Uma has left for a new home

Good luck to Matt, his fiance Emile and their new puppy Uma, now "Heidi"! Matt and Emile live in Ithaca, NY, just 3 hours from us. Matt is a licensed tracker and a member of Deer Search of Finger Lakes. Emile is going to take a NYS DEC exam in August. Both are hunters. Matt is involved in two deer management programs in suburban areas. Could we have dreamed of a better home for our puppy? Being able to place our puppies with people who are dedicated to the cause of wounded deer recovery makes all the work worthwhile.

 If a new owner has a car like this one, you know that your puppy is going to be in right hands.

Uma's conformation reminds me of Mielikki when she was a young puppy.

The remaining four puppies will stay with us for the next two weeks. It should be a lot of fun! Last evening they tracked a two-hour-old blood line on a light tracking leash. Two puppies scored 10 on a scale of 0-10 (10 is the highest) and the other two got 9. We couldn't be happier with the pups. Today we started to walk them on a leash and they did well.

How we raise puppies to be successful blood tracking dogs

We have been so busy working with puppies that we have not had much time for posting reports about all the activities. Puppies turned seven weeks old on Friday, and they are a lot of fun. We usually manage to post individual pictures and videos on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/borntotrack

Puppies have been exploring a lot. They are showing interest in holes created by other dogs and they do some digging on their own.

The dachshund breed was first developed to hunt foxes and badgers in their dens under ground. This meant that they had to be psychologically comfortable in tight, dark  places. The video suggests that our little tracking dogs still think that it's fun to run though a dark tunnel.

We take pups on walks to the pond, but we have had a lot of rain and the water is deep. It is fine for Mielikki but pups have second thoughts about swimming.

We have been working pups on deer liver drags and we will post about it on our main blog at http://borntotracknews.blogspot.com/. Make sure you check it out.

The picture shows Ursula at the end of the track. We use large pieces of liver that cannot be swallowed. Liver contains a lot of vitamin A, which in excess is toxic, so while we use deer liver for training purposes we actually do not let pups ingest too much of it.

Puppies continue to be socialized with people. Our friend Dan dropped by on Sunday to play with them. This week pups are going to meet new people as our friends are coming over for the July 4 celebrations and are going to stay for a couple of days..

Today pups went to the woods for the first time, and they were learning how to navigate obstacles and difficult cover. We want them to be accustomed to the outdoors and be comfortable in the woods. After all they are going to be tracking dogs!

Theo's first track. Experience and understanding are the basis for good dog handling.

Many thanks to Darren Doran for writing up and sharing a report describing Theo's first tracking exercise. Theo is 11 weeks old, and he has been with Darren for a week. I really value Darren's detailed report that includes his thought process and analysis. It shows how much dog handling experience matters. Theo is Darren's second blood tracking dog, but Darren also used to be a handler of the US Air Force aggression and drug detection dogs.

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I did a line with Theo Saturday evening. It was about 85 yds with a left 90 and a right 90 turns. It was aged 4 1/2 hours. I set the line in the woods behind the house in an area close to where we take our nightly walks. There are always deer in here and there was fresh sign from the morning.

Theo hasn't had much leash work and no practice dragging a tracking leash so I ran him off leash. I've gotten a tracking collar I'll use for now and put that on him.

I've elected to start his training right away with tracking shoes and rubber boots. I blooded up the hit sight well and stomped the shoes in the blood. Not used to puppy work, I put a wad of hair at the hit sight. I blooded both hoofs repeatedly, and marched with very close steps and added blood along the line.

Right before I ran the line, I came back on the down wind side and added a pea sized piece of raw deer meat on a leaf under the flags. I put out 6 in all. I placed the tail and left a couple of pieces of meat on the top of the tail.

The goal of this exercise was to simply see how the dog would work and to try to identify a starting place for future training. I didn't think the line wasn't difficult but I wasn't sure how he would handle any distractions we would come upon or if he could maintain his focus long enough to finish. There were fresh deer droppings on the line and there was a picnic going on in the neighborhood across the power line with fairly loud music. The wind had been blowing strongly from the same direction all day but had quit by the time we started. We were in the woods and the line was fairly long. Anything could happen.

