does anyone have any advice on teaching a pup to track a blood trail? she is nine weeks old and today was her first lesson from me. i drug a bloody deer cape about forty yards through some grass and mesquites in front of the house. she put the nose to the ground and went to it the first time, and did fairly well the second. found it both times and really wanted to eat it.

how do i get her to really understand what she us doing? she acts like she wants me to walk in front, but i just held the leash and let her do the looking.

any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

she is a blue lacy if that helps any

get some blood at the butcher
add a command to it.
some use food such as broth and mix the blood in with the broth every step or so. then gradually take away the food. make the tracks longer then add curves once ready. then add time to let the blood set- 4 hrs 8 hrs overnight etc.

sounds like she might do well, and she is the perfect age to start.

Here check my old post here...

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/606413/Re_Blood_Tracking#Post606413

there is a link inside this one with even more info

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Start short and go longer. Also start with lots of blood and use less each time. Let the track get older each time too. Drags like you are doing are a very good start. She will get the basic idea down. Like stated before, use a command. Start every track the same way. As I am walking to a track, I keep saying "Track". I then get there and have a definate starting point (hair, bloody arrow, etc). I show the dog that I am really interested in it and let her soak up the smell. I then start my track by commanding track and putting my finger in the ground. 99% of the time she will hit the track running.

One suggestion would be to try to train her in wooded areas. If you are in a field, she may keep looking up. You want her to rely 100% on her nose. If she is in the woods, it won't do her any good to look up.

Also, have her track down wind or cross wind so she has to put her nose to the ground.