Something to be said about natural ability

[mastercaster]

Yesterday I shot a goose that glided down into a field about 100 yards from the blind we had set up. Since there were very few birds around I wasn't worried about missing a shot so I took Sako over to the area so she could find the downed bird. She covered an area of at least 75 yds by 75 yds pretty well I thought and was surprised that the bird wasn't there so it was obviously a runner.

She obviously got the scent of it at some point and started moving quickly in that direction. I followed her for about 150 yards and when I got to a 15' wide ditch, I stopped. On the other side I could see Sako coming back through the partially flattened out marsh grass carrying this 10+ pound cripple, struggling with it like a drunken sailor in that tougher terrain. These geese are pretty heavy for my 48 pound griff but she wouldn't give up on it. lol

She swam it across the channel of water and I took it from her. Sako has done tons of blind retrieves since she can't see well out of the blinds we set up. She rarely sees the birds go down but she always recovers them. That being said, I really haven't done a lot of tracking with her so to see her do her thing was a real treat.

I figure that bird ended up being a good 300 yards from the blind. It was a good find! It just goes to show you how much natural ability griffs have and how important it is to "Trust your dog!"

Yesterday I only got to take 2 shots, Hail Marys at that, so when you do drop one you hate like hell to lose it. Sako definitely made her pappy proud recovering that one!

[Ron.C]

Awesome!!!!!! Great job Sako

[pnbrock]

Awesome work!!! Definitely a great tool in the field

[silveragent]

fantastic!

[ACB]

You have to believe your dogs nose, a lot of fun to watch them work it out. Well done.

[jagen mit DDrs]

Not to distract from the performance of the dog but a 3+year old dog that has been hunted over and figures things out for themselves has little to do with Natural Ability but with connecting the dots because of 'past' experiences.
That's why natural Ability is tested in young dogs from 7-18months old,although at 12 months or older, the dog already has a lot of handling and exposure and their performance is not solely due to their Natural Ability.
If the dog shows willingness to find, it will due to their predatory instincts find a way,by 'trial and error' to be successful.

Rainer

[Foxton Gundogs]

Natural instinct and ability is very important, many breeds have morphed into distinct field and show lines and I have seen some show bred dogs that have neither instinct, ability OR desire. Given enough time most dogs from most breeds can be taught just about anything. I once read a really great quote about the difference between natural ability and instinct and taught/learned behavior. "Most dogs will hunt to some degree, the best way to explain the difference between show and field is I play golf, Tiger Woods plays golf."

[mastercaster]

Not to distract from the performance of the dog but a 3+year old dog that has been hunted over and figures things out for themselves has little to do with Natural Ability but with connecting the dots because of 'past' experiences.
That's why natural Ability is tested in young dogs from 7-18months old,although at 12 months or older, the dog already has a lot of handling and exposure and their performance is not solely due to their Natural Ability.
If the dog shows willingness to find, it will due to their predatory instincts find a way,by 'trial and error' to be successful.

Rainer

Thanks for the explanation. I guess the reason I thought it was her 'natural ability' that got the job done was because I haven't done a whole lot of tracking with her. That being said, when she was not quite a year old I shot a coyote from the truck that had crossed the FSR I was on. It went a couple of hundred yards up a slope and stopped. That's where I shot it. The dog didn't have a clue where it was because she was in her crate in the back.

I took her out to the spot where the coyote had crossed the road on a longer lead and she followed its scent right up to where it lay. When she got about 15' away from it she stopped suddenly wondering WTF is that since she'd never seen a coyote before. haha



Now would that be more of an example of the dog showing its natural ability?

[jagen mit DDrs]

@mastercaster
In your dogs case with the Coyote,since the scent was very fresh.less than an hour,any dog will indicate the scent and trying to follow it,hence the problem a lot of people have that the dog doesn't come when called due to the fact their nose is engaged.If the scent would have been several hours old and your dog smells it and tries to work the track,it shows NA.
Tracking is a combination of Will to Find and Use of Nose.Dogs that have the will to find but don't use their nose well,will not track but search to find.And,there is dogs that have an excellent Nose but lack the will (drive)to find (persistence).Either one is a incomplete performer since one component is missing or lacking.
With a little bit of work you can bring both components together and your dog learns to trust his nose more.
A good example of tracking was Huntingfamily's dog at the last VJP test last year.An awesome combo of will to find and use of nose.

If your dog hasn't done any Bloodtracking,lay a 500m Bloodtrack and 250ml of Blood,wait for at least 5 hours and you will see if your dog has the Combination of use of nose and will to find naturally.

Rainer

[mastercaster]

@mastercaster

If your dog hasn't done any Bloodtracking, lay a 500m Bloodtrack and 250ml of Blood,wait for at least 5 hours and you will see if your dog has the Combination of use of nose and will to find naturally.

Rainer

Can you use the blood that's left in the plastic bag from thawing out a deer roast ,,,,or is that just bloody water? I have tied a string around a dead duck's neck before and dragged it across a couple of school ground soccer pitches (200 yds.) but I was never sure if the dog was scenting the duck, my path, or both and I only waited about a half hour. She did find it quite easily, though.

What is the distance you drop blood at when making the track,,,,every 3-4'?

I would like to be able to use Sako to find lost deer but since I've had her the last half dozen animals I've shot didn't need to be track at all.