We started the line and the first thing Theo did was grab the wad of deer hair. I got it out of his mouth and he circled the site sniffing and took the line. He found the first piece of meat, but before the first turn he drifted off the line on the down wind side. I just watched him and he was advancing the line at an angle and his nose was down and I can't be 100% sure he wasn't picking up pieces of wind blown scent. I had stopped by a flag that had a piece of meat that he missed when he drifted off. When he lifted his head And looked around, I said'' where did it go'' ''search here'' and held my hand over the line. Theo came back and found the meat. He then tracked directly over the line to the turn and past, he corrected himself and came back to the turn and found the right direction. He passed over the deer droppings with nothing more than a quick sniff. Numerous times on the line Theo would have his whole nose buried in a hoof print on the track. These were spots that I had blooded the hoof and the fresh blood down inside the print was still wet. I let him linger there as long as he wanted. On the last 1/3 of the line 3 times after he found the meat he would advance the line about 10 feet and then come back to the exact leaf that had the meat was on and sniff. He would then turn around and resume tracking. The second turn was better than the first and when he found the tail he ate the meat and grabbed the tail. As I approached he started running off through the woods with the tail.

Here's where everything got messed up. Theo stopped with the tail to chew it and I was getting out the camera to snap a picture. All of a sudden Theo started to yelp in pain. He dropped the tail and backed away yelping. I ran over to him. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Then it hit me - Yellow Jackets. I was stung twice on the arm and I was sure Theo was stung as well. I grabbed the dog and the tail and got out of there. I stopped back on the trail to the house to regroup.

I had to turn this around and make this exercise end on a positive note. I couldn't let Theo think the tail or tracking would end in a painful experience. We just sat on the ground for awhile. I didn't make a big deal out of it or say much. My arm was burning and starting to swell. I could only imagine how a little puppy felt. I could tell by Theo actions when the experience was starting to fade. I had some meat left and I picked up the tail and started to wave it around. He was getting interested and I put it down with the rest of the meat on it. He came over to it, ate the meat and started to chew on the fleshy end. I got up to take a picture and that was all it took. Theo grabbed the tail and started to run for home. We were a couple of hundred yds from the house and he didn't stop running the whole way. I couldn't get a picture in the woods he was too fast. That tail was his and he wasn't going to let me catch him.

This exercise showed me a lot about Theo. I like the way he was working the line. He was thorough and not fast. He was able to correct himself and keep his focus and finish the line. He did get distracted but returned to the task. I like the way he returned to the exact leaf that held the tiny piece of meat. That tells me he can remember where he found a certain scent. I think this will show up later when he needs to restart himself and return to the point of loss. I like his nose buried in a hoof print as this will imprint deer print foot smell with the blood. Another benefit that will be important in real tracking later. I liked the way he worked the checks. I won't use any hair on the line for awhile. I'm going to keep the age of the line the same, but shorten it a little. I'm not concerned with how fast or slow he works just the quality and accuracy of the work. I don't think the yellow jackets will have an effect on him. I'm going to start doing more leash training.

Darren

Theo with "his" deer tail.

Puppies interact with their older brother Sky

Tomorrow pups will be seven weeks old so we will weigh them. We started to feed them individually as some of them were getting too heavy. I suspect that especially Thor was getting more than his share of food. We feed them in crates, to which they need to get used to, but they are not too happy about it.

They met Sky today, who was very gentle with them. I was very impressed by Sky's manners around the pups. Well, after all he is the pup's older brother.

Pups spend their nights in the whelping box, which is attached to the pen with wood chips. During the day they come to the kitchen and dining area, when we are there. They also spend part of their day outside - in a puppy yard, which is attached to a shed. They go for walks, they socialize with visitors and our older dogs. And of course, we started them on liver drags.

Tarah is still the smallest. She is an extremely social puppy; quite vocal. She needs a lot of attention and interaction.

Sky is inspecting Thor, who submits completely.



Tuesday with Sky

Summer working a liver drag

It has been a while since we had time for puppy training. So today while John was tracking, I had Summer on a liver drag, which was probably 150 yard long and aged an hour and a half. Summer is a high-spirited, fast working puppy, and we still don't know whether we are going to keep her in a long run. But today she has showed her best work yet. Actually it looks like she is ready for an older line. Also it is time to start working her on a leash!

