Shed Hunting

[Ugahunter2013]

For those of you with dogs that hunt sheds, how did you start them off? I have plenty of sheds to use. I have seen some after market "scents" for sheds. Do you apply them to the sheds? I have a pointer that I would like to start on this since it is getting to be the time the bucks start dropping the antlers. Thanks

 

[basshappy]

For our Dutchie if I want him to hit on something we do quite a few months of scent work. Start with smelling the target. Then we create a scent trail with it, and the scent trail is easy and obvious. The trail becomes increasingly more difficult as notable progress is made. You will need to decide how you want your dog to behave when it hits on the target - retrieve it or sit in place or sit in place and bark etc. Because that needs to be incorporated into the training so expectations are set. Your training aid should be real life - find sheds and bag them individually to preserve their scent. The store bought ones will smell like the store, not the wild shed.