Blood Tracking Breeds

[jdbuckshot]

I only duck hunt now when its perfect - when the ducks are here in high #'s

so I deer hunt - a lot. mostly bow hunt.

I still have my retriever - Lab, he won't trail on blood - he just goes to fast.


I want a small dog, like a wire haired Dachshund. or something along those lines.


I know there are a few breeders of these that are very well known. and also very far away.


What other smaller breeds would you recommend - and also would you have any references i could contact for more info??

[sevenhead]

I'm no expert, but I hear a texas blue lacy is a top notch blood trailing dog.

[randywallace]

[jdbuckshot]

[randywallace]

[SB]

Randywallace - I'm not disagreeing with you about the breed being high strung, as I've only been around one Blue Lacey. This specific one was easy going. It was bought for blood trailing, but it never had a chance because it became the family pet, sleeping with kids, etc.

They are a pretty dog. I had never heard of one until a friend bought one a few years ago. I would check them out as far as their personality and tolerance towards kids though. If the breed is prone to character flaws that come out around kids, I would pass. Labs have done good blood trailing and most are family friendly.

[randywallace]

Having been around less than a half dozen of them, I am no expert on Lacy dogs by any stretch of the imagination. However, the breed having issues with kids seems to be common from what I have experienced and what I have read from other owners. Breeders on the other hand, will tell you they are great family dogs.

I am a firm believer that dog behavior is largely determined by socialization and training, but there are some things that appear to be genetic in these dogs as well. My dog was obedience trained to sit, stay, down, heal, stop, etc. He wouldn't even think about nipping me or my wife, but there was something about kids he didn't like. My daughter grew up with him from puppy stage. The nipping didn't develop until shortly after dog age 1. I know my kid didn't tease the dog because I never allowed my dog around her without me being present.

My best friend has a littermate to my dog. The dog has basic obedience training. He is a cool dog so long as it is just adults around, but he has some quirks as well. If his owner is sitting down and you walk up to a position where you are standing over the owner, the dog will nip you. The dog didn't grow up in a household with kids, but has displayed aggression towards kids.

The dog will flat out eat your butt up if you get too close to him after he finds a deer. When we blood trail with him (he does a good job), we take a leach and call him back to us after he finds the deer. This same dog that will eat me or the owner over a deer, sleeps in the bed with the owner every night and will allow either of us to pick him up, flip him over and rub his belly. Outside of a deer being present, he has no aggression toward me or the owner.

Another thing about Lacy dogs is the price. I can discern absolutely no reason other than limited supply of them in MS that they cost what they do. Many are $600 or more. They are roughly half that in Texas, but then again we aren't in Texas. There are several organizations that register the dogs, but AKC does NOT recognize them as a breed.

This guy posted on one of the facebook blood tracking pages this week that he got one due to it messing with the previous owners kids.

[jdbuckshot]

This is what I am interested in the most.

A "Teckel"

a german wired haired Dauchsaund.



I want a small dog.

one that I can pick up.

[randywallace]

Those are really cool little dogs. The fella that wrote the book on blood trailing, John Jeanneney, uses them with great success. My concern with small dogs is their ability to hold a slightly wounded by very much alive buck at bay. Also, I question their ability to travel long distances the way a lab or cur can. I simply haven't been around them enough to know how that would work out. Good luck.

[duckbuster330]

Friend of mine has Jagdterrier. tough little dog and excellent for blood trailing.