Glowing reports about Paika's puppies

Raising a litter of puppies is a lot of work, but if puppies turn out well, it is a very satisfying and rewarding experience. It looks like Paika's pups are doing really well in their new homes. They are eleven weeks old today.

Joe Mason shared this e-mail with us:

 

Shome just completed his first liver drag find in the state of Kentucky. He did a great job under probably very trying conditions. We have 15 mph winds and sunny. I laid the line out about 120 yds. long with four 45 degree turns and waited 40 min. He strayed off line a few times just maybe 5-6 yds. and always on the down wind side. He would immediately come back and find the line and start out again.I think I was as excited as Shome was.

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Ray and Pam Maurier from New Hampshire sounded really pleased in this e-mail from few days ago:

 

Tucker (Storm) is doing awesome. We have been introducing him to new things all the time and he learns fast. Sunday morning I laid a blood line in the hard woods 125 yards. At the start was a drop of blood and a finger nail size piece of liver then one drop every foot and every ten yards another tiny tiny piece of liver. I hung a ribbon over the each piece of liver so I'd know where it was. At 60 yard I put a left hand 90-degree turn down a hill to a creek, another 65 yards to a half of fist size piece of liver under his bowl. Four hours later we took him to the start, changed his collar and a 30 ft leash and he was off. He stayed right on track and found every piece of liver. The wind was blowing 25 mph, two times he went up wind of the track about 5 feet, put his nose up and checked the wind and then jumped right back on the track. He went through in under 20 min, he really took his time and did absolutely awesome...We got it all on video, it's great.

 

So this morning just to see what he would do I took him back and I ran to the end a different way and left a small piece of liver under his dish, and then took him to the starting point. This is a 24-hour blood trail and no liver or man scent on the track, again the wind was maybe 15 mph. He followed the line  right on and got to his piece of liver in 5 min tops. I couldn’t believe it , I am so proud of my little guy. I just have to let your know how he is doing and see what you think. I think we got a great pup he is house broken already. He goes to bed at 9 and gets up at 6 and sleeps right through the night.

 

We couldn’t be happier thank you both so so much. Ray & Pam 

Today we received pictures and some of them show Tucker with another wirehaired dachshund, Ted , who is owned by Mike Lafleur. Tucker and Ted are related through Billy, who is a sire of Ted and a great-grandsire of Tucker. Ted was bred by Gail Berger from PA, and his pictures are at Mike's website at www.trailsendguideservice.com

 

Tucker and Ted

Puppies at nine weeks

Paika's puppies are turning 9 weeks. Tomorrow a local vet is coming to examine them. So far they have had one vaccination and have been dewormed three times.

Today the pups went for a long walk in our enclosure where they raced through dry leaves, played with sticks, climbed over branches etc. Yesterday they did a 30 minute liver drag, and we really liked what we saw. The pups are really people oriented and carve human attention. Their favorite place to be is our kitchen. They have been reunited with Paika now that they are completely weaned and she does not produce any milk. In a few days the first pup will be leaving and we have some decisions to make who is going where and who is staying here.

Green boy

Red boy

Green boy

Yellow boy

Blue boy

Pink girl

Noses to the ground

This nice e-mail came from Lynn and Ann Pierce from Louisiana.

We have two youth weekends for the first time and this past weekend was the first of the two. We had 13 people at our camp and with all the camps in the area about 40 adults (family and friends) and 9 youth hunters and more to come this coming weekend. It was great. We all meet at one camp "GUT-BUSTERS" to do all the cleaning, cooking, and storytelling.

The atmosphere is great and a lot of fun. Maybe y'all could visit us one hunting season, it would really be great and fun to have y'all over to do some tracking.

