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Shed Dogs

Patriot

Patriot

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2019
Messages
842
I have two dogs and I would have 2 dozen more if the wife would let me. So a shed dog might be an acceptable excuse to justify a third.

Questions

How hard is it to train a shed dog? Anybody ever try it and succeed or fail? I would guess it’s quite hard.

what’s the time commitment? Is it rigorous or can you just mess around a couple times a week for a few hours?
 
Where do you live? How many months a year do you think you would shed hunt?
Most people are using labs. They are great and will pretty much do what you want. They are also destructive if they aren’t worked. When you aren’t fixing something they’ve torn up you’re trying to find something that’s missing to determine whether or not your lab actually ate it and then figuring out if it can actually pass it or is a trip to the vet in order.

Now a good lab can upland hunt in the fall. Retrieve waterfowl all winter and then shed hunt up until it gets hot in summer. You would be a happy owner and he would be a happy dog. If all you intend to do with it is shed hunt a month or two a year neither of you will likely be happy.

What are the two dogs you have now?
 
Look up DogBoneHunter on youtube. They have reasonably priced training kits. I am getting a new puppy Saturday and she will be trained mostly for game recovery but will try to add in a little shed recovery. My research says any breed is capable.
 
Get a dog that likes to please and you'll be fine. I take my dog on most of my scouting missions because she's just a lot of fun to have around. I haven't really trained her but I think she'd smell a shed if we were close. I do buy the antler flavored-look alike chew bones from tractor supply so maybe she'll connect sometime. I don't spend time shed hunting I scout and if I happen upon sheds so be it. Lexi21springscoutinga.JPG
 
CarolinaDog said:
Look up DogBoneHunter on youtube. They have reasonably priced training kits. I am getting a new puppy Saturday and she will be trained mostly for game recovery but will try to add in a little shed recovery. My research says any breed is capable.
Click to expand...
What kind of dog? How do you plan to train for game recovery?

I am actually reading a book on blood tracking dogs now and was just curious.

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I have Shetland sheepdog who is 7 months old. I will take him shed hunting once it gets a little warmer. He loves to chase squirrels. Do you think the Sheltie might work OK?
 
EricS said:
Where do you live? How many months a year do you think you would shed hunt?
Most people are using labs. They are great and will pretty much do what you want. They are also destructive if they aren’t worked. When you aren’t fixing something they’ve torn up you’re trying to find something that’s missing to determine whether or not your lab actually ate it and then figuring out if it can actually pass it or is a trip to the vet in order.

Now a good lab can upland hunt in the fall. Retrieve waterfowl all winter and then shed hunt up until it gets hot in summer. You would be a happy owner and he would be a happy dog. If all you intend to do with it is shed hunt a month or two a year neither of you will likely be happy.

What are the two dogs you have now?
Click to expand...

Great feedback thank you! I have a 9 year old mini Aussie shepherd who is smart as hell and a 4 year old Golden that is dumber than a box of rocks haha.

I was going to ask about other things besides shed hunting but didn’t want a long post that would discourage people from reading. As to your question the only thing I would do for sure is shed hunt but learning waterfowl is on my to do list for sure. My friends say it is the greatest sport ever and i love hunting and the outdoors so I’m guessing they are right in their prediction that I’d love it. So I was thinking of potentially selecting a dog that could grow with me in birds and waterfowl
 
EricS said:
Where do you live? How many months a year do you think you would shed hunt?
Most people are using labs. They are great and will pretty much do what you want. They are also destructive if they aren’t worked. When you aren’t fixing something they’ve torn up you’re trying to find something that’s missing to determine whether or not your lab actually ate it and then figuring out if it can actually pass it or is a trip to the vet in order.

Now a good lab can upland hunt in the fall. Retrieve waterfowl all winter and then shed hunt up until it gets hot in summer. You would be a happy owner and he would be a happy dog. If all you intend to do with it is shed hunt a month or two a year neither of you will likely be happy.

What are the two dogs you have now?
Click to expand...

And I am in southern New Hampshire
 
I attempted to train a lab I had to shed hunt. That bitch would find any shed I could hide at the house but if I took her out to shed hunt she just got too excited and could care less about finding them. Guess I needed to get her out more often and maybe she would of worked out.


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I have 2 GSP's 1 is 5yrs old and 1 is 9 months. I use them on upland, sheds and they live in the house with us. Go to Dogbone web site or youtube. I really like his approach to training. Its worked for me.
 
I trained my girl Lab pretty easy. It’s really easy if your dog is food motivated. You can start in the house by lightly sanding a shed for scent and hiding it and rewarding him/her when she finds it. Then move outside and start playing little games of hiding it. My dog will bring back everything bone related in the woods. If she brings me a bone, she gets a small treat. If she brings me a shed, she gets a big treat and lots of praise. You have to get it in their head that bone equals treat. When we are shed hunting and I’m in an bedding area where sheds would be, I start repeating “search search”, she gets on track pretty quick. If you see a shed before the dog, make sure you let the dog find it. Good thing to have is a belly protector vest so they don’t get tore up and she knows when I get that vest out it’s time to look for sheds. I love it, great way to get out post season.
 
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