Frantic for the scent of a deer

[BuryFCA1]

Our 15 month old boy disappeared on me and my wife yesterday into the woods chasing the scent of a deer. We had seen the deer but he hadn't and he caught the smell of it. Despite both me and my wife recalling him as furiously and as loudly as we could be was frantic and off into the woods leaving me and my wife to have heart attacks at his disappearance. He has never done this before and he just seemed wild. Is this normal for this time of year (spring time)? Is it his age? He is neutered yet we are unsure if he had some sort of sexual urge? We are going to work on total recall with a whistle and nice treat but could somebody explain why he was so mad for the scent of a deer which was so out of character. Thanks ps he is our first dog

[bizzylizzy]

Basically, its the hunting instinct I'd say, its probably more predominant in Spaniels and other hunting breeds but lots of breeds will do exactly the same if the scent is strong enough. There are others on here who will know more about anti hunting training than I do, but in the meantime I can only advise keeping your eyes open and avoiding areas, forests etc, where there might be deer around. Once in full chase, even the best trained dog will be hard to recall, they seem to switch off. I've been in your position a couple of times with previous dogs and its scary - also dangerous here where I live, as if they're seen by hunters they'll be shot, no questions asked.

[MIN]

don't panic. Most of us have been there and got the tee shirt. I remember when Gemma did it, I was in a total panic and all that was going through my mind was " how long do I wait till I ring dog lost" . I am afraid a good scent to them will have the same effect as a whiff of a chocolate hobnob has on me. All you can do is work on the recall. With Gemma (5) we are always calling (whistling) her back randomly. Usually we can pick up on her " I going to bolt"  mannerisms  and get control of her before she scarpers   

[sodpot2000]

Don't beat yourself up - it happens. Frightens the living daylights out of you. It's what they were bred to do and it takes hours and hours of practice and training all the time to get anywhere near bombproof. I think you just have to take great care where you let them off and be alert for escape routes.

[Pearly]

My best advice would be to get to a gundog trainer sooner rather than later.  Once he's had a taste of "free hunting / self rewarding" it is very difficult to either pull them back in or trust again!   He is the right age to be entering the third phase of development - now is a good time to go back to basics and embed a stop whistle plus recall.

Good luck - I'm still working on this in the second phase 

[8 Hairy Feet]

and don't watch the "Fenton" video

[Markr64]

Yep, we have had real problems recently with our recall as Dexter's nose just gets the better of him. it is almost like his ears don't work anymore.

[Finvarra]

Three days after we moved up to Scotland I took my Scottie and Milo the spaniel for a walk in the local disused quarry. Milo flushed up a deer and took off, I heard his barks disappear into the distance. I was frantic as I did not know the area, and was sure he would get lost as he didn't,t know it either. I rushed the old Scottie home, and charged around looking for him, to no avail. Two hours later he came home, looking very happy and exhausted, his coat thick with fir twigs. I didn't,t know whether to kill him or hug him. I suppose he followed his own scent home, phew! It,s a horrible horrible feeling.

One of my scotties disappeared after a squirrel in the country park, again a frantic search, and I found her in the car park waiting next to a very smart BMW, rather than our old jalopie! They are cleverer than we think!

Lesley and Dylan

[rubybella]

The scent of deer is strongest when it is scared and running, which is why it is so hard for a dog to ignore. We have a lot of deer in the fields around our village. I try to be one step ahead and if I see one I call them back and put the lead on before they have chance to disappear! However we also walk in forests which are full of deer and although keen to track the scents they haven't disappeared after any yet! I think you were probably unlucky, but worth just being vigilant in areas where you know they are.

I do think training to stop during real chase is very hard and probably no matter how hard you blew the stop whistle, once in that mindset he would not have turned and come back. I know with my girls if I don't get the whistle in at the right moment they go deaf and ignore me! I have tried gundog training and it has helped but not all the methods that gundog trainers use to get your dog to come back are very kind! I would suggest you select your trainer carefully!

[JeffD]

Its really hard to train for this, I have known a good few field trial standard dogs that were steady to fur and feather but not deer, trouble is that for most its a rare occurrence so difficult to train for, my old cocker Henry treated deer like sheep and completely ignored them as did my labs, my springer Drake also good with sheep would give chase on sight of a deer I never did cure him. I am sure Teal would chase if she sighted one but I can call her away from deer scent.

[rubybella]

I agree JeffD. Yes, I can call away from scent too but the real thing is a bit different and very hard to proof against! I did some gun dog training using rabbit fur on a bungey. My girl looked at me as if to say, do you think I am that stupid to run after that!!!! However if the real thing ran out in front of her it would be a different story! It will be good to try to work on recall away from scent trails if you can, you need to break their focus on it and make yourself far more exciting than what they are smelling!!

[sodpot2000]

I can't help thinking that if I could make myself more exciting than a deer in full flight I would get invited to lots more parties!

[Pearly]

I can't help thinking that if I could make myself more exciting than a deer in full flight I would get invited to lots more parties!

 

Brilliant!

[bizzylizzy]

  o'h priceless 

[LouisaM]

I'm another one with a deer chaser. The scent drives Tilly nuts and we've had a few incidents because there are lots of muntjac near us - you find them in the smallest copses. I can stop her easily if I spot them before she does, but of course I haven't quite got the nose that she has  .
Fortunately, Tilly seems to know in her heart that she'll never catch one and gives up before she's gone too far!