Rosette's first track was very successful. My great nephew shot the deer at the end of a food plot, it ran about 225 yards and went into the woods where he could not see the direction the deer went. It was not a very long track, but defiantly long enough. Rossette found the blood, tracked it with a hard right turn and then a large half circle which she followed right on line and found the deer in very tall grass. We could have found the deer ourselves, but it was a great training exercise for her. We waited almost two hours before we started the track. No one knew where the deer was and if it was hit or not. We only knew the area at the end of the food plot where it was shot at. My nephew thought he had missed it. I told him we always go look when anyone shoots at a deer. You never know if it is hit or not.

Rosette (Roulette von Moosbach-Zuzelek) at the end of successful track

Several hours before the above track my other great nephew shot a deer but it fell in its tracks. So I had my nephew pull it several hundred yards and hide it in the woods where no one of us knew where it was hidden.
Rosette followed the track perfectly right to the deer. This was a fresh track about 30 minutes after the kill.

For both tracks I had a hard time holding her, Rosette was all business and she was tracking with much enthusiasm and fire and she loved it. I did too.....

She loves the hunting camp atmosphere and she is great at the camp with the other dogs and everyone loves her. I am very pleased with her and she is a great companion. She is very mild mannered, laid back, and loves playing with the grandkids and great nieces and nephews. You did a great job picking her for Ann & I. She's just what we wanted.

Well, that's it for now.

Thanks and happy tracking,

Lynn

First recoveries for Quella and Mya (Quanta)

We sold three 2010 puppies to hunters from Ohio and two days ago we heard from the two of them.

David Bell who has Quella (Joeri/Keena) wrote:

Hey Jolanta, I just wanted to let you know that Quella is two for two in finding deer. The first track was 4 hours old. Quella seemed to be overwhelmed at first and I had to restart her three times on the 120 yard track, which had very little blood at first for the first 10 feet. I had to use flashlights at the time and I couldn't see any blood, but they were cheap led lights, which weren't very bright. The third time I put her on it she took me straight to the deer. She could have been right the first time, but I wasn't seeing any blood, so I re-started her on it. Well, to make a long story short on this track I believe the reason she was wrong the first time was that she was tracking the coyotes that had found the young button buck before Quella did (and they had blood on their feet).

The second time I took her out was on a call that was only two hours old. Quella found the deer with no problem at all, which was a training line for her (my firend shot the deer). The deer went around 125 yds with two wound beds and some decent blood at times. This time out I had my new coon light from Kelley's K Light Supply. It was their top light, with the G-2L Advantage Head on it. Quella took me straight to the deer and my buddy and his cousin were saying that they couldn't believe how good this little dachshund is. They were kind of laughing at first when they first seen her, but she made quick believers of her flawless nose work. Thanks again for a awesome dog. The tracks I mentioned were on the 4th and 5th by the way.

Bill Brown wrote about Mya (Quanta):

Jolanta, hopefully all is well with you and John. Were all doing fine and couldn’t be any happier with Mya.We all have her spoiled rotten and my labs love her too. She has been doing very well on her training exercises, not perfect but she has always ended well. She had her 1^st real deer tracking this past Sat. I knew where the deer was, about a 150yd job, had to get her on the blood a couple of times but she did extremely well. She got very excited when she got to the deer licked the wound and wanted to chew and enjoyed the piece of liver she was given. Can’t wait for her next tracking job, now that she knows the end results. I’ll keep you updated.

David and Bill, good to hear from you. Good tracking and hunting - keep us posted!

Jezy gets a taste of real tracking

This morning brought a nice e-mail from Jerry Davis:

Jezy [Quipster] went on her first two real blood trails last week. They were both good bow shots and easy tracks (75 yards or so long). Her desire to track was strong ! It was priceless to watch her astonishment upon finding the first deer. She was quite taken back and slowly circled the deer. Upon much praise and encouragement , she was then delighted to chew on the deer's tongue during the entire drag out of the woods. I think she really got the idea as she showed better focus on the second track .


She's made a great house dog and seems sure to become a good tracker as well. During our daily walks she is constantly "hunting" prompting my wife to comment that she was "born-to-track"!

Good job Jezy! These easy real tracks are a great training tool for puppies.

Quentin, now Radar, and his training

Radar (Quentin von Moosbach-Zuzelek) and his owner Craig Dougherty of Northern Whitetails have been doing well. In his first report Craig wrote "Talk about personality! This guy has it all. He is a real charmer and incredibly observant. He sure acts a lot more like my Lab puppies than the beagles I used to keep. He took to the crate like a champ and sleeps peacefully through the night. Housebreaking is coming along nicely and he answers to his name nicely."

