Shed hunting with dawgs

[golden boy]

Got a new golden retriever pup and she has been with me since she was 7 weeks old. I gave her a shed antler and she loves to chew on it and she really loves to pull all of the deer skulls out of the flower bed and put them in the center of the lawn to chew on. I will start my shed hunting next month and she will be 6 months old. My question is for the guys that have trained dogs to find antlers what is the earliest you have seen a solo find. Is it taking several seasons for them to catch on. She caught on to the bird retrieving without a problem.

 

[CamillusGeo]

My dogs pee on the sheds, which is probably NOT the training you want to encourage ...

 

[fossilman]

Yes they have a program that will train your dog to hunt shedd's..........I know a few people that have done it and are finding more horn's than ever................

 

[Canon]

All i did was throw em out in the yard to begin with. Then let her out and when she found one i'd give her a treat and praise her for it. After 3 or 4 times, the yard was no good, so i took her to a park by my house. did that 6 or so times and then took her out to a place i hunt. The first time i used my sheds (she is really hyper, so she gets crazy when she gets out) in the wild and had her find those, she did fine but she has hip dysplasia real bad and couldnt get up that night. so i retired her before her first find. I started training her when she was 4 1/2 so im guessing if you start young like you are, you may have an awesome dog. my experience is that they pick it up quick and love to do it. good luck!