Anyone here taught a pup to find shed antlers?

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  • foxtrapper

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 11, 2007
    4,533
    Havre de Grace
    My old dog died 2 months ago, so I got a blue heeler pup shortly afterwards and of course I want to train him to find sheds. I found an amazing shed about 4 years ago at a farm I trap and could never find the other half. I hated that I could not find the other side. My eyesight sucks at distance and/or in thick stuff, so spotting them is harder than ever for me. Plus I seem to have a neurological disorder causing body pain that I am in the process of being checked out. My list of things that give me pleasure is diminishing ( deer hunting is nearly crossed off the list at this point due to low light vision sucking horribly), so a shed hunting dog would be great.
     

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    Eddie Van

    Dude
    Feb 4, 2011
    647
    Hollywood Star Lanes
    I taught mine (a standard poodle) by initially giving him antlers to chew, which he then sniffed out when we went hiking. I'd praise him and give him treats for every one he brought me when we were hiking (even old bones). Worked well, he found a 12-pointer pair a few years ago. Good luck!
     

    welder516

    Deplorable Welder
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 8, 2013
    27,310
    Underground Bunker
    I don't know the answer to your question , but understand about losing some of the things i used to do . It seems everyone has some issues with health one way or another . I wish you the best in finding new things that bring that joy .
     

    Derwood

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 2, 2011
    1,075
    DC area
    The above method will work. Get him excited about antlers. Do some pitch and fetch with them and praise him big time when he brings it to you. Freak out you are praising so much. Then set up a situation where you've got a shed in a field and he doesn't know about it, walk him towards it, and when he finds it, praise praise praise. A few drills like that should be all it takes if he's got some hunting instinct in him. I've got my dog "force fetch" trained so she will do this for me with anything (we do it for lost shot birds but she'll also bring me bones, antlers, etc.) This should be a fun thing for the two of you to work on and get good at! His nose makes up for your vision. Perfect team!
     

    BlueHeeler

    Ultimate Member
    Apr 28, 2010
    7,086
    Washington, DC
    Agree with everything above.

    You can build drive within the dog by routinely hiding antlers around the house
    and tying it to a command like "Find it". Reward with food or attention when he finds the antler.

    This will keep him interested in finding them because he never really knows when it could be time to search.

    Awesome looking pup! :thumbsup:
     

    onedash

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 24, 2016
    1,026
    Calvert County
    my black lab seems to have zero interest in antlers since he can't chew them up and eat them. Every other bone he will demolish if we don't take it away from him then go puke up all the bone splinters.
     

    randomuser

    Ultimate Member
    Nov 12, 2018
    5,778
    Baltimore County
    I'd start out in a smaller room

    Just put the antlers in an easy to find spot with some cheese(strong smell) sitting on them.

    let him find them, praise.

    then move to 2 rooms, easy to find, same treat

    start making it harder to find, but still use the treat

    then go back to easy to find with no treat and start again

    use the command "antlers" every time from day 1.

    eventually, you should be able to come into an area and call antlers and have him excited to go looking.

    often, we train inside, but life and distractions happen outside, so just get him excited about it inside **and outside** where the distractions come into place. Might be cheese, praise, a toy ball for a reward, whatever works best for your pup.


    I'm no dog trainer, but have tons of fun through the years training my dogs and my neighbors bird dogs and bear dogs. That relationship built when training is golden.


    Have fund with it. Good looking dog you have there!
     

    GutPile

    Ultimate Member
    Jul 4, 2016
    3,218
    Working on it now with my 4 month old aussie/border collie. She got to smell her first dead deer this weekend. Barked at it a lot. Deer dong btw is an amusing chew toy. Dog ate it up. Has tons of antler chew toys.
     

    foxtrapper

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 11, 2007
    4,533
    Havre de Grace
    Thanks everyone! He is still too hyper and puppy wiggles to start on yet. But his attention span will keep getting longer. My mom has been training him to lay down and today I saw him do it for her then he did it for me. I am just starting to let him come back in the shop and he responds to me going " uh uh!" when he starts poking at something he shouldn't. Being allowed back there is a hard one, as I have to teach him that he basically can't touch anything but his toys and any chew bones I give him! Under all that puppy wigglyness is a smart dog! I'll start with the sheds I already have and place them in the garden in places he likes to go poke around in. We are still working on the "give" command though, he's a stubborn one when he really wants something.
     

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