the opening weekend of our archery season.

 

Blood tracking demos were held both days and were well attended by spectators. The dogs were a real magnet to kids and adults alike and we were able explain a tracking dogs function to people that had no idea what we did. This type of positive exposure to the general public will pay off later.

 

On a side note:

Over the last three years the UBT has been a member of The New Jersey Outdoor Alliance and has a seat on the Conservation Foundation. The NJOA has been assisting the tracking dog legalization effort here in NJ. At a recent meeting with the Governor’s office, the NJOA discussed the legalization of a leashed tracking dog. A bill is being crafted and is being backed by Governor Christi. Our next step will be finalizing the language and getting a Republican and Democratic sponsor. Over the last five years our tracking permit has been issued, we have slowly won over Fish and Wildlife, the Law Enforcement component, and finally the Politicians. This has been hard work and the amount of paper work our trackers have had to submit is cumbersome. I would like to thank them all for their commitment to the cause.

 

Submitted by Darren Doran, NJ Tracking Permit Coordinator

 

Arthur Garey and Dennis

 

Stan Kite with Rilla and Karl

Jeremy Garey and Faline

Daren Doran's tracking dachshunds: Karl and Theo

Rylee Drahos with Theo and Karl

A big thank you to Darren Doran for all the work that he has put into the New Jersey tracking permit. It is starting to pay off, that's for sure!

 

Seven tracks in two days result in five deer recovered by Lightning Mountain Outfitters and Tucker

On Sunday I was in Batavia, NY to attend one day of field trials, and when I got back on Monday morning I found out out that Ray and Pam Maurier from New Hampshire have been very busy tracking. They did seven tracks in two days and recovered five deer (on Monday they tracked four deer and recovered all of them).

We are so proud of Tucker (Storm von Moosbach-Zuzelek), who is our Sky's littermate. We could not imagine a better home for Tucker, who is loved and cherished, but also given so many opportunities to track.

The first picture shows a bear that Trucker recovered a week ago so this is not part of the last two days' tally. Ray posted the summary of the last two days on Facebook and I might be able to repost it here. Anyway, huge congratulations to Pam and Ray and their tracking teckel Tucker!

Another hazard for tracking dogs

by Andy Bensing

As an avid outdoorsman I usually love learning and experiencing new things about nature but sometimes there is a limit.  A recent blood tracking expedition taught me something I really didn’t need to learn. 

Last Tuesday night after a very routine blood tracking call earlier that day in MD I found myself lying in bed in the dark scratching like crazy on my legs.  The itching and small bumps immediately brought the thought to mind that I had again gotten into some chiggers earlier in the day.  Actually, the itching and bumps were less than I had experienced in the past from chiggers so I was pretty happy about that.  I found out a day and a half later it wasn’t chiggers that I had gotten into but instead my dog Eibe and I had gotten into a nest of tick larvae!  Tick larvae are very, very small and I had not noticed them at first on myself or my dog but by Thursday morning they had been feeding on Eibe for a while and had blown up to a size that I could now easily see.  Commonly called “seed ticks” for their close resemblance to small seeds, Eibe was covered in them!  Without exaggeration I would estimate there were at least 1,000 or more engorged tick larvae all over her body!  Upon close examination I could even see the discarded exoskeletons from some of the larvae who had molted into the nymph stage.  The engorged ticks were so small that I wasn’t even sure what they were until I used a magnifying glass and could see their legs.  A quick call to my vet and a little internet research held the solution to the problem.  Unlike adult ticks and just like chiggers, these larvae don’t attach very securely when feeding.  That’s why I easily rubbed them off my legs unknowingly the first night and did not end up with any engorged ones on me.  All that was necessary to get them off Eibe was a simple flea and tick shampoo and a flea comb through her hair once dry. 

Except for the fact that I can’t stop itching from just the thought of all those creepy little critters all over my dog and some inevitably crawling around my house the whole thing ended pretty easily.  According to the research I have done, the likelihood of tick borne diseases being transmitted by the nymph stage appears low.  Now the only big question left is what will be my next dog disaster?

Engorged tick larvae on Eibe’s back and belly.

Shed larvae exoskeletons after molting to the nymph stage.

