Thread: Is the Deer Dog Blueprint any good?

Hey team.

I'm looking at getting into bow hunting towards the end of the year and thought I'd bring my 3 year old heading dog along. I found the Deer Dog Blueprint training system online and it looks the part to teach someone new to hunting, like myself, how to train a dog to track, indicate and then find a downed animal.

Mu question is: has anyone used this system, is it effective and if you have used it what do you think?

Any replies are appreciated

Cheers

Got a mate who is following it currently and its working wounders for his dog. I know a couple of his mates had used it to great success

not sure if its the best way but it seems an easy to follow program and that's probably the most important part in terms of effect. thinking many ways to get to the same end goal

I am sure some who know way better then me when will come in with many opinions, dog training threads can go crazy haha

I have successfully used the blue print to train my boy and I still go back to it time to time to do a refresher.

This is my first time training a dog so the videos and guidance are very helpful. What I did realize is that every dog and trainer is different so you need to be prepared to change things a little to suit and incorporate some of you own methods.

I used the blueprint to train my dog and highly rate the outcome - found the videos to be a bit tedious and repetitive, but can't argue with the result.

A thought to ponder - Is it a good idea to be learning to bow hunt yourself and teaching a dog at the same time? I would offer that you may be best served to spend some time hunting alone (while keeping the dog's training to at home or very separate to your hunting expeditions). Once you are a bit more confident in your own abilities, you will be able to put more energy into getting it right for the dog and less into your own learning.

Did it with my first hunting dog, great to steer you in the right direction if you are starting from scratch. I find it hard to make the training stick with the kids and wife doing everything you shouldn’t but still pretty good results overall.

If you want your dog to be a hunting ‘tool’ then yes, works very well.


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It works no doubt about it. And yes you finish with a hunting tool. A great system, BUT its a repetitive and I believe its pretty hard on the mutt. The poor dog just about spends the first 6---9 months on the end of a longline doing sit drills or in its kennel. Any free time the mutt is alone in a dog proof area. If you want a hunting tool go for it it works, but if you want a mate probably not the best system. Just my opinion

OK I have said this before....and will probably end up saying it again...
if your dog will walk at heel,shut the heck up and just stay put when told to and most importantly of all...has a rock solid no bullshit SIT that will sit when told NO MATTER WHAT...... take the plurry dog with you......
its company,you will probably read the dog anyway when something is around...and 99% of dogs will help you find a dead animal anyway....if you do manage to shoot an animal and make big fuss of dog after it has led you into it...and food reward....tit bits off animal etc and dog will then KNOW its job..help the boss find the things he shoots,and then lets me have a bit to eat.
win win.
heading dogs make life easy because they are naturally quiet to begin with.

I use the blueprint with my dog and take her bow hunting. It is a bit of a mission with both a dog and a bow, but she has got me close to several deer I would have walked past other wise. She has only cost me one deer when she scragged a possum as we stalked in on a stag.
I just signed up for the monthly version of the blueprint, don’t know if he still does that.

Originally Posted by JoshC

If you want your dog to be a hunting ‘tool’ then yes, works very well.


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This. I've seen a few dogs that have gone through it and they have all been very good hunting dogs but to a point where they are like robots, very uptight and sterile personalities and basically just a tool for hunting. I found some of the basics good but he wasn't reinventing the wheel there anyhow. I watched a bit of it before deciding what I would do with Bo and we just felt our way other than that and he's a machine now on deer but still has a personality and a free spirit

If you have no idea how to train a dog then yes it will definitely help you. For me it was more learning about how dogs think/operate etc and then seeing in the flesh how you can apply tools and methods to train them. As mentioned the guide is long and repetitive and pretty strict. I used it for my first dog and got a good end product from my first time ever training a dog. Note I didn't follow it to the tee as she is also my duck dog and family pet. It's easy to slag on it but it has genuinely helped a shit ton of people because there's bugger all else out there that can so comprehensively just show you exactly what to do from your couch at home. It's pretty hard to follow any other ideas when there's nothing else to watch from start to end product.

Now that I've done it once, deer dogs are easy to train IMO. Its all just about having basic control really. There's obviously more things then that you need to get right but that's the guts of managing a deer dog - basic control. Im now training my next pup but we are working on advanced bird dog stuff like directional commands at distance and blind retrieves etc. Well that's the intended end product anyway.. Im using another video guide through facebook by 12 gauge gun dogs which is much sharper and to the point whilst demonstrating exactly what you do and the logical steps. Its a little different on a few basic ideas like treat training which re enforces the need to always keep an open mind. It's definitely another level and I'm learning a whole heap more.

the funny part is...we are reinventing the wheel.....our granddads were training dogs to a higher degree than we are....they spent more time with the dogs,life was less time sensitive.... agree 100% that control is the key...even if its just the sit/stop the no B.S. wham arse hits the deck..it will be your get out of jail card and may even save your dogs life.it gives you time to sort next action.be it shoot,call dog back,redirect dog elsewhere,or just catch up over a steep bit of ground..I use it a lot with Meg when we getting in close,it makes her slow down and wait for me....
game dog by a fella Wolters is an old book now but very good reading...he was "the dog guy' 50ish years ago.... some of the ideas are out of favour,but most still hold true today....he wrote 2 or three books on dog training and I found them pure gold when starting out on bird dogs...a lot is carried over into deer/pigs...

game dog by a fella Wolters is an old book now but very good reading...he was "the dog guy' 50ish years ago.... some of the ideas are out of favour,but most still hold true today....he wrote 2 or three books on dog training and I found them pure gold when starting out on bird dogs...a lot is carried over into deer/pigs...[/QUOTE]
Is this the guy ?https://www.fishpond.co.nz/Books/Gam...iABEgIOpfD_BwE

yip thats him...

Stagstalker nailed it. If you have no other reference, its great.

Also liked his comment about deer dogs being easy and how he moved on to higher level stuff, handling high drive dogs at distance like bird dogs and high level retrievers. This mirrors my own experience, after a few successful deer dogs they became boring and I too moved on. So if the blueprint introduces people to what hunting dogs are capable of and develops someones love of training to a high level, then to me that's fantastic.