Difficult and expensive in time and effort, the training of the blood dog gives incredible satisfactions to the hunter and will allow him to find the wounded game that has taken refuge in the thick of the vegetation: an economic and above all ethical obligation for the hunter.
Too little is known about hunting dogs, breeds and specializations to which one dog may be subject rather than another. Particularly fascinating and equally little known is the track dog also called blood dog, a definition that certainly gives a broader view of the use that is made of this exceptional hound and auxiliary of the hunter. Especially used during the recovery of wounded game, the blood or trace dog manages to find those animals that have managed to escape despite the more or less serious injury and who take refuge in the thick of the woods, often destined for a painful and solitary death. .
Using a blood dog during the hunt eliminates this limit and does not make the killing of the wild in vain.
The recovery of the injured game is in fact an obligation of the hunter which responds to a precise economic but above all ethical meaning. It is in fact the task of the hunter to limit the suffering of the hunted animal to a minimum, which is why after each shot fired you have to waste time examining the place of shooting, especially if you are sure you have hit the game. By examining all the elements found on the spot (tufts of hair, blood, etc.) it will be possible to understand the extent of the injury, which may be more or less serious, and to inaugurate a well-organized search.
It is at this point that the track dog comes into play, an excellent auxiliary to the hunter when it comes to hunting ungulates, especially essential when it comes to hunting wild boar, often able to pass beyond the hunters' fire while sustaining serious injuries. On average, it is estimated that 30% of animals hit in a more or less severe way do not fall electrocuted and manage to escape. The track dog serves precisely in all these situations.
Training but above all training will be fundamental elements that will help to exploit the natural attitudes of your track dog. Otherwise you will find yourself in front of a dog with a particularly fine nose that cannot be used during the jokes anyway. On the other hand, training is essential whether you want to use your dog in the normal follow-up, perhaps to the hare, or whether you want to teach him the follow-up of the injured game. The commitment and dedication must be identical.
Let's overlook the need for your dog to know the basic commands such as sitting, the ground, the foot, which he will learn through constant training and exercise since he was a puppy. Basic notions that the dog must possess will also be the exercise of correctness on a leash, at the sight of the game, at the shot of a rifle and above all at the defense of the wild.
These are basic exercises, without which knowledge and practice the hunter will be destined to bring with him during the hunt an unpredictable, undisciplined and unfortunately useless dog especially during the recovery phases.
Although the training of the track dog is difficult and long, it is wrong to let the hound follow the silent leader without any training, slowly learning the tricks related to hunting. They are in fact particularly intelligent animals, which with adequate training prove to be obedient and particularly useful.
Only when your dog is master of the exercises mentioned above will he be ready to practice the artificial track.
It is mostly blood, even better if wild blood. It can be kept for a few days in the freezer if it cannot be used immediately and to prevent its coagulation it is advisable to add sodium chloride or anticoagulants.
The hunter especially during the very first outings will be able to use a sponge soaked in blood that he will have to crawl for a few meters on the ground, to exactly reproduce the escape of the wounded game. Preferably you can also use a bottle from which to drop a few drops of blood. It will be good that the path is marked with small pieces of paper so that the hunter can notice any errors made by his dog and correct them.
Once the ground has been prepared, the dog can be taken to the field. Normally it is recommended to spend about 2/3 hours and during the following the dog must be kept on a leash whose length can oscillate between 3 and 6 meters. It is essential that the hunter let him do it; it is not recommended to disturb him with constant incitements and correct him too often if he is wrong. It is precisely by mistake that he will understand more easily what his task is.
During the following days the route will have to become increasingly wider, even reaching the kilometer and a half. Proportionally, the amount of blood used must decrease and the time interval between the signature and the exercise should increase. However, it is advisable never to exceed 12 hours.
It is good to repeat the exercise every 15 days without exaggerating in frequency. The result would be the opposite: the dog would consider the exercise a game and his attention would decrease. Obviously, at the end of the path, let your dog find something, whether it is a paw, a skin or a dead animal.
Things could get complicated when the dog is trained on the gearbox: it is basically the crossing of the trace of blood to be followed with another, not to be followed, of another animal.
Remember that your track dog is obviously very sensitive to smells, so if you want to use it after injuring an animal, do it right away, without using your own untrained hunting dogs or those of friends, much less without attempting it yourself. pursuit of the wild. The blood dog in fact, perceiving too many smells, will be disoriented and could abandon the lens.
After the step of the artificial track you can finally move on to the natural one.
The continuation of the natural track is obviously more complicated and the success of the continuation depends on three main factors:
training;
the innate abilities of the dog;
the capacities of the conductor.
In this case, in fact, the dog is the one to find the wild, which will still have to work in collaboration with the hunter who keeps it on a leash and helps it in the recovery phase. Search times also vary greatly, although in reality there is no fixed rule. The decision will depend on the preparation and above all experience of the conductor. This will have to consider several elements, first of all the reactions to the shot thrown by the hunter. Often on injured animals it is good for the dog to work on a fresh track. In this case the following dog will be released from the leash and, already concentrated, will be able to follow the animal by blocking it. How? Either with the bark or with the attack.
In any case, the general advice given is to always keep the dog on a leash. In fact, the superficially wounded game rarely stops pursued by the dog. How to behave then? The infallible rule is always the same: follow your instincts.
However, the training does not end here. Once you have become familiar with the artificial track it is essential that you train your animal to defend the wild. The two commands Sitting or Ground are fundamental. The command in general must be quick and incisive, short and dry especially when in proximity to elements that you intend to defend.
This kind of defense exercise, natural and instinctive in following breeds that naturally defend against strangers, is essential. In fact, it could happen that you have to leave the dog unattended with the game. In this case, the well-trained animal will defend its prey from strangers but above all it will not rage you in any way.
Obviously instinct cannot do everything and the dog requires constant training and good harmony with the owner.
Only at this point will the dog be ready to be used while hunting.