The Basics of Shed Dog Training

"We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made." — M. Acklam

It is believed that somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago humans first domesticated wolves, beginning the evolutionary process that has now led to the domestic dog.

Since that time, dogs have become household pets, security guards, bomb-sniffing crime fighters and even blood trailers. And most recently, whitetail hunters have found a new use for man's best friend: shed hunting.

If you're an avid shed hunter, a dog trained to find sheds may be just what you need to take your antler collection to the next level.

That said, here's a high-level rundown of what you need to know to get started training your own antler finding, four-legged friend.

Picking A Dog

If you've decided you want a shed hunting dog but don't have a dog yet, it's time to pick a new pup. Numerous breeds of dogs can become fine shed hunters, but typically hunting breeds with a strong desire to work — and with powerful noses — are the best.

In discussions with experienced shed hunting dog trainer Roger Sigler, he repeatedly returned to the Labrador Retriever as the breed with the qualities needed in a shed hunting dog. They are tireless workers, love to hunt, have great noses and naturally want to retrieve for their owners.

When picking the actual puppy from a litter, make sure to look for one with a good amount of energy and a curious, explorative attitude. You want a dog that's willing to chase after a ball, follow you around the yard or wrestle and play with his brother and sisters.

---

Introducing A Dog To Sheds

Once you've got your dog, the first step in training is to get him/her introduced to antlers. This is a crucial step, and one that will set the foundation for everything else in the future. You want to make sure your puppy realizes, early on, that antlers are fun.

That said, get your pup started by giving him a small antler as his first chew toy. Use a tiny spike or fork horn as your pup's first real toy, and play with it frequently.

After your dog has become accustomed to his antler chew toy, the next step you'll want to take is to play fetch with the antler in your house. You can do this with your small antler, or purchase a rubber antler dummy, such as those produced by DogBone, which reduce the possibility of your pup getting poked by a hard tine.

Start small and reward your dog with lots of praise and treats when he starts to get the hang of retrieving the antler for you.

When you toss the antler, give your dog a command, such as "get the bone," and always say this when your dog heads out to retrieve the antler. You'll want to continue this throughout your pup's training so that eventually he'll begin to associate this command with the behavior you want.

Heading Outside

Once your pup has taken to fetching an antler, it's time to head outside and up the ante. First, begin just by transferring your shed fetch game outside into the lawn.

At this point I definitely recommend switching to the rubber antler dummy, as your dog will be gaining a lot more speed as he runs up to the antler. The worst thing to have happen at this point is for them to take a tine to the eye or face and be scared of sheds for the rest of their life.

I'd also begin adding some synthetic "antler scent" to the dummy. You can purchase a liquid antler scent from DogBoneHunter or a wax based scent from Dokken's Dog Supplies Inc. This added scent will help your dog begin associating the visual of an antler with the scent.

When outdoor fetch with the antler dummy becomes second nature, it's time to start playing "shed hide and seek." Put your dog inside the house, and then place the antler somewhere in the yard. Now let your dog back out, and bring him within view of the antler. Give him his command, such as "get the bone," and then release him.

If you've followed all these instructions up to this point, your dog should be dying to get that antler, and he should more than likely see the shed and bring it back for you. Repeat this process over and over, varying where you hide the shed, thus making it more difficult each time.

Eventually you can increase to several antlers spread out and hid in various areas of the yard.

In The Field

When shed hide-and-seek finally gets old, it's time to head into the woods and fields to work through some final training exercises. At this point you're essentially playing a more advanced form of shed hide-and-seek, but with more antlers, and in real whitetail habitat such as CRP, cut crop fields and timber.

Several hours before you plan on taking your dog out, head into the field with a collection of antlers. Try to keep these antlers as free of human or other scents as possible — except for the synthetic antler scent you add.

Strategically place these antlers in various spots throughout the property you have to train on, and then either mark these spots in a GPS or with some kind of marker that you'll be able to identify.

Wait a few hours and then bring your dog out this location. Get him revved up by letting him play with another antler for a bit and then head out into the field, giving him the "get the bone" command.

When you're just starting out, you'll want to help your pup out (if needed) by walking towards the known locations and making sure your dog is headed in the right direction. As your dog finds the antlers, which he should be at this point, heap the praise on him as you go.

Continue different variations of this training exercise until your dog is consistently finding the antlers, even when well hidden and left out for long periods of time.

At this point, you can head out and finally shed hunt! When I'm shed hunting, I always like to bring along an old antler of my own — so if we don't find any that day, I can at least toss this shed somewhere for my dog to find. This keeps the dog involved, and reinforces that he's doing a good job and that each time we head out shed hunting, it's a good time.

Conclusion

Training a shed dog can be an incredibly fun and satisfying endeavor for the avid shed hunter. As a bonus, if you do your job right and give your pup lots of love, he might just add a few shed antlers to your collection. That may just be the best deal a shed hunter ever made.

Mark Kenyon runs Wired To Hunt, one of the top deer hunting resources online, featuring daily deer hunting news, stories and strategies for the whitetail addict.