Minkenry 1,044 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Hello everyone.All of the dogs I've worked with were close to a year old or older before I started training them to use their sense of smell. It seems to me that marking is a pretty simple task for a dog, so I was wondering how young could a puppy begin to mark burrows consistently. I'm sure opinions very, and a lot of it depends on the dog in question, but I'm curios if a young pup that is say 5-6 months old could be trained to mark dens relatively consistently, or if that's just asking too much of a puppy. What do you guys think? Is it do able, or just asking too much? If that is far too young, how old is a realistic age for a dog to begin marking relatively consistently? Thanks to all who reply! Quote Link to post
CraignTod 278 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Do you train it to mark? Or do you learn to identify the signals the dog gives? Quote Link to post
Blackdog92 2,047 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Like above I think its more of a looking for signals rather than training 1 Quote Link to post
comanche 2,957 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 (edited) If the dog is calm enough to given a bit of free rein and is showing an interest in hidden dummies or game or sniffing certain holes in preference to others its worth testing its instincts. It must be a great confidence boost for a young dog to see its mark rewarded with a catch. And probably no greater disappointment for it than to have its handler dismiss its instinct as puppyish enthusiasm and walk on. Within reason if a young dog is marking a difficult or un-nettable place I'll ferret it. Even if the quarry disappears over the horizon it has to be done for the sake of building a trusting relationship . Edited August 13, 2015 by comanche 5 Quote Link to post
Minkenry 1,044 Posted August 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 If the dog is calm enough to given a bit of free rein and is showing an interest in hidden dummies or game or sniffing certain holes in preference to others its worth testing its instincts. It must be a great confidence boost for a young dog to see its mark rewarded with a catch. And probably no greater disappointment for it than to have its handler dismiss its instinct as puppyish enthusiasm and walk on. Within reason if a young dog is marking a difficult or un-nettable place I'll ferret it. Even if the quarry disappears over the horizon it has to be done for the sake of building a trusting relationship . red3.jpg IMGP5955red.jpg What is the breeding on that pup if I may ask? It's a good looking little pup! Quote Link to post
comanche 2,957 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 If the dog is calm enough to given a bit of free rein and is showing an interest in hidden dummies or game or sniffing certain holes in preference to others its worth testing its instincts. It must be a great confidence boost for a young dog to see its mark rewarded with a catch. And probably no greater disappointment for it than to have its handler dismiss its instinct as puppyish enthusiasm and walk on. Within reason if a young dog is marking a difficult or un-nettable place I'll ferret it. Even if the quarry disappears over the horizon it has to be done for the sake of building a trusting relationship . red3.jpg IMGP5955red.jpg What is the breeding on that pup if I may ask? It's a good looking little pup! He's a mongrel:) 2 Quote Link to post
Minkenry 1,044 Posted August 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Do you train it to mark? Or do you learn to identify the signals the dog gives? Yeah, once I get to know a dog, I have enough animal sense to let the dog's own body language tell me if it is marking. I don't need or even want the dog to do some specific behavior to let me know when it has found something, as long as its body language is consistent enough for me to understand, that's good enough for me. I'm just curious if there is an age you experienced dog men have seen, when the development of the pup is sufficient to rely on it's abilities to mark consistently. I understand this is a difficult question to ask, as each pup develops a little differently. I'm just trying to get a basic idea of what you guys have experienced working with various puppies, since I've only trained adult or near adult dogs to do any kind of scent work before. Quote Link to post
Minkenry 1,044 Posted August 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 If the dog is calm enough to given a bit of free rein and is showing an interest in hidden dummies or game or sniffing certain holes in preference to others its worth testing its instincts. It must be a great confidence boost for a young dog to see its mark rewarded with a catch. And probably no greater disappointment for it than to have its handler dismiss its instinct as puppyish enthusiasm and walk on. Within reason if a young dog is marking a difficult or un-nettable place I'll ferret it. Even if the quarry disappears over the horizon it has to be done for the sake of building a trusting relationship . red3.jpg IMGP5955red.jpg What is the breeding on that pup if I may ask? It's a good looking little pup! He's a mongrel:) Yeah, I kind of assumed that. Do you know what breeds he is mixed with? Quote Link to post
comanche 2,957 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 If the dog is calm enough to given a bit of free rein and is showing an interest in hidden dummies or game or sniffing certain holes in preference to others its worth testing its instincts. It must be a great confidence boost for a young dog to see its mark rewarded with a catch. And probably no greater disappointment for it than to have its handler dismiss its instinct as puppyish enthusiasm and walk on. Within reason if a young dog is marking a difficult or un-nettable place I'll ferret it. Even if the quarry disappears over the horizon it has to be done for the sake of building a trusting relationship . red3.jpg IMGP5955red.jpg What is the breeding on that pup if I may ask? It's a good looking little pup! He's a mongrel:) Yeah, I kind of assumed that. Do you know what breeds he is mixed with? Mum was a collie ,Dad was a stray lurcher of unknown breeding. The owners of the collie were not best pleased:) He was ferreting at ten months but he was one of those old head on young shoulders dogs. Quote Link to post
krawnden 1,036 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Not sure how you plan on working yours and on what quarry, but for a dog to mark rabbit holes that will be ferreted I try and get the pup out from the word go. Initially the pup obviously hasn't a clue what's going on, so you just have to ferret every likely looking spot and hope for the best. Once the pup gets to sniff a few netted rabbits it should begin to make the association, and start paying more attention to holes. From then on it's just a case of being observant and you'll soon be able to 'read' the dog. The key is - practice makes perfect. In other words the more experience the pup gets, the quicker things will fall into place. My young bushing/ferreting terrier was born at the end of May last year and I had her out ferreting by October. She very quickly picked things up and was marking well within a couple of months. By late Jan/early Feb (ie around 8 months) she was at the point where if she was marking a rabbit warren I was 100% certain there was one or more rabbits in there. But she was NOT at the stage where if she didn't mark a hole I could be 100% certain there was nothing at home (if that makes sense). But she'd had lots of exposure to rabbits. A dog that came into contact with them less frequently would almost certainly have taken longer to get to that stage. I introduced her to rats when she was approximately a year old (can't remember exactly when). Literally within half an hour she'd worked out we were after a different quarry and what it smelt like, and started marking with 100% accuracy. So there's no reason at all why youngish pups shouldn't mark successfully. But they must have plenty of exposure to the game you're after, and be given the freedom to hunt and use their nose. 3 Quote Link to post
Phil Lloyd 10,738 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 (edited) Dogs destined for the rabbiting life, are best introduced to their trade,...as early... as possible... Edited August 14, 2015 by Phil Lloyd 3 Quote Link to post
Guest vin Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Get it out as soon as poss,mooching about with the other dogs if poss.. my youngest was out from 12 weeks old and started marking reliably at 5 months old,caught her 1st bolter at 5 1/2 months and has never looked back since. They Don't learn nothing being kept indoors. Quote Link to post
Trev70 5,185 Posted August 13, 2015 Report Share Posted August 13, 2015 Six month old here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN3Setm6Yg4 Quote Link to post
Minkenry 1,044 Posted August 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Six month old here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN3Setm6Yg4 Were they both 6 months old? The mostly white one looked more experienced to me, while the darker one seemed to be still figuring things out.... 1 Quote Link to post
Chicken_man 1,651 Posted August 14, 2015 Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 This is my collie dog marking. Been out since a pup, 8yrs now. When he finds/marks you just know. Unmistakable with him really he just don't budge :-). Get out early, associate and things should happen naturally :-) Atb 6 Quote Link to post
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