NTK Blood Tracking & Recovery Program 

  We are now accepting applications for our 2020 waiting list for our tracking program. $200.00 non refundable deposit is required to hold your spot for spring season.  If interest please contact us!

You can often make the perfect shot and the adrenaline pushes the deer to the extreme which can leave little trace to the naked eye to follow. Our blood tracking and recovery program has less to do with following blood but rather sticking to one track, one individual scent, one deer.  Blood is helpful to follow especially for color blind people, but what happens when the blood runs out? What happens when you loose the track? 
That's where the dog comes in. 

​Let’s Get Started
Blood tracking with your dog is not only a really rewarding personal experience but a useful tool for even the sharpest shooters. Training dogs to track blood is less about the blood and more on the ability to track one scent, one deer amongst all the scents in the woods and other non-wounded deer. We do our best to get the dog used to what they experience on live tracks such as a harness, lights, scents, and environment. We teach the dogs to follow various factors in many different scenting conditions. Not all dogs are created equal nor progress at the same rate. Keep in mind as you train or work your dog, its important to go at the dog’s pace, work as a team, and keep the dog set up for success.
 
Dog Behavior and Physical Cues
While you are working your dog and running live tracks, you get to know your dog on another level. You will know the signs of when they are onto fresh scent, stronger scent, getting confused on a track, or indicated a step the deer took. You have to read your dog and learn to trust your dog more and more as time goes on. This is extremely crucial to success in the field.
 
Start Slow and Build Confidence:
Training a dog to track is not a fast process. Its not like putting a bird in front of a dog for a couple weeks, coupled with gunfire and your hunting pheasants within a month. Tracking is not easy and requires a lot of training in many situations, difficulties, and success. Biggest thing I like to see is confidence, not overexcitement, CONFIDENCE. A dog that is confident and makes strong choices are better trackers than a dog that is timid and unsure. Discipline is rare tool when used on a track. You don’t want to discourage the dog unless necessary.
 
Over-Excitement
Young dogs especially get over excited easily and this can be very frustrating for a handler. Overexcitement can be:

• Age related (young and full of vigor)
• Personality related (goofy, unfocused, easily stimulated)
• Poor handler control
• Some dogs just don’t care to track and can also look like overexcitement

 

Started Training 
6 Weeks    $1200.00

Objectives

• Conditioning a puppy to a harness, leash and collar, and harness and dragging a cord that is connected to the cord.
• Introducing a puppy to blood tracking materials (deer hide, blood, liver, legs)
• Building from small drags
• Associating a cue word. “Find it” or “Search” with the behavior to pick up a track
• Establishing a reward that works for the dog
  • Food, ball, praise, retrieve
• Basic Obedience
  • Sit, stay, heel, no, place, here (Mostly on leash)                     
• Lawns
• Low cut field
• Clean open wooded areas

Intermediate Training 
8 weeks   $1600

​Objectives:

• Obedience On and Off Leash (Sit, Stay, Heel, Here, Place, No, Kennel…)
• You and your dog should be forming a bond at this point and knowing your dog’s key points when on a track.  Body language is extremely important. This will make or break your trust in the future when knowing your dog is back on the track, confused, indicating change in direction and so on.
• Your dog should be able to do basic drags, 90 degree turns, and up to 50-100-yard tracks at this point with ease. If your dog can’t, its okay just progress at your dog’s pace.
• Intermediate tracking, we introduce and train to:
  • Rectangle tracks
  • S style tracks
  • Medium cover
  • Sponge & Drip laid tracks
  • Getting away from drags
  • Harness and line handling
  • Creating more drive

 

• Continuing to challenge the dog little by little
• Introducing water
• Getting the dog to restart tracks after being called off

Advanced 

(2-3 months) $800/mo

This part of the training is where we take all the little fundamentals that the dog learned in the started and intermediate parts of training and continue to put time into the field to build the dogs skills, efficiency, and confidence. This is for the guys that want as bulletproof dog to start a tracking season.