The Deer Indicator Dog
By Herb Spannagl
I left my fly camp at the first signs of daylight hoping to catch a deer grazing on one of the many slips in the Tukituki River in the Eastern Ruahines. The first crossing was freezing cold, temporarily numbing my undercarriage. Troja, my GSP ***** forded below me. Once on dry land she quickly shook the water from her hide then started to draw ahead. I stopped, which caused her to look back. With my left index finger I pointed to my left knee. She looked at me with a cocked head and settled back into her hunting position without any further prompting. Not a word had been spoken. Our progress was hurried, yet at the same time quiet and measured. Any deer still in the open would not stay there for much longer.
In the morning stillness I could feel just enough air in my face to know that we were hunting into the wind. I rounded each bend in the river only after quickly glassing all open spaces before me. Majestic scenery but unfortunately without any sign of deer. Our scent from yesterday must be keeping the deer on their toes. On the fourth flat the dog started to sniff the shingled ground. Before us were the fresh tracks of several deer. I followed them to a patch of sand where I could make out the prints of a hind, yearling and fawn. Troja couldn’t keep her nose off the tracks. From her reaction I knew that they were super fresh and that the deer had passed only minutes before.
I followed her questing nose to a point where the deer had jumped onto a low bank and entered the bush. Rising above us was a spur with a well-worn deer track. The fresh marks were clearly visible. No question about it, the deer were slowly heading uphill without stopping. It was worth a try to catch up with them before the wind turned. For the first two hundred meters the spur was fairly open allowing me to crack the pace without any fear of spooking the animals. After that it flattened out and became overgrown with pepperwood and sapling beech. Halfway through the thicket the dog started to wind strongly. I slowed right down looking through every gap for a patch of deer hair, a shape or just a flicker of an ear. Nothing yet. I inched on. The dog, at my left knee, was deeply inhaling the intoxicating scent. Another ten or so steps of stop, start stalking brought us into more open forest. There between the heavy trunks of several silver beech trees was the creamy rump of a small deer. A little further was the yearling. Then the hind came out from behind a bush as the family group slowly ambled on. There was no time to waste if I wanted to bring home a load of venison. I carefully closed the bolt on the BSA Hunter and tracked the yearling with the telescope. The shot shattered the morning stillness and the yearling’s neck. It collapsed without making another step. I doubt whether it even heard the shot.
Throughout the final drama Troja stayed welded to my side, her neck stretched towards the kill. I sat her down to calm her for a quick training session of calling me to the dead deer. I too calmed my nerves with a rollie. Ten minutes later I sent the dog. As always she was waiting for the signal and flew towards the carcass. Once there she sat behind it, facing me and started to bark. I let her do that for a little while before I approached her. That really set her off. With every step her barking grew louder and more intense. I made a great fuss of her and laid her off away from the kill. When I had butchered out what I could carry I rewarded her with small lumps of meat from what was left over.
On the way down I noticed that the wind had turned. The sun had come out, warming the face I was hunting on. The warm air was now rising whilst early in the morning when I hunted uphill cool night air was still dropping towards the valley floor. As is usual the deer had headed into it but the same wind carried their heavy scent directly to Troja’s nose. Had I been an hour later my rising scent would have wafted straight to the deer and made a successful approach impossible.
This simple bush hunting strategy certainly helped but what really got me that deer was my dog’s reliable heeling or in her case “kneeing”. It allowed me to concentrate on spotting during the critical moments of the stalk. In bush hunting classic heeling is not the answer because you have to constantly turn around to see how your dog is reacting to the constant stream of airborne scents. The best position for the dog is far enough forward that its shoulder is by your left knee But beware, any further ahead and you are running the risk of the dog being spotted before you see the deer. Besides the knee position anchors the dog to a clearly defined place. You might think all that is too finicky but, believe me, if you let the dog roam it will be hard to keep it close. Inevitably you end up worrying more about the dog than deciphering what is in front of you.
Reliable heeling is one of the very basic, yet most important tasks of an indicator deer dog. No dog should be taken into the bush until it is rock solid in this exercise. The actual command should be verbal and/or by hand signal. Verbal around the home, silent hand signals in the bush.
There are facets of deer dog training that can be done concurrently with, or even before, heeling but heeling is the first disciplinary activity that forces the dog to do what does not come naturally. Like all good training it takes time, patience and know-how. Know-how not only what specific exercises to do, when but also the knowledge of how dogs interpret and react to what you are doing.
Here is a quick primer for any novice dog trainer and a useful reminder for old hands at the game.
Dogs do not reason; they can not connect an action with its consequences if time or space has elapsed between the two. It is therefore pointless to delay any corrective intervention until the dog comes to hand.
Dogs do not understand English (or any other language for that matter). So don’ read them the riot act expecting them to understand all the details. What they will react to is the tone of your voice, your movements and your general posture. If all that points to a painful experience in the past it will reinforce what they are facing at the time. The fact that they then look wary is often interpreted that they feel guilty.
Dogs are highly sensitive to your moods, your state of health, anything that is out of the ordinary. Never train your dog if you are agitated, in a bad mood or in a hurry.
Dog training is most successful if you are relaxed, do it at the same time and in a familiar environment. Initially anyway, the more routine you can make it the less the dog is distracted by novel things and the more it will concentrate on you.