Engorged tick larvae on Eibe’s back and belly.

Just a few of the dead ticks collected from the drain after Eibe’s tick bath.

This chart shows the comparative size of the larvae, nymph, and adult tick.

First natural training line for Addi, a seven-month-old wirehaired dachshund puppy

Andy Bensing shared with us his recent experience with Addi, a puppy who is sired by Chuck Collier's Moose (FC Nurmi von Moosbach-Zuzelek). Moose is a talented and accomplished tracker in his own right, but over the last few years he has proved to be an exceptional producer.

Here's Addi, a 7-month-old granddaughter of my Eibe on her first natural training line track.  The deer had traveled 100 yards after the double lung shot but left absolutely no blood trail.  Unfortunately the hunters were unaware of the availability of tracking dogs when this buck was shot and it took well into the next day for the hunters to locate the buck in the thick cover that it ran into.  The deer was left lay due to spoilage after it was found by grid searching the next day.  I was on the property 2 days later with my experienced dog, Eibe, for a different deer and when that track was over I used the opportunity to try giving my young pup a little field experience.  Although Addi had previously been on about 20 training lines with tracking shoes and blood, I doubted she would be able to do anything with a 40 hour old bloodless line but I figured I had nothing to lose by giving it a shot.  Well to my wonderful surprise when I put her down on a bloodless start at the hit site she figured it out very quickly.  Very slowly and methodically she picked her way down the bloodless 100 yards through thick cover right to the carcass.  Conditions were perfect for training; the uncleaned arrow was available to lie on the ground at the exact known spot the deer was standing when shot, the wind was at our back and the deer was still in the woods at a known location. 

This is the kind of dog that is being bred here in the United States on an ever increasing frequency.  Not all dogs start out so well at such a young age and many of those slower starters still turn out great later in life but when you get a quick starter and combine it with some good initial young dog training you can get results like this.  If it sounds like I am bragging, I am!  I could not be happier today if I had hit the lottery!

Promotion of blood tracking dogs at its best: a big thank you to Ray and Joe

 

Ray Holohan, a United Blood Trackers member from Ashkum, Illinois, wrote:

Hi Jolanta, I  thought I would send you a picture of the outdoor show that Joe Walters and myself  did this past weekend representing the UBT. The show was a spinoff of the GOTCHA show that we have done the past few years.  This show was put on by the Kankakee Valley Park District and was called  2013 Ultimate Outdoor Show; it was a two day event. The show wasn't really put together well and wasn't well advertised, making the attendance pretty low. We were still able to get the word out about the UBT and tracking wounded deer with dogs. Everbody thought it was a great concept and  were all for it. We also got a chance to show off our new puppies Ruff and Maddy, they were very well behaved and did a good job considering the temperature was in the high 80s. Joe's tracking season will start this weekend, Indiana has a early urban hunt, I have to wait till October 1st. Well that's all for now, good luck this season

Ray, Claudia, Rosco, Razen, and Ruff

A four-moth-old dachshund "Mongo" (aka Urho) recovers his first "real" mule buck

Urho von Moosbach-Zuzelek, a puppy from our "U" litter that was born on May 10, is owned by John Sakelaris who works at Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico. John has two sons and they call the pup "Mongo". On September 5 I received a very exciting message that Mongo was successful the first time out and recovered a very nice mule buck for the hunter in the picture. We could not be happier to hear the news. Congratulations to Mongo, Perry and John!

Perry with his pup Mongo.

A memorable bear track for Buster and Susanne

This picture shows Susanne and Buster on one of the tracks they did in 2012.

By Susanne Hamilton

The saying that things get better with age is true although for me it comes as a two edged sword.

My dog Buster is 11 years old and has many jobs of which all of them he takes very seriously. He is my best friend, my constant companion, my horse show dog, my field trialing dog, my agility dog and last but not least my tracking dog. My friend Jolanta always says that there is no such thing as the perfect dog, but  to me this little guy is the embodiment of perfection and all I wish is that I could make time stand still to keep him just the way he is right now for ever and ever! 

I want to tell the story of a recent track  in which although we did not end up with a find, everything went right...

