Antler Dogs

TerynItUp · Mar 10, 2011

Hey guys,
I have a female GSP, Annie, who is a little over a year old and am starting to work with her quite a bit on finding sheds and could use a little help.

I started out like most of you have said, I would play fetch with her and her favorite ball and slowly work in an antler every now and then and slowly took the ball out of the equation till she was obsessed with the antler, seriously all she wants now. I think she is narotic!

Once she got the hang of figuring out how to pick it up and could consistently bring the horn back to me I moved on to the next step. I would start by throwing it for her once or twice to get her excited and then would have her go outside while I would hide the shed in my room or another room under a blanket or hidden somewhere (this whole time I am always using the word "horn" over and over to pound it in to her head). I would bring her back in the house and say "find the horn Annie" and she immediately knew what was going on. She would first look at me like she thought I had it but slowly started sniffing and venturing around the house until she figured that game out too.

From there I would take several horns and hide them out behind the house, pinon juniper and sage type stuff, and bring her out. I would once again start by throwing the antler for her once or twice to get her going and then would send her out looking for the sheds. She is doing AMAZING. I even stuck one 7' up in a tree and she was able to find it. I have not been hard on her at all and am trying to overly praise her for her good work. I have been very happy with her nose and excitement to look for the sheds.

SO.....the problem I am having is with her running around like a mad dog. I would really like her to quarter away from me back and forth at about 25-50 yards out in front of me. She just gets so excited to find them that I cant keep her from running around with no methodology.

Any suggestions or drills I can do to work with her?

I am taking her out for her first trip next weekend and will let you know how she works. I am taking her to some of my family's private stuff in CO where there are ALWAYS fresh horns so I knows she will have a good shot, I will let you guys know how she does.

Here is a picture of when she went with us before I really started working with her alot.

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

TerynItUp · Mar 10, 2011

Just a side note.....GSP's are some of the smartest dogs I have been around. I am literally dumbfounded at how fast she picked all of this up. Sometimes when its just me and her and I am talking with her, she will tilt her head and I swear she knows what I am saying. She is my first dog and couldnt ask for a better one.

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

muledeernuts · Mar 10, 2011

TerynItUp i would have to say i agree with you on exactly what you posted. I also have a dog that i have posted pictures of on here before and the problem i get and notice is alot of the time Goose just runs around chasing squirrels or jumping and frolicking. I think for Goose he just needs more work. I'm sure Fatrooster will comment on here as soon as he see's it and we will get to hear what he says. His dog Daisy is very good at it. I also have a buddy from home who's dog is very good at finding sheds and what he told me is to not allow your dog any other toy at all. He said antlers and antlers, its hard to do though because they want to chew. So i Think your headed the right way but i would also like to hear what other people have to say also. Find the horn Goose!

elkrazy01 · Mar 10, 2011

i have a gsp that looks just like that and i am wondering if yours might be out of the same litter. did u get it out of evanston WY. other than that i have worked on my dog like crazy to pick up sheds and she does amazing in the pasture and yard but once i get her into the sage brush she freaks out with all the birds and rabbits. she won't even look at a shed. gsp are not the best for shed dogs because they are just so birdy. but if you got her to where she pays attention the best way to keep her close is a shock collar. even take her out on a 20' leash a couple times and as soon as she hits the end yank on her and tell her to come. after a while she'll figure it out.

muledeernuts · Mar 11, 2011

elkrazy i know exactly what your talking about, i bird hunt hard during the fall. mainly ducks but all birds are fair game. My Lab is actually a pointing Lab from Shade Tree Kennels and his bloodline was great with pointing and the ole sniffing genes. Now the problem with that is trying to get him to point and chase birds and think that antlers are the only thing out there. If he smells a pheasant or a grouse he looses track of antlers for the next half hour. Quite frankly its hard to deal with and i'm thinking about pushing antlers antlers antlers even though he loves birds more. I do believe if you buy any kind of dog bred hard for birds that is what they think. Another problem I believe is what i've been doing, both birds and antlers. any more ideas? Find the horn Goose!

TerynItUp · Mar 11, 2011

Annie definitely loves the birds but I think she is more into the antlers. I originally got her with birds in mind but never did much training with her because we dont have much upland action where I am from.

I was thinking about it yesterday and think I figured something out for the problem I having with her running wild. I have a 50' long leash that I will put her on and taker her out to my grandpa's alfalfa field (7 acres). I will let her stay at the end of the leash and when she gets far enough to my right I will blow a whistle and direct her back towards the left, when she gets far enough on that end I will blow the whistle again and direct her back towards the right. I think she is smart enough to pick up on that but I guess we will see.

What do you guys think? Will it work?

