Tracking and Hunting??

[Stella]

Has anyone trained their doodle to track for hunting??  One of our doods has a great nose and we think he would make a good tracker.  We have tried sending my husband out into the bush and laying a pretty complex trail, Chase always finds him and has great fun doing it!!  He has a strong prey drive and will chase chipmunks, birds, deer etc etc  (we have to be really careful not to let him outside when there are deer around as we don't have a fenced yard).  I wondered if we could put his 'skills' to good use and train him as a hunting dog, this way we would be channeling his energy and exercising some control over his drive, rather than worrying about him taking off every time he catches the scent of a deer!!

Any tips and experiences would be appreciated!

[Randy Rhodes]

HI Stella

I trained my Golden-doodle to track pheasant, quail and ducks using 'scents' you can buy online or in the hunting dog department of; Bass Pro Shop, Cabelas or Sportsman's Warehouse (or similar).  I wear tall rubber boots when laying a scent trail, or else your doodle will just be tracking 'your scent.' I'm sure there are how-to articles that can be found with an online search.

In most states, there is a pretty significant fine for a dog chasing wildlife (other than legal game hunting). In fact, wildlife officers have the legal right to shoot a dog that is chasing deer, elk etc... 

After my puppy has been e-collar conditioned (electronic/shock collar) , and I can take them comfortably off leash (where permitted) to an area with deer. I will walk the puppy close to the deer until it notices the deer.  I will use a maximum level shock as soon as they try to chase the deer.  (I only use the maximum level shock for deer, elk, antelope and also especially for snakes!) The doodle's are so smart that they probably only need the one lesson, but ideally the lesson should be repeated at least one more time.  If my dog is obviously trying to 'track' a deer or elk, I simply tell her "no" and change my direction. They learn pretty quick that it doesn't please you and stop doing it. My doodle will still bark at the deer when they are in our yard, but she sure won't chase them. In fact she avoids them. If we are bird hunting and she jumps a deer, her ears will go down and she runs closer to me. A good lesson learned.  (Some states it is legal to train your dog to track wounded deer, but not in Colorado. In my personal opinion, I wouldn't recommend having a BIRD DOG ever trained to track deer or rabbits.)

[sophie]

We have doodles for hunting and yes they love to chase deer. And just throw your dogs ball .He will find it.You do know your dog has web feet

[Stella]

Thanks guys.  Yep - we can get fined if he is caught chasing deer.  If the Ministry actually see your dog doing it out of hunting season they will shoot your dog.  So, this is why we want to try and get a handle on the deer chasing.  We have a wireless boundary fence, and even with the correction on the collar as high as it will go he will run through the electronic boundary after the deer if he gets the chance.  This is why we are so careful about letting him outside off leash.  I figured that if we could train him to it, then we would be able to have control over it (his tracking/ chasing drive) and get him to turn the desire to chase them on and off so to speak.  I have two labradoodles, and they will both retrieve a ball until my arm falls off!!  We have a big beaver pond on our property and they will go in their to retrieve balls and dumbells all summer.

[Randy Rhodes]

HI again Stella. The E-collar is different from your invisible fence collar. It is a training collar that has a hand held remote that you can control.  I often worry about people buying those without taking the time to read how to use them.  Proper instructions are too complex to go into here, but the main thing to remember is that you use normal positive training techniques to train.(no shock collar) Then you only use the shock-stimulation to reinforce what they have learned (in other words, they have to sit when you say sit, or get 'stimulated' until they sit.) That is always as low intensity of shock as possible, its more of a reminder, not intended to cause pain.  For dangerous/avoidance training, (like snakes deer, streets etc...) on a dog that is already used to the collar, I use the maximum setting to actually cause pain. They will then associate the behavior (chasing deer, seeing/smelling snakes)  with pain and 'avoid" it in the future.  My e-collar remote (3 buttons) is set to have an audible tone for a "good dog" reward, (which I use 95% of the time) a minimum stimulation for correction, and then the "bad dog" maximum level shock-button. (both shock intensities are adjustable, every dog needs different levels of stimulation. My golden retrievers, and my doodle have always needed only minimal stimulation levels, but I've seen German Shorthair's hardly flinch on a setting that would make my doodle flip over.)  The best training collars are made by Tri-tronics, but there are other brands, that may be more affordable.  Some are inexpensive and only work for a short range, others are able to work far as 2 miles!.  I put the collar on a lot the first 2 years, my dogs have always associate having the e-collars on with 'fun' (training or hunting)  You don't want to put them on only to scold them, or they will only act correctly when wearing them.  (They are safe to use in water.)

[Beverley S. LaLonde]

All four of my doodles have high prey drive and I know you could train them for any type of hunting and tracking. Go for it!Although I have to keep half of my blinds down in sun room as I have lots of  feeders all around and their would be absolutley no piece on this earth if I didn't. I'm into Agility & Obed. training, R.E.A.D., Delta Society. Tracking might be a lot of fun. Our Agility instructer has tracking dogs. Their Labs. Labs,Poodles, Goldens are all hunting dogs. You could match a doodle up to many breeds. They love to work and please. You could train them where there is a will there is a way!

Bev & Pack

[Stella]

Yep, I also considered Search and Rescue training, but we live in a rural area and it would be over an hour drive to the nearest group.  He is the kind of dog that needs a job to do - he needs to be busy!!