It was at 11:30 at night and I was just ready to get to bed when I got a Facebook message that someone was looking for a tracking dog to find a wounded bear in Maine. After a short conversation on the I couldn't resist going on this track even though I realized this was two and a half hours away. It was our first call of the season and both Buster and I were itching to go.

The man that called, Chris, is an experienced hunter and guide, and he was devastated because a good shot turned into a bad one. The bear moved the moment he pulled back the release of his bow, which resulted in the arrow landing on the upper part  of his hindquarters. The bear had taken off with a loud roar, then crashed, then got up again and crashed again, and after that there had been silence.

From the description of the shot, I did not think we had a fatally wounded animal, however, there is always the question "what if", and Chris, my hunter was really anxious. The arrow was a fixed blade, and from the description,  it was at least ten inches in the bear. I pondered it for a short while, and decided to take a chance.

There was no evidence of blood at the hit site, and Chris had really never found any blood during his search for the bear he had shot at 6pm that evening,  but Buster does not need blood to follow a track. We knew the bear had been hit high, with no exit wound.  The people who usually need blood evidence, are either a) the tracker, who would like to know that his/her dog is persuing the right animal or b) the hunter, who feels awful, that he took a bad shot, and made every effort to find a "bloodhound" and now doesn't really trust that a little 20 pound dog  on short legs with a blonde chick at the end of a tether could  in all actuality sniff out and recover his wounded game.

When we arrived at the bait site at about 2:30 AM, my eyes fell on all the bait scattered at the site...   to me it stank, but to Buster, it must have smelled like a feast.  I wondered for a split second, if Buster was going to show more interest in the food than in the bear track, but I was mistaken, and he never even glanced at it. As always, he was all business.

Chris  showed me the exact direction the bear had taken off after being hit, but Buster gingerly chose an entirely different trail in front of the trail camera.  I was puzzled,  and trusting my dog, I let him lead the way for a bit, but then  chose to reset him back onto the trail that the hunter showed me, and that he had been certain, the bear had disappeared. Buster threw me a short glance, put his nose down, and started tracking.

Off we went, and Chris who was searching for any evidence behind me was excited. He felt that this was exactly the direction the bear had taken,  just before he heard him crash.  Buster confidently kept up on the trail, swung slightly to the left after about 300 yards, and kept a good pull on the lead. He felt very consistent to me but after a half a mile with absolutely no blood evidence I made the decision to go back to the bait site to see if Buster would take the same track again.

My general rule is, if Buster tracks it once, I may on occasion be allowed to be a skeptic, especially if there is absolutely no evidence or signs to prove we're on the right track,  but  if he takes the same trail twice and he is committed to that track, I had BETTER follow his lead.

I carried Buster back to the bait site,  put him  on the same trail and asked him to "find that bear".  He gave me a look that one would get from someone who feels a bit sorry for you because you're a little slow on the uptake, but then turned, and patiently took me along exactly the same trail we had taken before.

I love tracking at night, there is something serene and quiet about it. There aren't any of  the loud abstract colors and distractions  that appear in the daylight, my entire world exists in the low glow of my headlamp and everything around us is dark. It gives you a feeling of being almost encapsulated. The little world includes only myself, my dog and often my hunter. One’s senses tend to sharpen to details of the trail.

 This time,  about 300 yards into the track, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a tiny black spot, I did a double take low and behold, on a small fern, with only six or so fern leaves, there was a pin drop of blood. I hollered for Chris to come and check it out, and the excitement grew.  I marked the spot with some tape, and also marked it in my GPS. This pin drop of blood was to be the only blood we found on the entire trail.

We tracked to our half mile mark, and just when I told Chris that we were now passing the spot where we had decided to reset Buster the last time,  I found the chewed off  end of the arrow. Buster had stopped and pointed it out to me.

From that arrow, we could now tell that it probably had only penetrated about 4-5 inches, which made me suddenly realize, that this bear was probably at the most just "pissed off".

 However, Buster really pulled and told me to get going, and Chris really felt that he wasn't finished "looking" ye, so  we marked that spot and off we went again. This time, the track took us on a large circle, which after fifteen minutes ended exactly where I had marked the arrow. Then suddenly we heard a loud crashing through the woods, VERY close to us. Buster jumped directly behind me.  I have to give it to him.... He knows he's in charge of finding these bears, but when it comes to "killing them", he'd rather leave the job to one of his two- legged hunting partners.

