I am looking for a good tracking dog.

Question

I take many novices as well as youth out hunting (for free) a lot throughout the year. I do spend time with them teaching them shot placement and marksmanship prior to the hunt but unfortunately not all shots are well placed resulting in wounding an animal. I HATE wounding animals. That is where the tracking dog would come in. I am good at tracking myself but I am limited to sight tracking. I also have two children that would spend time with the dog. I live in East Texas and would mainly be tracking wounded hogs and deer as well as some small game. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

blood hounds or border collies (you can teach them anything.)

Answer 2

A coonhound

Answer 3

Pitt bulls are good dogs if trained that way and could stand up to a wounded hog till ya got there to finish it off.

Answer 4

blood hound is  the best.

Answer 5

go to the tracking dog web site find lots

Answer 6

bloodhound or coonhound

Answer 7

Bloodhound

Black and Tan

Beagle

Black Mouth Cur

any of the hounds and most of the hunting dogs would pick up on the scent of blood

Answer 8

Traditionally deer dogs were long-legged walkers, blueticks or redbones; dogs that could push a deer all day and cover a vast territory. Today, however, the trend is to smaller dogs, such as beagles and short-eared black and tans. With the hunting territory being parceled out in ever smaller hunting leases, dogs that run slower, cover less ground and are easier to catch better fit into the new type of hunting conditions. Feeding the smaller ones is easier too, for dog hunting can be expensive. A hunter may spend hundreds of dollars a year just to feed his hounds--all for a three week season.

For hog dogs you also might want to check out the Black Mouth Cur Breeders Organization in Texas. Here is a few articles for you to check out.

Answer 9

Bloodhounds could track a scent from 3 day before, a coon-hound could track anything mostly a coon, and a bear dog will only track a bear if it is introduced to a bear scent only!*

Answer 10

georgia bloodhound

Answer 11

A Chesapeake Bay Retriever or a bloodhound.

Answer 12

Since you are in East Texas, you are not far from lots of Catahoula Hound breeders.  I've heard lots of good reports on their tracking ability, but to tell you the truth, those are some butt-ugly dogs.

For my personal preference, I'd have to vote for a bloodhound.

Doc

Answer 13

I tell you what for a tracking dog on deer, and I am sure hogs you cannot go wrong with an Akita.  That is what they were used on was big game hunting and they are such tough dogs...they would love to rip up a hog.  My akita was so good at tracking and we got to use him a few times, and he was great.  You can train them for most game, but when it comes to small game you might have to soft mouth train them.  They want to tear into game.  A plott hound would be another one.  Also a Catahoula Hound is another good choice they are rugged and made for game like that also.  But, if you get an Akita please study them first, they are not a dog for everyone, and never hunt the same s*x together always a male female, or get a female first and have her fixed, well both dogs should be fixed to be honest.  

Answer 14

i personally have a golden retriever and to me it is the best for kids and the hikes borh him and i gone on.

i would suggest a german shepard for you because it is what my cousin has and the breed tends to be slightly more tougher.

check the below website

Answer 15

A good tracking dog does not have be any particular breed , or even be a pure bred dog. I would suggest a dog of medium build, because you need to keep it on a leash to track your animal. He can take over by smell , where you had to give up on sight trailing the blood. We use one on our hunting lease, and it has found almost every animal we have shot, and could no longer keep on it's trail because of a lack of blood and sign. They are a tremendous asset to anyone that hunts. We have had 4 so far that we have used, none was a particular breed..You can take the dog to the woods when you make a kill and encourage him to trail the blood and scent to the deer . When he does find the deer , make a big deal out of it and feed him a doggie treat as a reward- this will get most dogs, if they have any hunting instinct in them to get started finding your game- You need to keep the dog on the leash , so if a rabbit or something else jumps up, he is easier to control and keep on the deer trail-We have had some dogs that did not need the leash and would do nothing but trail the wounded deer, but on most dogs it is easier to use the leash while blood trailing. Good luck!

Answer 16

learn to shoot, cowboy

Answer 17

get a blood hound

Answer 18

a blood hound is the best tracker.

Answer 19

maybe a german shepard or a beagle.