I'm getting a Catahoula soon. I want her to be able to track wounded deer & hogs. Any good tips? Any 'special' blood? Just makes trails of blood & let her go? How young is too young to start this? How early should I get her out in the woods to start smelling different animals? I don't want her to be all chaotic when she tracks. Also, she is more so gonna be a family pet/protector so if by training her this it will ruin her as a pet then I don't want to do it. Thanks for your input!

I couldn't have asked this any better. I just bought a female catahoula and should be getting her in a week or two.

I've got a Texas Blue Lacy.She's two years old now.I started taking her hunting when she was about 6 months old and she found 3 deer that I shot with my bow.With a little help from me.I kept a bottle with me and save some blood.Later during the year I soaked a rag with it and maid trails and used little treats.Now when we go hunting she can do it all by herself.It's great especially if you bow hunt.Oh she's got her on full size bed that she sleeps in.

3-6 months i would start letting her find things useing her nose and reward if she does good.Start with alot of blood from hogs and deer only and make trails for her and a treat at the end.When it progresses use smaller amounts of blood.Just time and patients pays off.

How did you guys decide on what breed to go with. I called in a tracking dog on a deer last year (Bavarian Mountain Hound) and it was amazing to watch him work. Would love to get into this game, but I ama complete neophyte. I have a bird dog, and the training there is so simple

oops, accidental submit...
but I just don't really know where to begin on a tracking dog. Exact same criteria as you have discussed, needs to be a good family dog, but as a color-blind bow hunter, I am begining to feel like this is almost a necessity, as there will not always be someone there to help me track if it gets ugly.

Billy, it has to be deer & hog blood??? I won't be able to get any deer blood until, hopefully, EARLY October. I picked this breed for these reasons:
good w/kids
good @ protecting property/people
tough as snot
good noses
have the ability to work for prolonged periods of time
smart
can protect itself/me if we find a hog that is still going(for the most part, I know it's not Superman)
really good looking dogs

Those are the reasons **I** chose a Catahoula!

I have a 2 year old Lab that I have trained to track and blood trail, and I will say that some dogs just have it and some don't. I started Annie at about 5 months on deer blood and a lot of praise. She took to it like a duck to water. I really didn't know when I bought her, but scent dogs are in her pedigree. She is a Cosmo grand daughter.

Here are just a few of her finds.

She's a pretty Lab. Looks stocky. She has found some nice prizes, too!

Here is a good resource for learning about tracking dogs.
www.unitedbloodtrackers.org I would also recomend the book Tracking dogs for recovering wounded game.

Most dogs are natural hunters when it comes to following a blood trail. Think about when you come home and they glue their noses to you sniffing. They gather a lot of information with their nose. I had an old lab mutt that did a good job and now I have a pit mutt that goes nuts if she smells blood. I have always kept my dogs on a leash while blood trailing. They definitely get excited and aggressive, but seem to calm down when I get them home and everybody gets a bath. Both of these dogs are indoor dogs that sleep in our bed at night.

I have done a bunch of reading since posting the OP. It sure seems there is alot of conflicting ideas out there. Starting w/soup/food juice vs. starting w/blood. Deer VS. beef blood. Age to start. End w/a food treat vs. deer parts as a treat. Arrgghh! I want to do this right. I want this dog to track BLOOD, from hogs or deer, not unwounded animals. I think this will be how I go about doing this from putting together several different trainers input:

1st month(8-12 weeks old)- it will be drippings/liquids of food/soup about 15-25 feet that ends w/her food bowl full of food(the reward).

@ about 12 weeks of age go to blood drags(deer/hog guts if I can get them, if not then cattle)) about 20-50 yds. w/a dog treat/hot dog(the reward) @ the end. I will do this until she gets proficient @ it. About a month.

Next I'll move to small puddles of blood spaced 3-5 feet apart about 100 yards long w/a dog treat/hot dog(the reward) @ the end. I'll do this until she gets proficient @ this.

Next will be drops of blood about a foot apart & throw in a 90 degree turn or 2 w/a piece of a deer or hog(the reward/toy) @ the end. She should be, for the most part, ready by the time she masters staying/finding the 90's.

We will train no more than 3x's per week unless I feel she wants to do more.


By this time she will be about 6 months old & have a really good idea of what needs to be done. It will take some time to become GOOOOD @ it but I hope this layout works. Any input from people who have trained dogs for BLOOD tracking please tell me what you think. Thanks & sorry so long winded!

