# Turbo on a blood trail



## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Disclaimer: Turbo is by no means a hardcore working dog, and I aren't a good trainer either.

Made a little blood trail for Turbo this evening.

It is only about 2 hours old and a short 150-200 yards long. I used about 2 ounces of blood, which would be trackable by eye, and probably wouldn't require a dog.

I'm gonna start increasing the age gradually in an effort to raise his interest in old blood trails.

I don't think he will ever be great, but will be a pretty good last resort should I need him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iar6chwxnpo


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## Katie Finlay (Jan 31, 2010)

I love it!! Looks great to me. 

Turbo is just the cutest little fireball of a dog!


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks, Katie.

He did go from point A to point B.

Little spastic, but he made it, so I'm happy.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Just repeat and gradually make tougher and you will have that dog you were looking for. Persistance and repetition is the key. Good video.


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## Molly Graf (Jul 20, 2006)

This is for (I'm guessing) tracking downed deer? Just a question - how do you know he's not tracking your scent trail and not the blood - you had to walk that path to drop the blood, yes? I guess with repitition he'll associate the blood scent with yours, then be able to trail just blood/deer and not human? 
I know several people who have dogs who track downed deer, but don't know how they trained them - 

molly


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks, Jeff. You think it is O.K. to continue changing the location at the same time we are making them more difficult? The new location, depending on what critters have been through there also raises the difficulty for this dog. I like making them in new places. Only so many tracks you can run in your backyard.

Molly, I guess I really can't be sure that he isn't following me. You can't see in the video, but he is "hitting" off the blood and doesn't seem to be cueing in on other stuff.

I take what precautions I can, though. Rubber knee boots, pants, long sleeves. I know my scent can get around that, but it is all I got.

Eventually the aging of the trails could help with that, I guess.

I wonder if a "dummy" trail would proof that. There really isn't a good way to take out that human element except for running real trails during deer season. All my friends are pecker heads and won't call me on their easy finds to let him run 'em.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Nicely done Michael......loved it.


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Carol Boche said:


> Nicely done Michael......loved it.


 Thanks, Carol!\\/


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

What is his reward? 

I LOVE the end where you can *obviously* see that he is in scent and he is walking around on his hind legs....that would tell me that he was not following YOU, but rather the trail of blood. 

When you place the blood, how are you doing it? off to side of the trail or on top of where you are walking. Looks like, from what I can see in the video, that you are leaning over and placing it off the trail, which I agree with. 

I really liked watching him work the corners as well, he checked each way before deciding. Nice!!!

And, what I really liked is that he was never hectic....I have seen some dogs get hectic and frustrate themselves and do really stupid stuff....he did not do that.....NICE again!!!


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## Steve Strom (May 25, 2008)

Hey, nice to see some new Turbo in action, Mike. I'm curious to see what info you get on proofing it.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Steve Strom said:


> Hey, nice to see some new Turbo in action, Mike. I'm curious to see what info you get on proofing it.


Grab the neighborhood PIA cat, wound it and let it go????? (JUST KIDDING!!!!)


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## Molly Graf (Jul 20, 2006)

That's true - if you did walk on the obvious trail, but dropped the blood or drag or other scent off to the side, off-trail - then you would know which trail your dog was following, for the most part - that is, unless he air-scented. But even if he air-scented, he would still "go to the ground" when/if he lost the air scent, and then you would be able to see which scent he was on - you or the blood. Whatever scent he was on, he is obviously a good working dog - obviously in scent and working out problems - when he got to the end his nose went up in the air and he was "right on the money" though the exact location had to be sorted out - he was definately in odor at the right location, and right height (scenting up the tree)

molly


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

> then you would know which trail your dog was following, for the most part - that is, unless he air-scented. But even if he air-scented, he would still "go to the ground" when/if he lost the air scent, and then you would be able to see which scent he was on - you or the blood.


So, if we are going to get into the airscenting part of it.....we need to ask what the weather was, wind direction, humidity and if the dog was working into the wind or with it......

With trailing dogs....it is important to keep the "wind at your back"....and yes, I know the wind changes and you can't control it, but when I work a trailing dog, they better trail most of the time, I don't fault an airscent, cut a corner, once in a while, but it is definitely not a habit I want them to pick up....I want them to trail.....

With that said, all of my airscent dogs were trained to track first, especially the dogs that were more apt to try and use their eyes....this helps teach them that if they lose scent with their head up, they go to ground and search rather than give up or get frantic.


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Yesterday's reward was a meat covered deer shoulder blade. I try to stay with the deer theme.

Yes, the trail was made off to the side of where I walked.

It was about 45-50 degrees with a light breeze coming from about our 7-8 o'clock. You can see this when he kept going to the right side of the trail and to the right of the reward at the end.

Everytime he would go back to the left, THAT was the real blood trail.

So I guess he was doing both. Trailing, but you could definitely see him have to airscent back to the trail.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Cool little lowrider!