The recent e-mail says: "Wanted to let you know that Neil and I are now "official" and legal having passed the NY Certification Test. Radar seems to be coming along nicely. Working him about 2x per week on different concepts. Did nicely on a 24 hr. trail last week in the rain. Worked him around the perimeter of a heavily used plot with lots of fresh sign the other morning. He showed plenty of interest in the fresh trails but with a little help stayed "true" to the 12 hr blood trail we were working. I am learning every day. Now wearing ring of clothes pin flagging around my neck when putting out a trail after learning how easy it is to loose track of a trail that you were sure you would remember a half day earlier. Have replaced my plastic puppy clothesline with a nice orange training line which moves through the woods better and picked up a wide tracking collar I had made from our local Amish harness maker (he happens to practice QDM as well).

Radar seems quite 'calm" when trailing. Nothing "frantic" like I have seen with some other dogs when they are working some kind of scent trail. You can generally tell when he is back on track after drifting off line but he doesn't make a real big deal over being back "on line" he just moves on without a lot of drift."

Video of Quanta working a deer liver drag

Today was a busy day. We worked more pups on liver drags, and we also had a visitor. A friend of ours, Lena Leonardsson, dropped Hexel (who belongs to Laurel Whistance-Smith) off so we could breed her to our Tommy. She brought her lurcher, a 17-month-old Bedlur.
Below is a video clip of Quanta working a fresh liver drag. The line was marked with red flags, and was approximately 70 yards long with three turns. Quanta was very good though she was not flawless. I liked her intensity.

When we sell our puppies to blood tracking homes, we want the pups to be able to work a scent line of this difficulty. It reassures us as breeders that puppies have a potential for blood tracking. The rest will be up to their new owners. It is good to remember that puppies are just puppies. They are inconsistent and they change a lot while they mature and develop. Their motivation and tracking desire will increase. Their performance will get better while they learn through training and through experience on the job. Some puppies are more precocious than others but it does not mean that they are going to be better blood trackers when they are adults..  

*****

Puppies meet Bedlur

A deer liver drag for two ten-week-old puppies

I have included below two video clips of Rilla and Questa working a 50-yard deer liver drag. The track was fresh, and it included three turns. We were in a hurry this morning when we did the drag and did not put any flags or markers along the way. The commentary is at the end of each clip. Rilla worked the drag first.

To see a video of Rilla in a high resolution click here.

To see a video of Questa in a high resolution click here.

Pups' first blood line and first encounter with a deer hide

Last evening there was a nice breeze, and even though it was still very hot, we managed to do a short fresh blood line for puppies, which ended with a deer hide served as reward. The video below shows puppies coming to the end of blood line and responding to a deer hide (their first). You can also see Geiko there, who now is fully integrated into the pack. He is in the first frame the brown pup on the right.

After pups had chewed on the hide for a while, John started to drag the hide and pups followed. They did well, and it was a good exercise. Some of them were more intense than others, but overall we were very pleased.

This morning started with a lot of excitement. When we got up and let Billy out to our fenced-in dog yard, we did not realize that  a rabbit squeezed through the gate and was munching on the grass there. Billy killed it quickly, after John gutted it, we offered it to the puppies. Well, what can I say? The puppies are little savage beasts.

Update on Henry (Grizzly)

Steve Hardee from North Carolina wrote today with a nice update on Henry (Grizzly v Moosbach-Zuzelek)). "Henry had his forth find and second true find last Friday. A friend of mine shot two deer with one shot. The first fell dead and the second was gut shot. Both were does. We weren't sure if he had actually hit a second deer until we put Henry down on the spot. He tracked to her in less than 4 minutes about 125 yds very thick cover. Not too many deer have been taken this year here, too much rain and warm weather. There have not been as many opportunities to track as I would have liked. I have plenty of frozen feet and blood so we will train if nothing else."

Thank you Steve for sharing news on Henry!