Never punish your dog for not following a command. The most probable answer is that the dog has not yet grasped what you want from it. Either it had not had enough training or your methods were too confusing. Simple exercises, repeated often coupled with lots of praise are the keys to creating a good working dog.
Last but not least, never give a command unless you have the means to enforce it immediately. (Re-read point one).
The actual job of training a dog to heel is fairly straightforward, though time consuming.
It starts off with you clipping the collared dog on a lead after it has had a run to let off steam and relieve itself. Always pet the dog while clipping it on the lead to let it know that the lead is not a threat.
You may have trouble getting the dog to come in without a command. Here is a little trick that works every time. Just walk away. No matter how busy the dog is sniffing about once it realises that you are going, as true pack animal, it will want to catch up with its leader. As soon as it arrives make a fuss of it and quietly clip the lead on. Now you are in control!!
To quickly reiterate. Calling the dog and giving it a chance to disobey very soon tells it that you are not God and that your magic only works at close range. Secondly growling or dishing out punishment when it does finally come will only make it “hand shy”. You need to guard against both traps if you want the training to progress smoothly.
Once your pal is on the lead you have to be consistent. On the verbal command “Heel” you guide the dog around behind your back so that it comes up from behind. There you hold it so that its shoulder is in line with your knee. Start walking, repeating the “Heel” command as you go. If the dog wants to draw on by strongly pulling on the lead bring it back with a few sharp yanks while repeating the “Heel” command. As soon as the dog is back in position pet and praise it.
A few sharp yanks at the right time are better than repeated gentle pulls to which the dog could soon get used to. Tough dogs may need the choker chain but only if all else fails. Never use this chain on young dogs or *****es.
An extension to the Heel command is heeling from a distance.
For this exercise make a longer lead of about 10 meters. Let the dog drag it around for a while to forget any connection with what is about to happen.
Start the exercise by allowing the dog to wander, then sharply call “Heel”! At this very instance haul it in like a snapper and place it in its position at your left knee, then praise the hell out of it.
From now on only call “Heel” when you can bring the dog in. Doing it without the long lead risks having the dog disobey the command and thus calling your bluff. Heeling means that the dog stays at your side whether you are running, walking or stopping. Firm this by:
Stopping frequently and ensure that the dog does likewise. Whenever the dog stops on its own accord pat it before going on, otherwise yank it back when you stop.
This will ensure that in the field the dog remains at your left knee when you check out something of interest or ready yourself for a shot at a deer that is already on full alert. It has been my experience that in the bush deer are nearly always aware of an approaching hunter but without his scent they tend to stick around for other confirmations before they bolt. It is during those critical moments that the careful stalker gets a shot away. Needless to say a dog that is noisy, moves around or draws on spoils that opportunity.
Once the dog responds well to the “Heel” command it is time to introduce the hand signal. When you say “Heel” also point to your left knee with your left index finger. In time the dog will respond to the hand signal alone.
Heeling and Sitting training combine very well.
With the dog on the leach walk it at heel and stop. Face the dog, push with your right hand against its chest, with the other press down on his rump. The dog will fold up into the sitting position like a pocketknife. Combine this action with the “Sit” command, later with a down motion of your open palm if you want the dog only to react to a hand signal.
It wont take long before the dog reluctantly folds up by itself. Once the dog thoroughly understands the command speed up its response to the “Sit” or hand signal command with a well-directed whack on its rump with a rolled up newspaper. This creates maximum noise with a minimum of pain and works like magic.
To enforce the command at a distance have an assistant lead the dog away from you at an angle. Every so often give the command but have your assistant enforce it if the dog does not respond immediately. As long as the dog hears only your voice it will believe it is your hand that forces it down. Gradually increase the distance between you and the dog. However, return to basics if the dog shows any reluctance to comply.
You should combine the heeling exercise with that of letting the dog know when it is all right to “go on”. Every time you let the dog off the leash say “GO ON”. It will quickly cotton on that this command releases it from being constrained in the heel position.
A training session should not last more than 30 minutes, less to begin with.
Vary the pace, break it up by letting the dog off for a run and then start again. Throughout make sure that training stays, if not a pleasant than at least, a non-threatening experience. If done in this mode the dog will look forward to such outings, especially if you vary the venue later on. Do not combine basic training with hunting; you almost certainly will make a lousy job of both. This does not mean that during hunting you should not correct an occasional memory lapse. However, if such lapses persist (i.e. the dog does not heel properly) mark them for formal revision training at home.
The above is the very basic performance level of any good deer dog. Once your dog is solid in heeling I can not see any reason why you should not take it hunting........ as long as you do not ask any more of it than what you have taught it; in this case heeling. If you do take the dog with you let the trainee drag a thin, but strong nylon cord of about 10 meters. Every time the dog draws ahead simply step on the cord to bring it up short. For the dog this is a constant reminder that your hand can reach it wherever it is. Needless to say with this control line you can stomp out any tendency of deer chasing in an older dog. Just let him charge in while you dig in your heels and hang onto the other end of the lead. When the cord suddenly comes taut the surprised dog will be thrown in its tracks by your invisible hand and the bellowing “Heel”. Immediately thereafter unceremoniously drag it back to the heel position with the repeated “Heel” command and then ............reward it (for being at heel)!!!!!
Quite simply successful dog training comprises a sound knowledge of dog behaviour, an ability to always be one step ahead of the game, a knack to dissect a training programme into small, easily digestible bites and an untiring patience with your four legged partner.