BTW, some places in the U.S. it is illegal to use dogs to track wounded big game(one of the stupidest laws I know of). In Norway you can NOT get a license to hunt red deer or moose w/out a registered blood tracking dog!

Use only blood from a animal you plan on useing to track.Have trained blackmouth curs for this and uaually any dog that has a nose can be tained.Sure if when he is young and want to play and check his nose get a wennie and rub it in the grass and make figure eights and sort then break a piece off on the trail ever so many feet.Fun to watch them.

So my next question is where do I get some blood? Mine is almost 8 weeks old and I won't get her till next Thursday.

you will want to start with liver drags. The reason is that pups will tend to stop at a spot of blood and lick it up. They will want to stay at that spot. Pups love liver and a liver drag lays down a lot of scent without putting the blood on the ground. They will be able to follow it do not worry.

If you want some blood I will be glad to save some from our next kill. I will put some lung, liver, heart and blood in some ziplock bags and freeze it. But you got to come out here get it. I'm not shipping it or delivering it. Bring a cooler and some dry ice.

Guys, If you have any deer meat or wild pork in the freezer that will have plenty of blood. Just drag a trail and let them eat a small piece of the meat when they find it. Just do it when they are hungry and make a game out of it. I have trained several dogs. Labs and mutts. Once they learn the game and are hungry they will do fine. I have always worked mine on a leash to keep full control of them.
Good luck. This is much easier than training a finished duck dog.

thanks but your a long way from me. I do appreciate it.

I have some hog meet in the freezer. Would this do any good? If not, I'm gonna see if the local processor has any. If he does I'll try to get enough for you, too. We could meet in Ennis??

Anytime that you thaw meat out you can use the drippings for laying trails. Also raw burger can be placed in the tow of a pair of panty hose and drug. The scent trail will be there without leaving a lot of blood and when the tears start happening little pieces of meat will come out that will intise the dog to keep going to find more. Blood trailing is such a team sport. One way to incourage the team aspect is with the prize along the trail. I use old 35 mm film canisters (I know might be hard to find now days) that I put a small piece of hot dog or other treat in. Then put the cap on it and poke a small hole in the lid. This does two things keeps the ants from geting all over the treat and lets the scent out. When the dog finds it they will want in and here is were the team part comes in. By showing you their find you then open it and give them the treat. They will learn that it is good to show you stuff they find along the trail.

Is this only done @ the end of the trail or several places along the trail? BTW, Thanks for all your insight! I know you know your fair share about this subject so your input will help me alot.

You can do it a couple of times along a trail. I like using deer legs at the end of the trail as the "find". That way the dog can chew on them and play with it. This also teaches the dog that th legs are all right to chew on. That way they do not go up to someones trophey and rip into an ear. They are easy to keep in a freezer and with as many that are hit easy to come by.

wildlands, if a pup loses the trail during training, do you believe you shoud guide him back to the trail or let him re-find it himself? That's about my last area where I'm confused.

You allways finish a line no matter what. That being said I would give a pup (12-16 weeks)a chance to explore and find his way down a track. You might have to get out there and show them every spot and really encourage them. Once they know what the game is I would let them work at it. Make sure you know were then line is. There is some different thoughts at this point some say stay right on the line and let the dog pendelum around till it hits the line. I do not like this as to me it is teaching the dog that everytime you stop and the line gets tight that they are off and should start circling. I track with my leads tight so that I can read my dog. Also in this thick stuff they are allways getting tangled up. I want them to get use to a tight line so that they do not freak out. I like to follow the dog off the line maybe 20 yards or so and give them a chance to recognize they are off and self correct. If they do not correct themselves then I take them back on the track back to a known section and let them rework the area they missed. If they still can not get it I shorten up on the lead to the point that I am right there at them and start pointing out spots. Sometimes you can tell they are getting it and want to do it on there own. Other times you will have to show them the whole line.

The reason you allways finish is that you want the dog to know that everytime you track there is something to find and not to quite till they find something. That is the reason I do not like to work a young dog on hard or unkown location of deer. Known finds builds their confidence.

When you work your way up to hard tracks practice longer tracks than you think you will do and older tracks than you think you will track. Do not want the dog to get accustemed to working a set distance or age track when you might do longer.