Tracking
I notice a few contributors use their bullies to track.. I do not have any desire for Arrow to track anything living but i am interested in how you train him to track and use his nose
I would like to play hide and seek games etc to stimulate him round the garden and house.
I do not know where to start...
he is OK at training as long as keep his attention and he is VERY VERY food driven
Comments
I start with dome type of treat and leave a bread crumb type trail
Male it short with the treats every few feet at first
If you use a hot dog or something that's moist you can do little drags between the treats
Start the dog at the beginning
Use a cue word like TRACK to get their attention and get them excited
Soon they will be moving along your little path of bread crumbs
Have a reward at the end and offer lots of praise as they work the little trail and than bug hoorah when they find there reward
I switch off food based treats pretty quickly SMS than move to their prey drive side
My goal is to track archery shot deer so I will then move to blood and a fresh piece of deer skin with blood on it
I will let them play with the fur a minute and then put them up
I will then rub the skin on the ground and do a short drag with it
I will bring out dog start him on rub Sid let them work the drag
I will at times use drops of blood instead as they progress
I'm hoping these bullies lend themselves to it like my Dogo's did
I use the blood with the skin so that they just aren't following deer scent alone
Mine would transition to birds to fur and hunted and tracked both
They found a lot of deer for people
Hoping bullies lend themselves to the work but the Dogos noses were hard to beat
Before I transition them to blood and fur I need to get their obedience dialed in
I always track on lead to keep control but when working birds etc they are off leash and if you don't have them in control they can cut a trail and take off
Once you get their prey drive up it's hard to keep them focused on what you want
Most good dogs need to be taught to hunt for you not for themselves
This is just how I do it and there are many ways and goals
I know you said that you were not interested in this type of tracking but I wanted you to know what's out there
There are many formilzed tracking events out there and it is a very interesting and cool way to work your dog
A trainer that I work with is hosting the AKC BARN HUNT EVENTS
they put a rat in a tube that is perforated and hide it in a barn like scenario
The dog finds it
The rest is not harmed
Gonna give it a try with both pups I think