hello, yet another question from me. this may have been covered already so apologies if it has, but has anyone any experience using scent on dummies? brodick is such a scent orientated dog I am pondering putting rabbit scent on his dummies to make things exciting and more like his idea of a 'hunt'. He loves running through long grass nose down scenting stuff out, If I could set up and run these type of things for him, it would be good....Bit worried though that this may make him even more a rabbit chaser...any experiences greatly received. Thanks Debbie
Re: Scenting for training I have one of those scent sticks and occasionally I rub some of it on my dummies, but to be honest I don't know if dogs are actually tricked into thinking that something artificial could possibly be the real thing. ??? I guess my dummies must have such a strong scent anyway because I keep them in my game bag which during the shooting season is used to carry the real thing that a bit of scent stick doesn't really make any difference. All of my dogs are natural hunters, being spaniels they are hard wired that way. That's why I concentrate so much on the retrieving. Most of their exercise is about retrieving. Even Murffi has learnt that he must retrieve to be allowed to hunt. If he blinks (pretends he can't see)the dummy he goes back in the kennel or the car.
Re: Scenting for training I think that dummies smell enough without the pretend rabbit smell, Debsie. At any rate, ours stink - and I wash them off after use! I reckon I could find them just using my nose in a field, let alone the dog!
Re: Scenting for training Can imagine what those dummies smell like Heidrun I think Sam must be a real odd ball, he saw a rabbit at close quarters this morning, looked at it and carried on sniffing around :
Re: Scenting for training am i doing something wrong, i am aware they are hunting dogs..... i am only wanting a family pet, i just throw a ball and he retrieves it, will i be depriving him of doing what he should be doing (HUNTING ), clueless
Re: Scenting for training No Lynne , dont worry . Sam is the first working bred Lab I have owned, not my first retriever but the first from purely working lines as Jasper is ( I think ) I worried terribly that I couldnt provide enough to keep him happy, but was put straight by Pippa and other on here . What you need to remember is that whilst our dogs might not work , they need the stimulation of the training to keep them happy and not bored . I used to think that I could just take Sam for a walk and that this would be enough but it isnt . I make sure that most, not all , walks contain some training as we go , sit/stays , retrieivng a ball/dummy etc . and he is more than happy with this . He doesnt know that he could go and work on a rough shoot, but he does have an inbuilt desire to retrieve which is what needs to be stimulated .
Re: Scenting for training thank you kate i always value your advice,..... when i take him out i do the sit stay, retrieving balls, on and off lead walks, hiding from him ......when i do the canal walk its as if he would love just to dive in with the ducks... he never as done and i dread to think he would,......i am doing the first stage of the recal training, just love it when he runs towards me , going 10 to the dozen, 2 pips on the whistle then a lovely treat i must invest in a dummy for him, ....how do i use the dummy .....i know i sound a bit thick, i am just learning
Re: Scenting for training Kate - Lilly, being more hunter than retriever when out on walks, goes right past squirrels without turning a hair. No idea why, but pretty glad as we have more reds than greys around where we are and I would hate her to harm a red. Still as mad over deer, rabbit and hare though : Still working on developing that distracting retrieve instinct............ jac
Re: Scenting for training Lynne, you are doing absolutely nothing wrong nor are you depriving your dog. The term 'hunting' in this context means the dogs running around with their noses to the ground picking up scents and following those scents until they have found the animal that has left the scent trail. Spaniels like mine are bred for that purpose, and if I left them to their own devices they would hunt all day long but very quickly they would get out of control and beetle off over the horizon. That's why I do so much work on controlling them with whistle commands. Spaniels are not the only ones with such a strong hunting instinct, a fair amount of Labradors are equally driven to put their noses to the ground and go off looking for scents. That's why it is so important to develop their desire to retrieve because it means the dog has to interact with you and it is always coming back to you with the retrieve rather than going off pleasing itself. You are doing exactly the right thing by playing ball with Jasper. Use the dummy in exactly the same way you are using the ball at the moment.