 From this moment on, Buster tracked very close to me, which is usually a sign, that the bear is very close by.  This was evident on many levels, being that we had a heavy morning dew at this point, we could see where the dew was disrupted. It was also evident that this large male bear lived here.  There was evidence of bedding places, and bear trails, and Chris knew from the cameras, that this was the only male bear in the area. He had over 400 pictures of this bear, and we where literally right  in HIS living room!!!

 

The bear's picture caught on a trail camera

 

 When we had traveled a total of about two miles,  had tracked for 3.5 hours and the first signs of daylight where visible in the sky and it was 6:00 am , I looked at Chris, and on his face, I could tell that he was finally satisfied, that he had done the best he could, and that aside from the feeling of guilt causing an animal to suffer, he could accept that this bear was not going to get caught... not that night anyway! 

 I took off Buster’s harness, and we checked compass and GPS for the way back to the truck. Tired, sweat soaked, thirsty, but satisfied, I climbed into the car for a two-and-a-half hour ride home.

 Our reward....  Chris's awe and  pure amazement at what my little dog had done for him. We had taken a donation towards gas money, but that means little in comparison to the enthusiastic praise and re-capture of things he had seen Buster do, that "for sure made him the SMARTEST dog he had ever seen in his life..."  that "boy oh boy, he was sure glad that Buster didn't track HIM, because that is 20 LBS of NASTY". Hunters like  Chris, remind me why I can spend an entire night driving and tracking, not get a wink of sleep, but will walk around all day long, with a smile on my face :o)

 Chris called me at 10:30 AM to tell me that he had checked his trail cam, and that the bear had come back to the bait  five hours after he had been shot, with the arrow already gone and hungry for a snack. So I have much confidence, that his bottom will be sore for a few days, with the embedded broad head in it, but that he will recover fully.

 On a short note, the evidence of the camera showed that the bear  left the area EXACTLY where Buster first chose to track him until I reset him onto the colder trail.

 Upon getting home, my tired Buster refused to eat his breakfast, until, according to our tradition, I told Cliff the whole long tracking story. Buster  will sit in front of Cliff, wagging his tail, looking back and forth from me  telling the story to Cliff, ooooh-ing and aaaaaah-ing , and occasionally giving a woof  of encouragement.  It is only then, that he will eat and climb into bed...

What an AWESOME dog!!!

---------------------------------

 

BTW, this is a note Chris left on the United Blood Trackers Facebook: You folks offer a great service and being somewhat of a skeptic prior to this event, I can tell you that I am not a skeptic anymore. This is the first time I have ever relinquished control on a tracking job to anyone else and it taught me a good lesson... A good dog is worth a thousand men, maybe more. Buster is THE MAN!

Remi's incredible track

In Justin's own words: "You would not believe the track Remi just pulled off. Is was the most amazing track. It was incredible. I cried when we finally harvested the buck. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this Remi."

We are dying to hear details.

A new photoblog for my nature photography

This picture shows Fox Creek behind Fox Creek Market store in Berne, NY. It is probably 300 yards from our place. Colors are definitely starting to change. The water level is really down. Hard to imagine that two years ago Fox Creek was turned into a raging river when Tropical Storm Irene hit us. But unfortunately we still see  a serious post-Irene impact in many places of this area. 

Last year I started a photoblog but I have not kept with it. September and October are so beautiful in the Helderbergs that I decided to reactivate the blog. It is at http://naturecalendars.blogspot.com/ So if you'd like to experience the nature the way I see it, please visit the site from time to time. Also a lot of my pictures are posted on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jolaphotography. Come and see us there!

Joeri and Gilda hanging out together and relaxing on a lazy Sunday afternoon

Two pals, Joeri and Gilda, hanging out together on a hot and hazy Sunday afternoon.