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

SSakitas · Mar 11, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Mar-11-11 AT 07:01PM (MST)[p]I think you have the right Idea on how to get her to search the way you want. But something you need to realize is the behavior your dog is showing ( the running around like a nut and hyperactive) is typical of any bird dogs behavior they for the most part dont have a calm demeanor when they are hunting its just not in there breeding. If you watch most bird dogs work they act the same way. I have trained alot of dogs to find and retrieve antlers and the ones that turn out the best are the ones with a calm collective demeanors. The down side to the ones with calm demeanors is they dont typicaly show as much excitment in looking for the antlers as dogs that are overly hyper. Training a dog to find antlers is not as easy as most people think its even harder to train a dog that has been bred for hundreds of years to hunt something other than antlers like birds. My advice is to buy a E training collar and DVD on how to train a bird dog on how to work close to you. The method you are describing that you plan on using to get your dog to work is the same way I train mine to come when called i just use a E collar instead of a whistle. Another thing to think about is dogs dont have the thinking capacity to zig zag and search on there own it has to be taught to them. Thats why I dont try to teach my dogs to zig zag and search I just let them do what they want to do and teach them to bring me a horn when they cross ones scent or see one.I hope this helps.

fatrooster · Mar 12, 2011

Teaching a dog to zig zag is really not that hard. My biggest problem is getting my lab out away from me. But here is what I do. When the dog is working or running to the left I might go in that direction for a little while but eventually I'm going to cut back to the right and in the opposite direction. Because my dog wants to be close to me she will also cut back and get out ahead of me and this is where I cut back left and she will follow me but stay out in the lead at the same time. After a short while I cut right again and she will do the same. Soon they will learn the routine and just start doing it automatically. I purposely cut away from her when she is not looking which increases the distance that she hunts away from me.
With a dog that wants to go too far away I feel that you might have to go back to the basics and step #1. Practice having your dog come to you when called. Coming to your command is more important than finding antlers. When she will come to your command with out flaw then you should be able to call her back to you when you are in the field. Before she gets all of the way to you and is still 25 yards out start walking and give the command to "Find the bone" or use whatever your command is. That way you can pull her in and send her out at will and eventually she will learn the distance that will make you happy which may take several weeks to a year or more. Dogs change with maturity and eventually slow down. Also, some dogs start out running like crazy but 30 minutes later start slowing down.
With all of this being said I should mention that I've never dealt with a GSP and maybe what I've said will not pertain to thier amount of energy. I would get every book and video I could get my hands on about training dogs. If you learn one minor detail about traing a dog from each source then you've gained a piece of info that will last the rest of your life. fatrooster.

Horn_Star · Mar 13, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Mar-13-11 AT 10:55AM (MST)[p]I remember when you first posted asking about where to look for sheds and other rookie questions and now you are training a dog to find them? Dont you think you should figure out how to find them a little better before you go out and have your dog terrorize the country side?

SSakitas · Mar 13, 2011

Everybody is a rookie at 1st even people that have been doing somethimg for years and are good at what they do. Eveybody has been a rookie with something in there life at one point.

TerynItUp · Mar 13, 2011

Does it take a professional to go out on a hike looking for sheds? I asked when they start to drop a year or two ago if that's what you're referring to....thanks for keeping tabs on me though buddy.

That makes sense rooster, like I said I am taking her on Saturday so I will keep you posted on how she does.

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

TerynItUp · Mar 15, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-11 AT 06:50AM (MST)[p]

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

utehunter · Mar 15, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-11 AT 07:46AM (MST)[p]So u know where the rez starts right? lol just messing with you. When we going to go look for sheds?

TerynItUp · Mar 15, 2011

Is that why Hunt_Rez aka Horn_Star is crying? He thinks I am trespassing? Tell him he can sit at the Rez fence and watch me pick up all the sheds that those bucks crossing onto our Ranch drop. You think I am stupid enough to go on the Rez, I worked to hard for my things to be taken by the tribe for trespassing. I hope it is YOU guys who knows where the boundary is and dont come on our Ranch. I know you dont have much supervision up there so I would hope you know what is right and whats wrong....

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

TerynItUp · Mar 15, 2011

I have no problem with you Duke, but there is no way I will be accused of trespassing. I was brought up better than that.

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.

Horn_Star · Mar 15, 2011

>Is that why Hunt_Rez aka Horn_Star
>is crying? He thinks I
>am trespassing? Tell him he
>can sit at the Rez
>fence and watch me pick
>up all the sheds that
>those bucks crossing onto our
>Ranch drop. You think I
>am stupid enough to go
>on the Rez, I worked
>to hard for my things
>to be taken by the
>tribe for trespassing. I hope
>it is YOU guys who
>knows where the boundary is
>and dont come on our
>Ranch. I know you dont
>have much supervision up there
>so I would hope you
>know what is right and
>whats wrong....
>
>Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean.
>Apologize to No One.

who is hunt res?

utehunter · Mar 15, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Mar-15-11 AT 08:39AM (MST)[p]>Is that why Hunt_Rez aka Horn_Star
>is crying? He thinks I
>am trespassing? Tell him he
>can sit at the Rez
>fence and watch me pick
>up all the sheds that
>those bucks crossing onto our
>Ranch drop. You think I
>am stupid enough to go
>on the Rez, I worked
>to hard for my things
>to be taken by the
>tribe for trespassing. I hope
>it is YOU guys who
>knows where the boundary is
>and dont come on our
>Ranch. I know you dont
>have much supervision up there
>so I would hope you
>know what is right and
>whats wrong....
>
>Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean.
>Apologize to No One.

Easy there man I was joking man. Dont u see the lol? horn_star is not even southern ute but he is a good friend of mine. And yes I kno where the rez ends an your grandpas land starts. How is Frank by the way hope he doing good. Dont be mad at me k man.

TerynItUp · Mar 15, 2011

Sorry to you guys that wanted to talk shed dogs that this turned into a typical MM thread. Reasons like this that make me want to forget about this website.

Good luck with your dogs gentlemen.

Hunt Hard. Shoot Straight. Kill Clean. Apologize to No One.