Re: Scenting for training I use National Scent Company Pheasant Bird Dog Scent on the various things I use for Lady to retrieve. She seems to go for them with more enthusiasm. No idea if it smells of pheasant though, but it definitely makes things more interesting to her. I really don't think it's needed though. If I could get adept at filming and dog handling together like Heidrun I'd put a video up of her hunting, but I haven't cracked the multi-tasking thing yet. Must be man related. ;D
Re: Scenting for training he as always got his nose to the ground, .....i call him mr sniffer , yesterday a fox ran right past me.....so glad jasper was on his lead......thank you all for your advice i really appreciate it
Re: Scenting for training [quote author=David link=topic=1710.msg12717#msg12717 date=1371214231] If I could get adept at filming and dog handling together like Heidrun I'd put a video up of her hunting, but I haven't cracked the multi-tasking thing yet. Must be man related. ;D [/quote]A Nope just Heidrun's super skills Debsie you could get a rabbit skin and attach a strip to your other dummies as he loves his rabbit skin dummy so much? Or would that be too much?
Re: Scenting for training Sounds to me that you are doing just fine Lynne Jac, I`d love to see Sam actually hunt something , well maybe not but he doesnt seem that interested in wildlife at all : We have a lot of baby blackbirds in the garden at the moment , looked out of the kitchen window yesterday , the lazy lump was laying out there with baby birds all over the lawn, never moved a muscle :
Re: Scenting for training [quote author=kateincornwall link=topic=1710.msg12741#msg12741 date=1371221899] Sounds to me that you are doing just fine Lynne Jac, I`d love to see Sam actually hunt something , well maybe not but he doesnt seem that interested in wildlife at all : We have a lot of baby blackbirds in the garden at the moment , looked out of the kitchen window yesterday , the lazy lump was laying out there with baby birds all over the lawn, never moved a muscle : [/quote] Surely a good thing you don't want baby blackbirds as a gift
Re: Scenting for training [quote author=kateincornwall link=topic=1710.msg12741#msg12741 date=1371221899] Sounds to me that you are doing just fine Lynne Jac, I`d love to see Sam actually hunt something , well maybe not but he doesnt seem that interested in wildlife at all : We have a lot of baby blackbirds in the garden at the moment , looked out of the kitchen window yesterday , the lazy lump was laying out there with baby birds all over the lawn, never moved a muscle : [/quote] Ooh be careful what you wish for.......those of us with very hunt-driven dogs which would disappear into the next county at speed on a scent trail given half a chance would love a touch of the lazy lump gene now and then!!
Re: Scenting for training yes having just returned from the park where Brodick just went on one of his infamous Squirrel Rampages (i have to watch him every second first thing in the morning and keep him racing after his ball and or he just suddenly sprints to the wooded bit where they are and goes completely loopy sprinting round the trees with a manic expression on and will chase to a state of exhaustion ...lost focus for split second again this morning!) i would like a dollop of lazy lump sometimes too! lynne brodick is very hunt driven which is why i work so hard to try and keep him productively engaged around wildlife or he will be Off. he is a complete sop ninety five per cent of his day and quite clingy but put him near fur and feather and he completely changes! my dogs are just pets too, and i worry sometimes that im not giving them enough 'worky' stuff as they are both from strong working lines and then i remember that running after their balls and retreiving them to me, swimming in the sea and fetching floats back to me' brods carrying the dummy home is all great fun and just what i imagined i would do with my pet dogs and it still hits those retreiving and 'working' instincts and keeps them happy too !!
Re: Scenting for training .....and thanks all for the other advice. as smells seem such a huge thing for B I'll give it a go as it mite improve his enthusiasm for dummy work when we are in the world of smells that are the hills by me...will keep it about the retreive though. they found and half ate a dead rabbit a few days ago. took it off them and then spent the next ten mins trying to dispose iof it. they were both obsessed with finding it again and bringing it back to me then trying to eat it. i decided to turn it into a bit of retreiving work (while apologising to the rabbit..) and they both really loved it. is really good seeing that instinct in them at work..had to carry it off the hill with me though as twice i ran them away from it for about a kilometre, let them off leads and the both sprinted back to get it again with me running behind them. we ran a lot longer than id planned that day :
Re: Scenting for training [quote author=debsie link=topic=1710.msg12845#msg12845 date=1371289184] ......had to carry it off the hill with me though as twice i ran them away from it for about a kilometre, let them off leads and the both sprinted back to get it again with me running behind them. we ran a lot longer than id planned that day : [/quote] Sounds like great memory retrieves.