Theo von Moosbach-Zuzelek, a young blood tracker with great potential

Theo von Moosbach-Zuzelek was born on April 6, 2012 so he is not a year and a half old yet. He is owned by Darren Doran from New Jersey. We can't wait to see how Theo does in the field this year as Darren's reports on his performance on artificial lines are quite extraordinary 

A male dachshund puppy available to a blood tracking home

Vern Hansen from Michigan has one male puppy available from his last litter. The sire is Chuck Collier's Moose (FC Nurmi von Moosbach-Zuzelek). Moose is the dog we bred, and he is a sire of our S- and T-puppies. A dam of this litter goes back to our bloodlines too. Vern's number is 906-226-8638, e-mail VBoBagins@charter.net

Remi and Justin, a blood tracking team from Utah, recover a mule buck

We are happy to report that Remi (Remy von Moosbach-Zuzelek) from Utah recovered his first mule buck of the season. Justin Richins sent us a really nice e-mail with a quote from his client (slightly edited): "Anyway, Justin, thank you so much for interrupting your day to help me. I am leaving donation for all you do with Remy. Please buy him a big standing prime rib bone-in roast, cook it rare and hand it to him for me! Or eat if for dinner with your family and just throw Remy a bone. As I said to you earlier in the sagebrush, this outfit you guys are running, from the people, to the lodge, to the guides to this amazing ranch….is absolutely the best I have ever seen, and I have seen some great ones. Keep up the great work until I get back."

"It took Remi about 1 min to lock on, then its was an easy short track for the liver/stomach shot mule deer. We ran the trail during the 85 degree heat of the day around 4 pm and the deer was shot early in the morning. We had a little heavy cross wind and when Remi picked his head up high in the air I knew the dead buck was close."

Justin's website: www.thehuntingcompany.com

A Kentucky trophy buck recovered by Joe Mason and his wirehaired dachshund Shome

Shome gets the first buck of the season and what a buck it is!

Yesterday we received this letter from Shome's owner Joe Mason. BTW, Shome is a two year-old littermate of our Sky.

Great day for Shome and me. I am so excited. My granddaughter's husband has a high fence hunting club in our county. I don't know if it is this way nationally or not but in KY once you get the permit from the state to run a high fence club you set your own laws as far as when and how you hunt. He has had a few pay hunters come in already.

 

He called me this morning about 11:00 and said he had a hunter shoot a 200" deer late yesterday and they couldn't find it and wanted to know if I would bring Shome down and try. It was about a 150 yd. shot and it was so late they couldn't tell where the deer was hit and were only able to find one little area of blood about 40 yds from where the deer had been standing.

Well it was 84 degrees and the trail was going to be 16 hrs old by the time I could get there. I told Marlene I probably didn't have a Chinamans chance but I wanted to work Shome anyway so I was going. I tried to start him at the spot where they thought the deer was standing and didn't seem to have much luck so I picked him up and carried him to where the little bit of blood was that they had found. Bingo. I was holding the leash and I was sure he was tracking. In about 30 yds I saw a little more blood and that sure made me feel good.

 

After another 40-50 yds he went through some junk to where I just had to let go of the rope and he was gone. Almost as soon as I had let go of the leash I looked down and saw 2 drops of blood on a leaf on a vine so I knew he was still tracking. I use a bell on his collar and just within a minute he was out of hearing range. I began to blow my whistle and call but just like the day I lost him he didn't come back. After a few minutes of calling we heard him barking way back behind us. I first thought he had circled back looking for me. I blew my whistle and called a few more times but we could tell he wasn't coming toward us. Sam asked me if I thought he had tracked the deer back and had found him. I told him I didn't know but I was going back to see what was going on.

 

It sounded like he was back where we had left his vehicle. When I got back there he wasn't there and the barking was out in a big corn field that ran parallel to the woods. I got really excited then because I knew he was barking at something down out there. When I got to him there was the deer and Shome was having a ball. The deer was still alive but couldn't get up. I don't know if he would have barked had the deer been dead or not. What do you think? If he hadn't been barking or if he had come back to me when I was calling we would never have found the deer. After today I am definitely buying a GPS collar.

Five more weeks to our hunting season!

Today John and I went to get our hunting licenses and doe permits. We did not get any doe permits but saw that this picture is being used by our Town Supervisor as his computer screen saver. It shows John and Tommy, who recovered the deer during last hunting season. It made our morning!

 

Also today a friend of ours e-mailed us this great picture of a bear taken by his trail camera just few days ago. The picture was taken no more than a mile from our house!

