Thread: Time commitment in training/having a deer indicator dog

Hi all,
Very keen to, at some point, get myself a deer indicator dog. I'm still pretty new to deerstalking, so I'd wait until I'm a bit more experienced/knowledgeable before dragging a dog into the equation. Anyway, I'm interested to know how much time is involved in first training the dog and from that point onwards, maintaining those skills you trained it for. I guess it would vary quite a bit with each dog (and breed), and the more training the better, but maybe you could give me an idea as to how much time you spent on your dog (eg. hours a week for how many months)? And how often should you take the dog out hunting to maintain its ability to scent and indicate? Approximately how old long would the training period span for, as in how old would you start training the dog and how old would the dog be when its trained to the point that its actually useful (or not a nuisance) out in the bush?

Cheers for the help

Maybe there's a good book I could read too?

Hey mate, I'm far from an expert but can give you a heads up from my limited experience. I have a 2 yr old gsp which is mainly a pet but have trained him to scent track without too much hassle. Initially I would just expose him to deer hide from a young age, letting him play with it and then dragging it through the bush to where I would have hidden a treat. To date he would have been on about 13 deer, the first few he didn't have too much idea but caught on quickly and he now is responsible for me finding deer I would have otherwise lost. Although mainly used for scent tracking he will indicate, however I have found it hard to stalk in once he has, especially in dry beech forest!! I have found hunting with the dog provides a bit of company and as I said before he starting to earn his keep with locating those shot or wounded deer I would have otherwise lost. I'd be just as interested as you with regards to developing his indicating technique as I have a feeling that the scent tracking bit was the easy part....

Sorry, with regards to maintaining scenting ability I was unable to take him out for 6 months at one point and he didn't have any problems whatsoever. Maintaining his discipline by heeling etc required more work... He started with the hide at approx 4-5 months I think and was approx 5-6 months when I first took him out hunting on a farm. With regards to how long before he is not a nuisance I guess that would depend? I am sure I have probably lost a couple of deer because of him but I have also gained a few and I'm sure as time goes on and he gains experience he will find me a lot more than be will lose me. I feel that any inability on the part of the dog is usually reflected by my inability as a trainer, but its great fun and adds another dimension to your hunting

Piece of string.

It really is dog specific, but start from day one with the basic stuff and it's only a few minutes a day. The dog should naturally indict it's more a case of you working out what it's telling you. Depending on several different thing's it might be indicting by six months or younger. But I believe in letting them be a pup and they can tag along on a hunt if they are under proper control.
And for want of better words, don't over train, especially early on.

Take them out as often as possible. Reward them.Today as we struggled up the hill both dogs winding in a tight spot. Temper flared because of the slog. Luckily we slowed down and hung onto to dogs as they dragged us up over the lip. What's that big thing. 223 spoke and nice big fella dropped on spot.Dogs were allowed to have a lengthy scrag. Long haul home. Always watch the dogs and trust the.Big fat dinner for the dogs.

Link - Cheers for the info on your dog. I guess one of my fears is me not having the time to maintain the dog (combined with living in auckland - Fuck) and it becoming a pet. Pets are all good but I want a dog that's more than that. So anyway, its encouraging to hear that your GSP is able to be both pet and indicator. I love dogs so even if having a dog didn't increase my kill rate (so long as it didn't decrease it) I'd still like to have one.

Wirehunt - Good call on not over-training. The dog has its own hunting instinct, I want to hone it to do what I want, I don't want to train train train until it becomes unnatural to the dog.

TeRei - Congrats on the kill! Ain't it great when the plan comes together. Gotta reward those dogs when they pull through aye. I was reading a little article in a hunting mag the other day and the writer reckoned that having a dog which wants to please its owner is as important, if not more, than a dog that has a natural hunting desire.

Originally Posted by phillipgr

Link - Cheers for the info on your dog. I guess one of my fears is me not having the time to maintain the dog (combined with living in auckland - Fuck) and it becoming a pet. Pets are all good but I want a dog that's more than that. So anyway, its encouraging to hear that your GSP is able to be both pet and indicator. I love dogs so even if having a dog didn't increase my kill rate (so long as it didn't decrease it) I'd still like to have one.

Wirehunt - Good call on not over-training. The dog has its own hunting instinct, I want to hone it to do what I want, I don't want to train train train until it becomes unnatural to the dog.

TeRei - Congrats on the kill! Ain't it great when the plan comes together. Gotta reward those dogs when they pull through aye. I was reading a little article in a hunting mag the other day and the writer reckoned that having a dog which wants to please its owner is as important, if not more, than a dog that has a natural hunting desire.

Desire to please without ability is not worth much... but being hard to handle can be a nightmare... so you do want a driven dog with a bidible nature ideally... being in Auckland is no biggie, you can do some stuff, even in town which will translate to the bush as far as handling and control go... not much point in skin drags in my opinion, in fact they can be counter productive.

I advocate getting control first and introduce hunting second... dog are prewired to hunt, some better than others, if you have it under control and take it bush it's first nose full of deer scent will alert all sorts of instincts ticking away in there, from that point it's your job to shape that into something useful... if I get time this week I'll try and add some of my ideas of stuff you can do in more details....

Originally Posted by Ruff

it's first nose full of deer scent will alert all sorts of instincts ticking away in there, from that point it's your job to shape that into something useful...

This is the real trick, seeing what your dog is telling you....

Ruff - Cheers for the advice. Obedience is major, for sure.

Originally Posted by phillipgr

Ruff - Cheers for the advice. Obedience is major, for sure.

living n Auckland is no hindrance for a deer dog as you have a forest full of them 30 minutes away in Muriwai --all you need is commitment and to join the Auckland regions GSP Club

Give the dog a skin to play with.

Originally Posted by el borracho

living n Auckland is no hindrance for a deer dog as you have a forest full of them 30 minutes away in Muriwai --all you need is commitment and to join the Auckland regions GSP Club

I was thinking that today but it hadn't occurred to me before. Its totally sweet to take your dog into woodhill to sharpen its skills on the fallow up there? That's ideal.
How can I find the GSP club, do they have a website or is there a phone number you could give me? Cheers

Originally Posted by phillipgr

I was thinking that today but it hadn't occurred to me before. Its totally sweet to take your dog into woodhill to sharpen its skills on the fallow up there? That's ideal.
How can I find the GSP club, do they have a website or is there a phone number you could give me? Cheers

Never mind, did a google search and I found the website - cheers.

mostly bird dogging people but youll learn plenty at the club