How do I teach my dog to pick up sheds?

[ccoffey]

Wasn’t really seeing anything in the thread search I did, but if there is one out there I missed. Let me know. We just picked up an 8 week old Bernese Mountain Dog. He’ll hopefully get out with me on some scouting trips late this summer or next spring. Anybody have any tips for training them to bring back sheds?

Picture of George for attention mainly haha

 

[MTPipeliner]

Mine isn’t 100% great at sheds, but usually if she won’t pick them up she does stop and sniff them which helps me find them anyway so I’m not an expert at it.

Anyway, what I did was take a couple sheds and cut the sharp points off them so I could throw them and have her fetch them like you would a tennis ball. From there moved on to having them just laying in the yard and she’d pick them up without seeing them be thrown.

When walking in a field or along the river I’d take a shed with me and toss it to the side of the trail and have her find them.

 

[wowzers]

I work in the woods and had my dog with me from about 16 weeks and I really wasn’t sure he was going to get it. I would see one and intentionally walk him over it and he could have cared less for the first year. Then something clicked and he would just start bringing them to me. I played fetch at the house with horns a lot but I screwed up not taking every one from him and giving him a reward. The crappy ones I would throw through woods while I was working. This led to him not wanting to go get more so readily. If I had it to do over I would have taken each one given him a reward and hung it in a tree if I didn’t want to take it home. All bets were off for the day when he would flush a grouse.

 

[Bmhunts]

I have a Karelian Bear dog. What I did was any time she found any part of a dead animal I’d put a bunch of treats on whatever she found and I’d shower her with praise. Then she’d chew on it carry it for awhile, roll on it. She’s to the point now we’ll be on a trail and all of a sudden her head will snap and she’ll start sniffing down hill, she’ll run down and bring back old deer legs, sections of spine, some of them have to be years old. She’ll find little 3 inch chunks of rib bone, no matter what it is she gets a lot of treats.

Fast forward to a couple months ago and I see her running down the ridge with something in her mouth, as soon as she hit the trail and turned towards me I could see it was a shed. I gave her a ton of treats more than usual now she knows to bring them and she’s gonna get paid. She’s found a few more since.


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[signing off]

I really enjoyed seeing my dog learn and understand scent skills. You probably have seen guys hold a treat in one hand and then put both hands in front of the dog. Maybe a paw on correct hand or nose to open your hand for the treat.
Same basic principle is in action for antlers.
We did indoor training with treats in closets or dark rooms. The dog found the scent, then switched to antlers.
Outdoor training was fun. The antlers were stored in a milk crate where rain could keep them free of human scent. I would use a tool to place them, initially in sight, but eventually out of sight and old. Meaning my ground scent from walking there was gone.
The moment you see your dog turn into the wind and has a lock on the scent is VERY AWESOME.
The other comment of mucho praise and piles of treats is worthwhile. Adjusting the amount of a treat gets a stronger drive from the dog . We called them jackpot. And cut up hot dog and a premium dog food are the two treats we used most.

 

[akcabin]

I have been working with our Chesapeake for several years now. I like to use moose antlers for chew toys. I found that the base of the antler has the most scent. Because of the amount of fat n blood veins. And use this as a throw toy that she retrieves. Research from trying to learn myself has suggested that most finds are visually seeing the antlers. So folks will place them around and have the dog collect them. But scent is also used. So I use the base. I have a few and Ruby enjoys chewing on them. And loves to play fetch. I have read that some folks will put a scent on the training antlers also. I have not done this but you may want to try it.
For me playing fetch with a base, the moose antler bases are split down the middle with a bandsaw or hacksaw. Is the best way. She loves the game and I love watching a good dog work.
Good luck n have fun

 

[KurtR]

First the dog has to have some drive to want to pick them up. So you need to make antlers what it wants. There are some programs online that if you really want to do it I would pay for as they give you a step by step process. Dogbone hunter is the name of the guy who had a bunch of material. I think he has a bunch of you tube stuff.

 

[ccoffey]

Thanks for all the input! Hopefully I can turn him into a master shed hunter!

 

[squid-freshprints]

A couple things. 1, a dog doesn't have to retrieve sheds to find you sheds (My best dog mostly just hits.). 2 conditions will change their ability to scent things. 3, a mountain dog is huge for the backcountry, have a plan. 4, elk antlers stink more. and finally, even with four dogs hiking my binos find more than my dogs, its easy 2to1. ( For everyone else, pit bull/EBT mixed to heeler makes a great shed/trail dog. Between my experience and others it seems like more than coincidence how well these dogs do for people, they have crazy drive, underline crazy, one of mine has dug antlers from 4 ft of snow in late season.)

 

[northernalpine]

Look up “clicker training” on YouTube, super easy means to train your pup

 

[signing off]

Look up “clicker training” on YouTube, super easy means to train your pup

That is a great suggestion. We have used clicker with our family dog. And also a few foster dogs so they have basic manners for their forever family.
The technique is both simple and multi-faceted. Lots of ways to shift a command to something different or new.

 

[Lont638]

That is GREAT that you got a BMD. You ad your family will have many years of happiness with him/her.
We had a BMD for 10 1/2 years. Samsom passed away 08/19/23. The we had a new BMD adopt us the end of 09/23. Maximus is 6 months old now. As far as training to pick up Sheds you will need to train him to Trck first. BMDs are bred to protect Stock Animals and to Cart.
Samson was a great Yote Killer and now maximus is Learning from Cassie our Great Pyrenees
Since your BMD is 8 weeks old get right on the training. They will test you to see how smart or not you are.
If you can find a organization that does "Tracking" courses start there. If you already know of or have a friend that has a dog that finds Sheds, see if you can pair your pup up with that dog. Some dogs with Train other Dogs.
Just remember that you have one of the Best Gardinas for Stock and your family. That is in their DNA. And they also love to pull carts!

 

[Longleaf]

Check out dog bone hunter on YouTube, he sells a dummy shed kit with scent to get a pup started and used to carrying an antler. From there take an old shed and drill out the inside and put the shavings it in a spray bottle with water and use that at your scent. Lot of praise when the dog does what you want.

 

[TreeDog]

I'm far from an expert, but mine has found quite a few. I watched a lot of Jeremy Moore/Dog Bone Hunter stuff. I never messed around with the fake antler and scent deal. I would take shed I've found and hide them from easy to progressively more difficult. I NEVER let her play with or chew on antlers. One of the big things Dog Bone talks about is to make the shed a reward. It loses its value as a reward the more exposure the dog has to it so treat it as something special. Don't get discouraged if the dog isn't finding them. Mine has stepped on them and walked right past them. But she's also winded them like a bird. Even seen her stick her head in a bush and pull them out on two different occasions. Go to places with a high likelihood of finding some. Like anything, the more opportunity the better. Overall, focus on obedience to start and don't get in a rush. You guys will have fun hiking around whether you’re finding them or not.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

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