 

 

 

We are in the Southern Zone (4H) of NY so our hunting season starts on October 1.

 

Sky's second litter

Our Sky's second litter was born three days ago, on August 19. Congratulations to "Meggie" FC Marguerite Vom Jagerhugel and her owner Susanne Hamilton, a close friend of ours from Maine, on three healthy boys: Archer, Arrow and Ajax. We are looking forward to seeing their work in the field! All the pups are spoken for.

Beauty of a summer day (and evening)

I hope that you see as much beauty around you as we do.

Upcoming "After the Shot...Finding Your Deer" Seminar by John Jeanneney

How to take good pictures of tracking dogs with recovered big game

Compiled by Jolanta Jeanneney

At the 2011 United Blood Trackers Trackfest at Pocahontas I had a short presentation about how you can improve your skills allowing you to take better pictures during tracking and hunting season. What follows is a summary of this powerpoint talk. 

A good visual presentation has become even more important in the last few years. It is not a secret that with a growing popularity of social media, more and more people communicate visually. Pictures and videos are omnipresent.  

And let's face it, if you have recovered a wounded deer and you are proud of your dog and your own effort, nothing is going to preserve you memory better than a good picture that you can share with others.

So, if you'd like your picture to look like this 

and not like the one below, read on. Feel free to share your own advice through comments.

Choose your camera wisely

• Don’t count on your cell phone to take good pictures under difficult conditions
• A small point-and-shoot camera should be just fine.
• Don’t be too concerned about  a lot of megapixels! You do not need a huge number of megapixels unless you are planning to do a large format printing. For example a 14 megapixel camera will take a 4320 x 3240 picture at a full resolution. If you printed at the resolution of 200 dpi, this would give you a picture over 20 inches long. Most likely you will not be pursuing large formats like this. Magazines usually require pictures at the 300 dpi resolution, and for 5  by 7 inch picture, you'd need just 1500 x 2100 pixels. To get a really nice print 8”x10” at the 300 dpi your file needs to be 2400 x 3000 pixels, easily achieved with a 7 megapixel camera. So, the bottom line is that you do not need a camera with a very high number of pixels, and more is not necessarily better.
• Good performance in low light situations and decent flash needed
• Rugged design
• You do not have to spend a fortune to get good pictures!
• Reviews of cameras are available at www.dpreview.com  or www.imaging-resource.com
• Know your camera and practice in advance!

Areas Of Concern:

Composition

• Take time to compose the shot

• If possible, pick the uniform background
• Get close to the subject, fill the frame
• Make sure you are not cutting off heads, feet, etc
• Remove branches obscuring a clear view of deer, dog, people
• Take multiple shots from various angles
• Make sure that people’s clothing is OK
• Check the dog’s position, hide the leash
• Position recovered game in a natural pose, fold the legs underneath or set it up on its belly.
• Look at the deer or dog, don’t look straight into the camera
• Take shots of various combinations
1. hunter with deer,
2. dog with deer,
3. handler, dog and deer
4. hunter, deer, handler, dog
• Experiment with different depth of field. Try a “portrait” setting to make background not as sharp as main objects.

Avoid too much gore

• Clean up the animal, wash blood off
• No animal tongue hanging out
• Pick the best side (exit holes are messier than entrance holes)
• Cover wound hole with a leaf or two

Lighting

• Early morning or late afternoon diffused light works the best
• Avoid too much contrast, take few shots with flash (fill flash)
• Use anti-red eye flash feature
• Avoid photographer’s shadow
• Take hats off or at least raise the brim so as not to create a strong shadow on the face.

Other Tips

• Take few pictures of the animal exactly as you have found it – showing everything.  It may come in handy for determining something you wish you knew later.  Especially if you plan on entering the animal in a record book.
• Every time you save a Jpeg file, you lose resolution. So don’t save the image every time you look at it. You can save photos in other formats (tiff, png) that are not impacted by this, but they may take up more memory.
• Keep your image files organized well.
• Get decent software like Adobe Photoshop Elements for editing and improving your images. Learn how to use it.