Lucy (Patti) and her experience on real tracks

John and Jolanta

Just thought I would check in and get you up to date on Lucy's (Patti's) progress. I have been able to get her out on 5 "real" tracks so far. 3 of the 5 I knew where the deer were and had marked the route. The other 2 were blind tracks. She has managed to make it to the end of every track, some with a little more help than others, but we celebrated them all the same. The long and the sort of it is that it appears that her biggest shortcoming is her trainer. Each outing has provided a new experience and I have "learned" many of the lessons that John cautions about in his book. Her tendency is to work quite fast so our top priority right now is getting her to slow down. The only other issue is that she tends to pitch a fit whenever I go hunting and she doesn't get to come along (which isn't a bad thing unless its 4:30 a.m.). The bow season is just starting to pick up so I anticipate having more opportunities to get her out yet this fall. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Dan

A great learning blood tracking experience for Pepper (aka Grannie) from Georgia

Great news from Saralynne Hudgins from Georgia:

Terry, Pepper and his ~140 class (8point) scored buck!
3rd arrow shot was a perfect kill through chest on the second day of bow season in Henry Co. Georgia on September 13th 2009...
Entered buck in the GON publication's 'Truck Buck' contest for the state opening week.
I (Pepper's blood tracking coach to date*smile*) took Pepper to track because Terry called and said he thought would need the dog to find the deer, but he found the deer before Pepper and I arrived on location.
Pepper was beside herself, growling and intently assessing the situation visually and by scent, before wanting to lavish herself with the fresh meat! She loved it!
Pepper, was quite territorial about the kill which was covered with hundreds of thirsty seed/deer ticks who had just lost their host (so we had to monitor her contact with the deer and limit it to prevent her from also being covered with ticks)!

An overnight blood track for Doc (Pushkin)

Those who follow this blog know that Doc's (Pushkin's) interest in blood tracking came later than with other pups, but now at 5 months he is doing really well.

His owner Stanley wrote:
I laid a blood trail for Doc at 5:30 p.m. on August 29th. The trail was approx 300 yards long. Let it age overnight. It also came a rain during the night. I took Doc out at 7 a.m. on August 30th, we were walking down a logging road. I had laid the blood trail across this road the day before. When Doc got to the point in the road where I had crossed the road with the blood he hit the trail and was off. The trail I had laid was in weeds and underbrush that ranged from knee high to head high. At times I could not even see Doc and would have to drop the leash to get through the weeds myself. It took Doc about 20 to 25 minutes to work this blood trail to the end. Doc is only 5 months old and this is the 2nd blood trail that I have aged overnight and Doc has successfully completed both trails. Also I have laid a trail that was approx. 1/4 mile long and aged it about an hour. Doc completed it in approx. 15 minutes I try to work with him once or twice a week depending on my work schedule. I AM VERY PROUD OF DOC.

Sam's progress in blood tracking training

Lincoln Anderson from Quebec writes:

Here are a couple of pictures taken when I was with Alain Ridel. I really enjoyed my encounter with Alain; he's a real nice guy and I learned a few things from him which should improve my tracking. Sam did a good job, but as I mentioned I have to talk a bit louder when I encourage Sam. Yesterday I did another blood trail he did very well. There was one spot where I had put the blood trail across a deep ditch, Sam had a little trouble but what I had noticed is that he always came back to his last point where he had scented the blood. That I found very interesting. I thought in a situation like that I would have to bring the dog back to the last sure point of blood. Anyway back to the ditch I helped Sam across and from there he went on his merry way to find the deer skin.

Next week I will be going to a camp which is about two hours from Quebec City and I will be doing another couple of blood trails with Sam. I'll try to get this on film if I can get my hands on a camera.

I also included a few pictures of Sam I took today. He's up to 17lbs in good health.

Gertie's great trail

From Chris Barr in Indiana: "I laid a 200 yard track using 2 oz of blood and 1 scent tracking shoe.There were 5 turns through woods, on and off quad paths (or two-tracks as you all refer to them). I aged it 3 hours. I wish one of you could have seen her run it to tell me if it was as good as I think it was. She needed a little help at the turns but otherwise, I think she did great.She even corrected herself twice. I was really excited. It was by far her best one yet."