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> Cool little lowrider!


I probably couldn't keep up with a long legged doggy.

Isn't that how you slow down a trailing dog. Buy one with short legs.


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## Al Curbow (Mar 27, 2006)

Nice video Mike.


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Michael Wise said:


> So I guess he was doing both.



And he did it all well....keep up the good work!!!!!


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## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

Nice video, Mike! Thanks for sharing!

If you're interested in proofing him off your scent, you could do cross tracks or contaminate the area with your scent as distractions. For example, walk around in the area, then lay your blood trail, then walk around in the area again, making sure to cross the blood trail (just make sure you don't get blood on your boots!). Then you'll be sure he's not following your scent, or he'll learn that following the blood (and not your scent) is the only way to get his reward.

It might be good to start slowly with the above too, and not barrage him with a large amount of distractions at first.


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks, Al!

Appreciate the help, Konnie!

Don't know why I didn't think about that before. That is what I use to do when hiding shed antlers to keep him from tracking me to them.

I've got a new area that I'm going to try to make another trail tomorrow. I'll post more vid if he gives it a go.

I'll still use the same amount of blood, and probably keep it under 200 yards, but let it get about 4-5 hours old this time.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

I assume the blood you used was direct from the find?


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Nicole Stark said:


> I assume the blood you used was direct from the find?


This time, yes.

Sometimes, probably most of the time, it won't, though.

How come?


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

No reason for asking just wondering. I'm intrigued by stuff I don't know much about when it comes to working with dogs. Most of it I eventually attempt with my own dogs in some way or another just to see how they do. I've done different scent type exposure with the dog I have now and this seemed to be something interesting to do.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I always thought this stuff was pretty cool...did you just let the piece of deer meat drip the blood or did you drag it through the brush? If you just had shot a deer, would the dog be just following the blood or the scent as it ran or both?


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Drops. Anywhere from 2-5 feet apart. Some spots big, some small.

Use to do drags with him, but he got pretty good with those.

On a real trail, where a dog would actually be needed, they would be tracking the wounded deer's interdigital scent more than blood. When a dog is usually needed it is because the hunter has no visible blood to follow. I guess there could also be microscopic blood droplets there, too, that they are smelling.

That is the goal. Being able to run a track with little to no visible blood. We gots a ways to go, but I really am happy with how much better he has gotten recently.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Michael Wise said:


> I probably couldn't keep up with a long legged doggy.
> 
> Isn't that how you slow down a trailing dog. Buy one with short legs.



With luck the long legged ones go to ground so you don't have to run....You just have to like to dig. :lol:
Those lowriders are usually a bit wide and thick through the chest for earth work but still have the gas for anything else.
Great barn ratters! :wink:
Just wondering if you've done any critter control with him? That might present a problem if he's on a less then fresh blood trail and hits a fresh scent of ****, fox, groundhog, etc.


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

The only "taste" of critter control that he has gotten was a mouse, on leash while walking one night. A mole that was out of ground in the yard. And a opossom that latched on to his head and he decided it was better to bay than catch.

He is VERY easy to read when it comes to knowing if he is on fresh critters. Day and night to what was in the video.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

"
He is VERY easy to read when it comes to knowing if he is on fresh critters. Day and night to what was in the video."


Kinda my point!:wink:
Live game will definitely put the "Turbo" in his drive compaired to something dead. MOST good terriers will have nothing to do with dead game. Starting pups can be the exception. Even a good mouser would/should leave the critter once it's finished the job. 
That's why I would suggest using only fresh blood but I know that can be hard to do. 
Yrs back I trained a Border Terrier for sport tracking. Rags did a great job of FST in a pristine area but I had hunted him for a few yrs before I ever did the tracking. Absolutely lost interest in the man/sport track if it crossed a game trail. 
Couldn't blame him. He was one damn fine little dog in the ground. :-D


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

Yeah, you're dead on.

Blood tracking, or any scent work for that matter, was an afterthought with this dog. I had him for about 3-4 years before I really got interested in scent work.

This is a case of using the dog I got instead of getting a dog for the job.

I'll take whatever finished product I end up with. He has fun, and I feel like I've learned a lot from doing this with him.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Great attitude! Having fun is 99.99% of dog training..or it should be! ;-)


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## Michael Wise (Sep 14, 2008)

But you can bet your ass I'm thinking about that next dog.

One of Don T's huntin' machines.....hound.....lab.....pointy-eared dog.....

Choices, choices, choices.....


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

If I only had the space! :grin:
I love those terrors!!!!


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## Carol Boche (May 13, 2007)

Michael Wise said:


> But you can bet your ass I'm thinking about that next dog.
> 
> One of Don T's huntin' machines.....hound.....lab.....pointy-eared dog.....
> 
> Choices, choices, choices.....


Well.....I would say, one of Don't huntin machines....or a mal......or a hound.....or a lab........

LOL.....the choices are tough aren't they????


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