Hanoverian Bloodhound (Rouge du Hanovre) in Quebec

The Hanoverian Bloodhound or Hanover Bloodhound is a German breed specializing in tracking wounded big game. In German the breed is called Hannoversche Schweißhund, in French  Rouge du Hanovre.  These dogs have the same medieval ancestry as the American Bloodhound. They are noted for their great scenting ability and their calm, focused tracking style. The smaller, lighter Bavarian Mountain Bloodhound was developed from the Hanoverian as a tracking dog for rough mountain terrain. There are very few Hanoverians working in North America.

A big thank you to Yves Martineau from Quebec, Canada, for the pictures.

Splendid Quebec whitetail found by Yves Martineau and his Hanoverian Bloodhound.
Chevreuil québecois magnifique trouvé par Yves Martineau et son rouge du Hanovre.

Yves  Martineau’s Hanover Bloodhound in Quebec winter.
Rouge d’hanovre d’Yves Martineau en hiver québecois.

Should blood be used in training dogs to track wounded big game?

By John Jeanneney

Recently this inquiry has come in "My friend and I practice with our dogs once per week on blood tracks. Now I have some people telling me that you should never use blood. What are your thoughts?"  

And then we read on Facebook this statement  "Blood is on the inside of the body and contains no scent. Blood has an odor of Iron, but no scent until it is exposed to the skin. Entirely too much emphasis is being placed on Blood training, when you should be practicing scent training. Many good dogs are being confused by handlers and trainers using blood as a training tool."

Blood is not all that important in tracking real deer. I wish that they didn’t call it blood tracking. Still blood is one of the scents that a dog tracks naturally, and yes blood has scent! I train puppies in the early stages on deer blood that I dip from the chest cavities of the deer that I find. This is not blood that has flowed over the skin of the deer. This blood has plenty of scent and ten week old pups follow it with ease, and they learn to love it. It is a better motivator in the early stages of training than a dragged deer leg. At the end of the blood trails I like to have a piece of deer skin and pieces of liver and heart as a reward.

Speaking of deer legs, the main scent that they produce comes from the interdigital gland between the cloves of each foot. When a deer walks waxy particles from the glands are puffed out onto the ground, and they hold up very well for 24 hours. These interdigital glands have an individual scent for each deer, and they are much more important, over time, than the skin particles that come down from the body of the deer. The tarsal glands are also important, but in my experience they are not as individual as the interdigital, particularly with bucks during the rut.

These German scent shoes are available from the United Blood Trackers at www.unitedbloodtrackers.org 

The favorite advanced training device in Europe is the scent shoe. I use these scent shoes myself, and they are a great motivator for dogs who have had some natural work and are getting bored with that “fake blood stuff”. As you can see from the picture the deer foot is held on the scent shoe with hose clamps in the position of a walking deer. I can walk out a trail on dry forest leaves, and the dog can follow after 24 hours if there is no heavy rain.

Note that the tarsal glands on the hocks are not involved and that skin particles are minimal.
When a dog tracks, it puts together in its mind all of the different scents left by the deer. At the hit site there will be blood, hair, interdigital gland scent, and probably some skin particles too. When the visible blood runs out, the dog keeps going on the combination of other scents left by the deer. Personally, I find that it is effective to introduce a puppy to all the scents associated with the deer. I start with liver drags at five or six week, then blood trails, and finally scent shoe trails.

There is more than one good way to train tracking dogs, and some ways that are not so good. I don’t think that we should get hung up on some theory that training with blood is bad. Blood does have scent, and using it in a squeeze bottle it is a quick and convenient way to lay lines for young dogs. It works! Many thousands of tracking dogs have been trained in Europe and North America using big game blood. Originally, I was skeptical about the scent shoe idea, but now I am sold on it as a part of the training procedure.  A few drops of blood, now and then, adds to the attractiveness. And what you place at the end of the line is very important!

The video shows 11-week-old Urho working a 2.5-hour blood line. No scent shoes were used on this line. Urho was started on liver drags at 5-6 weeks, which were followed at 10 weeks by trails laid with deer blood, with a deer skin at the end. Two days ago he worked the line laid with a dragged deer leg, and  he knew that it would lead to something interesting. Training of tracking dogs involves various techniques. Urho's future training will include more advanced blood work and lines laid with scent shoes.